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Appendix to item 28
Report for the 24th General Assembly
FIG Working Week in Seoul, 6-11 May 2001
REPORTS FROM THE COMMISSION CHAIRS TO THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY 11 MAY 2001
Commission 1
During the past week Commission 1 has been involved in a range of meetings
including the Inter Commission meeting, meetings of the Advisory Committee of
Commission Officers and the Annual meeting of Commission 1.
The Annual meeting attracted 11 attendees from 8 different countries.
Unfortunately there were not any attendees from the Asian region. Discussions
were held on the activities of the Working Groups, possible papers for next
years Congress and future symposia and workshops in which the Commission will be
involved.
Planning meetings were attended regarding the symposium in Kenya in October,
in Puerto Rico in February, 2002 and in Mexico in September, 2002 and for the
next Congress in Washington in April 2002.
The Guidelines on Business Practice that Commission 1 is preparing was
progressed through presentation of papers in a Business Practice session and in
a workshop. This will be presented at next years General Assembly with the view
of publishing it as a FIG Booklet.
John Parker, Chair of Commission 1
Commission 2
Commission 2 coordinated three technical sessions in which altogether 10
papers were presented. Technical sessions were of the following themes:
- Experiences and new approaches in Virtual Academy
- Surveyors Curricula around the world
- How to manage and keep the Curricula contents up-to-date
In the first two sessions on Wednesday we had an audience of 30-40 people. In
the last session on Thursday there was about 20-25 delegates.
In addition Commission 9 organized one session on education
"Non-geodetic fields in the Surveyors' Curricula" in which Commission
2 participated as audience and we got participants from that technical session
to our Commission meeting.
Professors Cavero, Enemark and Virrantaus were chairing
Commission 2 technical sessions. In technical sessions we had lively
discussions, especially Virtual Academy session can be characterized even as
spontaneous and intensive.
I want to mention that we got an additional presentation to the published
program given by two surveying students from Poland. This is a very important
thing for Commission 2 because one of our goals in our work has been to activate
young surveyors and students to the work of the Commission.
We were also happy of have a Korean presentation on education, because we
very much need descriptions of surveyors' curricula all over the world.
Commision 2 had two commission meetings, one on Monday and the other one on
Thursday. A joint commission 2 and 9 meeting was organized on the Education of
Valuers. Commission meetings were chaired in addition to the Chair of Commission
by Vice Chair Pedro Cavero, Professor Esben Munk Sørensen and Professor Kauko
Viitanen. On Monday the Commission meeting gathered 14 participants and on
Thursday 24 participants. This was the highest figure for Commission 2 during
the recent years. The core topics in commission meetings were:
- achievements and final plans of Working Groups
- reports for Washington Congress
- topics and presentations for Washington Congress
- the development of Surveying Educational Database into an Portal of
Surveying Education in Internet
- coming events and our participation in them
- the Workshops and Symposiums organized by Commission 2 during the rest of
the period.
We are going to produce reports on:
- Experiences on the Virtual Academy
- Surveyors curricula contents and the model of approach to describe and
compare them
The Task Force for Mutual Recognition will produce a report which partly
covers also Commission 2 WG activities.
Commission 2 technical program in Washington will include two sessions on
Virtual Academy and two sessions on Surveyors Curricula. In addition there will
be one session on each of the following themes: Professional education and CPD;
Best practices in education; and Education evaluation procedures.
Commission has proposed following joint sessions with other Commissions:
Education of Valuers (Commission 9); New Technologies in Education (Commissions
3, 5 and 8); and The Task Force on Underrepresented Groups (Commission 1). We
also try to organize special activities for surveying students together with
local organizers in Washington.
From other activities I would like to mention that Commission 2 will organize
a Workshop and Seminar on Virtual Academy in Helsinki in June 2001 and a
Symposium in Puerto Rico in February 2002. Commission is further given papers in
the FIG/ISK/UNCHS International Conference in Nairobi in October 2001.
In the technical session and commission meeting we had a long and lively
discussion on the development of Surveyors Educational Database. Several
opinions exist on the best approach. We will continue according to the
conclusions of discussions and produce at least plans and a prototype of the
Portal of Surveyors Education. This Portal will let access to SEDB, home pages
of academic members, Virtual Academy applications and other relevant material.
