Joel F. Cruz has over 20 years of experience in the GIS and mapping industry working on various projects in the Philippines, Japan, Vietnam, Indonesia, Guam, Saipan, South Africa and Uganda. He has a BS degree in Civil Engineering also obtained from U.P. Mr. Cruz is a registered professional civil engineer. He earned a Master’s Degree in Urban and Regional Planning at the School for Urban & Regional Planning (SURP), U.P. He also earned master credits in Applied Mathematics, Major in Computer Science from the University of the Philippines. He has been extensively trained in Geographic Information Systems and Computer Mapping in Tokyo, Japan.

Mr. Cruz has been involved in several major GIS projects in the Philippines and overseas. He participated as a GIS Specialist with the World Bank called the “Natural Disaster Risk Management in the Philippines, Reducing Vulnerability – Follow On Study”. His main role aside from doing the various GIS related analyses for the study is to assess the currently existing data in the Philippines relating to disaster management and provide recommendations as to how to improve them.

He was also involved in the Earthquake Impact Reduction Study for Metropolitan Manila (MMEIRS). He was responsible for setting up the GIS database that would support the various analyses needed by the study such as damage and risk analyses. The GIS database that was produced is comprehensive and covers the natural, social, geological, infrastructure, public facilities, and lifeline conditions of Metropolitan Manila.

Another project is the School Mapping Exercise of the Secondary Education Development and Improvement Project (SEDIP-SME) for the Department of Education (DepEd). The project involved the preparation of GIS databases and thematic maps for 14 Social Reform Agenda (SRA) provinces in the Philippines. The GIS database included secondary school and provincial location and attribute information gathered from various sources. Mr. Cruz was involved in setting up the GIS databases, preparation of base, analyses and decision maps and technical transfer to DepEd personnel