Geographic Information System workshop

Applications are now closed

Date: Thursday 11 May – Tuesday 30 May
Time: 3pm BST – 6pm BST & WAT / 9pm-12pm EDT

The Wheeler Institute for Business and Development at London Business School (LBS) is offering a virtual online workshop on GIS methods for quantitative spatial data analysis.

This workshop aims to equip students with modern research methods used for analysing spatial data. It will focus on applications related to the study of development in Africa, but the tools covered will be applicable in many contexts. The workshop will provide an overview of geospatial data and work through case studies that demonstrate the use of Python for spatial data analysis and QGIS for spatial data visualization. Participants can expect to gain familiarity with various open-source software used in spatial data analysis:

• Anaconda (Python and Jupyter)
• QGIS
• Google Earth Engine

There will be six 3-hour main lectures (with a small break) commencing on 11 May 2023, spread over 4 weeks, on Tuesday and Thursday from 3pm-6pm BST & WAT / 9am-12pm EDT.

Audience

We are seeking doctoral students and early career academics.

The online workshop is also well-suited for professionals in both public and private organisations, and generally any researchers with an interest in quantitative spatial data analysis.

Cost/registration

This is an open access workshop. However, due to capacity constraints only a select set of participants will be able to attend. Participants will be screened for fit using a screening test. A pre-screening test will be available upon registration and must be completed to be considered eligible for the workshop. All lectures and sessions will take place on Zoom. Participants will be selected on a first come first served basis, so all interested to participate need to register as soon as possible.

Workshop convening team

• Giorgio Chiovelli, Assistant Professor of Economics, University of Montevideo
• Sebastian Hohmann, Economist and Data Scientist
• Tanner Regan, Assistant Professor of Economics and International Affairs, George Washington University

Acknowledgement

A letter of acknowledgement may be awarded for participation and sufficient performance.

Requirements to receive a letter recognizing active participation:

• Attendance at all six workshop lectures
• Satisfactory submission of workshop project
• Satisfactory score on multiple choice quiz

Pre-requisites

Some experience with quantitative data analysis and coding is strongly recommended.

Alternatively, a dedication to learn about these topics is required as the material will progress quickly in difficulty from the second week onwards. For those without much experience, we strongly suggest reviewing some fundamentals of quantitative analysis at these free resources:

• Khan Academy Course on Python (videos 1-6)
• Khan Academy Course on Statistics 

Technical capacity (essential requirements)

Internet connection to download (1 GB) of data and software and follow the Zoom (video) sessions. We strive to make this workshop as accessible as possible, unfortunately there is a minimum technical capacity required to participate. We acknowledge and regret that this may make the course inaccessible for some. We hope to continually improve the accessibility in the future.

Workshop material

The main workshop material (slides, exercises, data, and code) will be hosted through google drive.

Dates and times

The workshop will run from 11 to 30 May. All six lectures are delivered via Zoom, between 3pm-6pm BST & WAT / 9am-12pm EDT. To encourage engagement and active participation, the sessions will not be recorded.

Please note, there is an expectation if you register you will attend all six sessions.

Workshop schedule

Session 1	Thursday 11 May	Introduction to GIS and overview applications in research –  Setting up Google Colab
Session 2	Tuesday 16 May	Introduction to Python, Pandas, and Geopandas
Session 3	Thursday 18 May	Replicate analysis of a research paper – GIS Basics
Session 4	Tuesday 23 May	Replicate analysis of a research paper – Networks
Session 5	Tuesday 25 May	Introduction to QGIS, geocoding, making maps, georeferencing and digitizing
Session 6	Tuesday 30 May	Introduction to Google Earth Engine and workshop revision

Logistics

Workshop programme manager

• Trias Kolokitha-Schmitz, PhD
  Senior Research Manager of the Wheeler Institute for Business and Development

Teaching assistants

• Bihter Erbaş
  Pre-Doctoral Research Assistant at the Wheeler Institute for Business and Development
• Daniel Sey
  Pre-Doctoral Research Assistant at the Wheeler Institute for Business and Development
• Mike Nuno
  Pre-Doctoral Research Assistant at the Wheeler Institute for Business and Development

Contact

To learn more about the workshop, please email us at wibdresearch@london.edu.

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About the Wheeler Institute

The Wheeler Institute for Business and Development at London Business School was created to research and amplify the role of business in tackling the hardest challenges in social and economic development. A primary objective of the Wheeler Institute is to stimulate and support research at the intersection of business and development, with a particular emphasis on research in the developing world.