This prototype will be demonstrated in Washington Congress.
Commission 2 had very good working week. It seems evident that education is
more interesting topic also for surveyors in practice than before. We try to
make the last year before Washington very active and productive.
Kirsi Virrantaus, Chair of Commission 2
Commission 3
The commission meeting on Monday 7 May was well attended. More than 20
delegates or substitutes from 13 countries participated. This core-group of
active delegates is very important for the commission. It gives us the power to
plan the future activities.
The Korean delegate gave a short introduction to the Spatial Data
Infrastructure in Korea. In addition two national reports were presented, one
from Germany and one from Hungary.
In the first conference session Chryssy Potsiou from Greece presented
a model for how we can harmonize the country reports, and how we can make the
structured content available for all interested.
Since 1986 Commission 3 has had a Newsletter that has been distributed to
more than 500 addresses twice a year, the last 7 years in co-operation with
Commission 7. We decided to move this publication from a paper to an electronic
version. We will make the information available for all interested via the home
page.
The name of the commission was touched at the meeting with the President and
the Vice President. It was acknowledged that Spatial Information has a broader
meaning than Geographic Information.
In the technical conference Commission 3 was responsible for 5 sessions with
20 presentations from 12 different countries. They covered the whole spectrum of
special information management. One of the sessions was chaired by a Korean
colleague. This was a very positive experience. After each presentation he gave
a resume in Korean.
Wednesday morning we had a workshop dedicated to planning of the future of
the Commission with more than 40 participants. There were linguistic hindrances
for active participation from the Koreans. The outcome of the workshop was
although a very preliminary but essential contribution to the work plan
2002-2006. We developed an overall structure and on this background we focused
on the following topics:
- The individual versus business
- The mobile society
- Common understandings
- The consumer approach
- Technical issues
- Integration of data
- The x-dimensional challenge
- Organisational issues
- General aspects
- Knowledge management
- GSDI
- Semantics in data
- Technical versus legal aspects
The results are a good platform for the incoming chairman.
During the working week the International Conference in Nairobi has been
discussed and further planned with the President of the Institution of Surveyors
of Kenya and the Commission chairs. It is very positive that more than half of
the commissions have planned to participate.
A possible outcome of the Nairobi conference is a statement on Spatial
Information and Sustainable Development.
Jes Ryttersgaard, Chair of Commission 3
Commission 4
The Commission officers participated in the following working week meetings:
the inter-commission meeting; two ACCO Meetings; and the General Assembly and
the associated breakout groups. In addition, the Commission sponsored one
technical session that was well attended and generated some interesting
discussion.
The Commission held its annual commission meeting and the following topics
were discussed:
- The 2002 Congress in Washington - Topics for the technical sessions were
discussed. In addition, ideas for technical tours were developed and the
possibility of combining a technical tour with a social evening received a
favourable response.
- The 2001/2002 Workplan - The Commission has provided input to the work of
the task forces on Sustainable Development and Standards. This work will
continue for the Standards task force. In addition, the Commission will look
at what can be done to start to implement the recommendations in the
Sustainable Development report that pertain to hydrography.
- The workplan for the 2002-2006 period was discussed. The Commission
decided to apply the following principles when developing this plan:
- Align the work with the strategic directions of the FIG Council
- Look for opportunities to work cooperatively with other Commissions
- Ensure that the interests of the Commission delegates are addressed.
- The meeting also reaffirmed its intent to involve more delegates in the
activities of the Commission.
During the week, the Commission met informally with the Chairman of the Task
Force on Sustainable Development to discuss ways of implementing the
recommendations of the report and received some valuable suggestions.
In addition, the Commission met with the Australian delegation to discuss
possible participation in The Institution of Surveyors, Australia's annual
conference in Brisbane in September, 2001.
Following the cancellation of the WW2001 tour to the National Oceanographic
Research Institute, the Commission organized a tour of the Korean Hydrographic
Offices. The tour was very interesting and informative. The Korean Hydrographic
Office produces 273 paper nautical charts. It has recently converted 205 to
Electronic Navigation Charts making it one of the major produces of Electronic
Navigation Charts in the world.
