The training on “Geospatial Technologies in Epidemiology and Incident Management” was a preliminary step for the Bird Flu Control Pilot Project in Tangerang which was initiated by the National Committee for Avian Influenza Control and Influenza Pandemic Preparedness (KOMNAS FBPI) in collaboration with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Secretariat of Tangerang Pilot Project.

Training objectives were: 1) to prepare all staff in the Agriculture Office and Health Office so they could work together in collecting information and base data of Tangerang city for the Bird Flu Control Pilot Project, 2) to train field staffs or officers into skillful officers who could collect data or coordinates using the Global Positioning System (GPS) Receiver, 3) to train data entry staffs or officers into skillful officers who could process data from field and display it spatially so it could be informative data, and 4) to prepare skillful field officers and staffs for the Base Line Survey in Tangerang city.

Geospatial Technologies in Epidemiology and Incident Management TrainingThe training was conducted at Imperial Aryaduta Tangerang Hotel from October 22nd to 27th, 2007. The training was officially opened by Tri Satya Putri Naipospos, DVM, MPhil., PhD (Vice Chief Executive II of KOMNAS FBPI) and was instructed by Dr. Jerome E. Freier (Center for Epidemiology and Animal Health, United States Department of Agriculture) and Pricilla L. Fitzmaurice (Center for Epidemiology and Animal Health, United States Department of Agriculture).

This training was divided into two modules. Module I was attended by field officers who are expected to use GPS receivers to collect data or coordinates at field. Module II was attended by data entry officers who are expected to receive data from field and process it into a spatial form. Training in each module was a combination of lectures in class, field practice or data processing and display practice, and exercises. Discussion was intertwined in each session of lecture or practice.

There were 48 participants in Module I. They consisted of participants from the Indonesia Ministry of Health both from the central and Tangerang municipal government, the Main Secretariat of the Bird Flu Control Pilot Project in Tangerang City. and the Municipal Agriculture Office of Tangerang. In Module II there were 15 participants, which consisted of participants from the Indonesia Ministry of Health, the Directorate of Animal Health of the Indonesia Ministry of Agriculture, the Municipal Health Office and Agriculture Office of Tangerang, the District Health Office and Agriculture Office of Tangerang, KOMNAS FBPI, and from a non-government organization specialized in animal health and food safety, Center for Indonesian Analytical Studies (CIVAS).

The training was officially closed by Tri Satya Putri Naipospos, DVM, MPhil, PhD with great expectations that all participants could utilized what was received from this training as a basic knowledge in the Base Line Survey in Tangerang. In general, most training participants expect continuous trainings and cooperative aid for basic equipment necessary to institute the newly received knowledge in their daily work.