From October 24 to 28, 2016, SDIM attended the 11th International Conference of the African Association of Remote Sensing for the Environment (AARSE 2016) in Kampala, Uganda. Hosted by AARSE, the conference was attended by more than 300 scholars and experts from 30-plus countries and international organizations. Ugandan Prime Minister Rahakana Rugunda attended and addressed the opening ceremony. One aim of the event was to officially establish cooperation between SDIM and AARSE and promote the cooperation between SDIM and African countries, especially those in North Africa and East Africa, as well as between regions. At the opening ceremony on the morning of October 24, SDIM’s Director Guo Huadong gave a keynote presentation on China’s Earth observations and the DBAR Initiative. On October 26, he signed cooperation agreements with Prof. Olajide Kufoniyi, President of AARSE.