The Commission wishes to thank the organizing committee of the Working Week
2001 for their assistance in organizing this tour and for their support
throughout the week.
Dennis St. Jacques, Chair of Commission 4
Commission 5
Commission 5 was in charge for 31 presentations that were included in four
technical sessions inside the general program and three in the separate Workshop
on Guidelines for check, maintenance and calibration of survey instruments. In
reality there were only 28 presentations because of some cancellations. The
attendance to all our technical session and the workshop was 98 %; the rooms
were full that means minimum 56 (Rose) and maximum 100 persons (Cosmos) assisted
to each separate event. The arrangements were perfect with the exception that
there was no interpretations from English to Korean for the Korean attendants
(80 per cent of the participants).
The general opinion is that it was a successful week and a very interesting
workshop both with presentations of high quality and good discussions especially
during the workshop panel discussion which was well appreciated. The presence of
the president of ISO TC 172 SC6, Karl Zeiske and other members of this TC
172 (Heister and Becker) made it to a better comprehension of FIG
needs and requirements on standards. FIG has to engage more experts in ISO and
contribute to the distribution of the standards to the surveyors community.
We missed the possibility to participate to the sessions of other Commissions
because of the parallel sessions. This is a serious shortage in promoting the
understanding between commissions and has to be changed in the future!
Commission had also to specific meetings: one open meeting for everybody (20
participants) and one closed Commission 5 Steering Committee meeting (12
persons). Only two WG chairs were absent.
In the ACCO meetings Commission was much involved in the discussions
concerning the commissions structure and work.
We also discussed the future of the commission and the forthcoming events
e.g. Budapest (IAG/FIG collaboration), Banff (IAG/C5), Vienna (IAG/ISPRS/FIG5,6),
Berlin (2002), Cologne (Intergeo, Becker), Fulda (instrument calibration:
Heister, Becker, Slaboch etc.), Tokyo (ISO/FIG Becker, Heister, Seto),
Nairobi and Hanoi and Washington together with other FIG Commissions.
Several FIG publications are in preparation for Washington 2002.
Jean-Marie Becker, Chair of Commission 5
Commission 6
Commission 6 had two dedicated sessions in the technical programme, plus
contributions in other sessions - mainly with commission 5. The commission
meeting was held on May 7 with the following agenda:
- Past and future activities, forthcoming meetings
- Ideas for the next Work plan
- Preparation of the Congress
- Open forum on trends, changes and facts in engineering surveys
The question of local participation to commission meetings remains an issue,
and it must be clearly said - and written - at each Working Week that such
meetings are opened to everybody. To that respect, for the future, Commission 6
will manage to have the local delegate acting effectively as "convenor"
of his national fellows and presenting the professional situation of his country
to the audience.
The discussion in the open forum has been the most interesting, and some
major points are worth to be reported:
- A fact is that the "art of measuring" is no longer an
"art". If this simplicity calls for less knowledge, it seems that
it also generates less and less cares - at a critical point. Beside a
possible educational problem, this has to be counterbalanced by strict
specifications - hence an increased need for norms, standards, calibrations,
field (routine) checks and procedures. It is then wise to make such
constraints being legal or simply contractual, in order to guarantee the
Quality of the works - and this is indeed a general trend and practice in
engineering surveys.
- Most of engineering problems call for integrated solutions. For Civil
engineering, construction or structural engineering, as well as for large
scale metrology, many measurement and monitoring problems are solved by
multi-sensors solutions, in a multidisciplinary approach, where surveying
techniques are mixed with others. To better respond to that, surveyors have
to know more and more in various related disciplines and technologies, like
geophysics, geomechanics, optronics, etc. Conversely, a good teaching of
surveying in such other disciplines is also a factor of better
complementarity. In all cases, inter-professional meetings would favour a
better inter-professional practice.
- There has been fast significant changes in large scale metrology. Beside
motorised total stations with automatic target recognition and pointing,
laser trackers (now equipped with a very accurate absolute distancemeter)
are quickly taking a major part in industry. Optical (laser) scanners are
also more and more an efficient solution for "as built" survey of
complicated pieces and structures. Digital photogrammetry with high-density
CCD cameras proves to be a reliable solution for bigger and bigger objects.
Inserted sensors based on new technologies (like interferometric
extensometers on plastic strips) are competing with classical surveying
measurements. Monitoring with Hydrostatic Levelling Systems (HLS) and Wire
Position Sensors (WPS) can be good at micrometer level, and such sensors are
implemented in the survey and monitoring of various industrial and
scientific equipment.
The community of surveyors dealing with engineering surveys has to adapt to
such trends and changes, and it remains essential that FIG keeps an appropriate
technological level in these advanced fields of application.
Michel Mayoud, Chair of Commission 6
Commission 7
Commission 7 took the opportunity in Seoul to prepare the next annual meeting
of the Commission in Gävle (Sweden) in June 2001. There will be a first attempt
to standardise the country reports, a symposium on benchmarking of cadastral
systems, and a further discussion on the work plan 2002-2006.
Furthermore the Commission discussed the Washington Congress, and proposed to
avoid co-incidence of technical sessions and technical excursions in the field
of Commission 7. A first draft work plan 2002-2006 was presented, and there
seems to be good opportunities to align this with the overall strategy of FIG
and to cooperate with other Commissions.
Paul van der Molen, Vice Chair of Commission 7
Commission 8
Commission 8 had two technical sessions in Seoul with about 80 participants.
Only one paper from Lithuania was missing from the technical programme. Seven
national delegates participated the Commission 8 meeting on Thursday 10 May. It
was decided to prepare two technical tours during the Congress week in
Washington. The first tour will be a one-day tour into the Washington region to
study its problems while the second tour will be a half-day tour to visit the
planning authorities in the City of Washington, DC.
In addition to the open call for papers Commission 8 will prepare 3-5
sessions with no more than three papers on the topics of the three working
groups: urban regeneration; mega-cities; and public-private-partnership probably
with linkage to other Commissions.
Noticing the fact that only a small number of national delegates participates
in urban items of Commission 8, the participants of the annual meeting decided
to request all national delegates to submit their current professional biography
to the Commission chair with the aim to circulate the results among the
Commission members. This should promote the knowledge of the profile of
Commission 8 within the Commission and the FIG.
Commission chair is planning to participate the FIG/ISK/UNCHS International
Conference in Nairobi, October 2-5, 2001.
Helmut Brackmann, Chair of Commission 8
Commission 9
During the past year Commission 9 has participated in an International
Conference in Sofia, Bulgaria and arranged for a meeting of FIG President Robert
Foster with government officials and officers in the China Institute of Real
Estate Appraisers.
The annual meeting was held in Seoul with attending delegates from 13
countries. In addition to the customary introductions, scheduling and official
reports, the primary topics of discussion included creating two new working
groups, the changes in titles for commission officials, outlining the Work Plan
for 2002-2006, and preparation of technical topics and sessions for 2002
Congress.
Commission 9 will jointly present workshops and technical sessions with other
Commissions, especially Commission 2. Commission 9 will also seek participation
in the educational program from major valuation organizations in the USA
including the FIG member the Appraisal Institute, International Valuation
Standards Committee (IVSC), International Association of Assessing Officers (IAAO)
and the American Society of Appraisers.
All existing working groups will conclude their mission with reports at the
2002 Congress. Working Group 9.3: Financial Grants-in Aid to Facilitate Research
Papers for Commission 9 chaired by Simon Adcock will continue its successful
solicitation of grants from major companies that benefit from professional
valuation and appraisal services.
Two new working groups were created or started their work in Seoul:
Working Group 9.5: Education of Valuation Professionals established in Prague
in 2000 is chaired by Dr. Kauko Viitanen, Finland. Interim report to be
presented in a joint program with Commission 2 at the Congress 2002.
The new Working Group 9.6: Organizations of Valuers and Appraisers in
Emerging Eastern European Markets is chaired by David Smejkal, Czech
Republic. Interim report to be presented in joint program with Commission 2 at
the Congress 2002.
Commission 9 expresses special thanks to the Korean Appraisal Board for its
participation and support at the Seoul Working Week.
Michael Yovino-Young, Chair of Commission 9
FIG Office
31 May 2001
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