TECHNICAL COMMISSION VI: EDUCATION AND COMMUNICATION

WG VI/2: Computer Assisted Teaching

Chair: Kohei Cho (Japan)
Co-Chair: Joachim K.Hohle (Denmark)

State of Science and Technology of Working Group Topics

Accomplishments of Working Group During 1997

Many conferences and seminars on CAT/CAL were held in various places. Some of them are described as follows. The members of the WG contributed to them by means of papers, demonstrations etc.

WG VI/3: International Cooperation and Technology Transfer

State of Science and Technology of WG VI/3

The Terms of Reference of WG VI/3 should be suggestions and not boundaries, because it is impossible to separate science and the related techniques. Therefore the activities are defined, but not restricted to the Terms of Reference; furthermore new arguments are riches and not uncertainty. A comparison between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance proves that during the first there were a lot of constraints, but sciences and arts increased strongly in the second epoch. A second consideration recognizes that science and techniques should grow together, exchanging theoretical contributions and practical experiences positively.

The following list provides some informal ideas in order to better focus the Terms of Reference of the WG VI/3:

• Offer an open floor for people entering ISPRS;


• Establish close contacts with Regional Member Organizations and, through them, Ordinary Members and Associated Members;


• Collect real examples of knowledge sharing and technology transfer;


• Promote the growth of basic knowledge and its circulation;


• Encourage a peaceful use of mature and innovative technologies:


• Establish contacts of ISPRS Technical Commissions and/or WG's, as well as Sister Societies, Regional Member Organizations and other International Institutions, which agree with the above mentioned sentences.

The Working Group activities will combine suitably the longstanding experiences and the results coming from the application of new techniques and methodologies: the aim is to bring together experts from various disciplines. Therefore scientists, engineers and users in the fields of photogrammetry, remote sensing, astronomy, geodesy, geophysics, electronics and computer science coming from universities, research institutes, governmental organizations, industries and engineering firms are invited to participate and their contributions will be highly appreciated.

Three levels of participation are foreseen: full-week, one-day and correspondent only (in this case the local host will provide to display an assisted poster session): the aim is always to enlarge the participation and to have Working Group activities at a really international level. The future plan of WG VI/3 will combine proper activities in East Europe and Africa, with high level contributions to the Technical Commission VI Mid Term Symposium and the next ISPRS Congress.

Considering the level of participation, nobody cannot change he/she interest, but focus his/her attention in a field wider than the traditional one cooperation imposes to exit from the everyday routine and to enter the world meeting new people, with the aim to exchange experiences and to transfer useful technologies positively.

Finally, because a lot of people wrote asking for financial support for travelling and lodging, the Working Group must state that the possibility to provide funds for all, needs a very big budget, whilst the budget of the Working Group is quite poor.

However ISPRS WG VI/3 chooses voluntary to have not only participants but also correspondent members, so that people interested to stay in contact may use e-mail, fax or phone and send camera-ready high-light contributions: they will be highly appreciated, displayed in the poster sessions and included in the Proceedings.

Accomplishments of WG VI/3

ISPRS WG VI/3 Padua Meeting

The WG VI/3 "International Cooperation and Technology Transfer" organized the first meeting of the Working Group as a one-week meeting from February 3 - 7, 1997. The meeting took place in Padua, University of Padua, Engineering Faculty - Aula Magna, and was organized by Dipartimento del Territorio e Sistemi Agroforestali and Dipartimento di Costruzioni e Trasporti - Sezione Rilevamento. The local host-person was Prof. Antonio Vettore. The meeting had a large participation, including 56 Italians and 18 participants from abroad, involving 12 countries. The president of ISPRS Technical Commission VI Mr. Klaas Villanueva from Indonesia and the chairperson of WG VI/1 Dr. Tania Maria Sausen form Brazil were present in the meeting.

The meeting consisted of seven Technical sessions, a one-day Tutorial on Geomatics, a half-day Tutorial on Data Processing and a Poster Session. A total of 6 lectures in the framework of tutorials, 23 papers and 11 posters were presented. The main topics of the meeting were: education in geodesy, survey, photogrammetry and GIS, knowledge sharing and technology transfer, selected themes from geodesy, photogrammetry, remote sensing and GIS. The variety of subjects covered by the meeting clearly underlines the intention of the WG VI/3 to bring together experts from various disciplines, e.g. scientists, technicians and users in the fields of photogrammetry, remote sensing, astronomy, geodesy, geophysics, electronics, telecommunications and computer science, coming from universities, research institutes, governmental organizations, industries and engineering firms.

ISPRS WG VI/3 Bahia Blanca Meeting

The WG VI/3 "International Cooperation and Technology Transfer" organized the second appointment of the working group as a one-week meeting from October 27 - 31, 1997. The meeting took place in Bahia Blanca, Argentina at the Universitad Nacional del Sur (U.N.S.), Aula Magna, and was co-organized by the Engineering Department from U.N.S. The Chairperson was Prof. Dr. Luigi Mussio from Politecnico di Milano. The meeting had a large participation: over 100 participants, including colleagues from Italy, Russia, Uruguay and mainly from Argentina. Directors from C.O.N.A.E. (National Commission of Spatial Affairs of Argentina) came specially to Bahia Blanca in order to assist the meeting and they organized a special event in order to settle the basis for the future cooperation between U.N.S. researchers and C.O.N.A.E.

The meeting consisted of seven Technical sessions and a half-day tutorial: "International co-generation", a Poster Session and also a Business Session. A total of two lectures in the framework of tutorials, 29 papers and 19 posters were presented. The main topics of the meeting were: cartography and G.P.S., cartography and remote sensing, G.I.S. and expert systems, cooperation and education, resources and environmental monitoring, land degradation monitoring and water resources and coastal zone monitoring. The meeting was led under the auspices of "Instituto Geografico Militar Argentino (I.G.M.)" "Municipalidad de Bahia Blanca", "Consejo Profesional de Agrimensura de la Provincia de Buenos Aires" and "Albano: Cartografia digital".

WG VI/3 News

On behalf of ISPRS Technical Commission VI President and in cooperation with other ISPRS WG Chair of Commission VI, namely Ms. Tania Maria Sausen, ISPRS WG VI/3 is organizing a High Level Tutorial in the two days before ISPRS Technical Commission VI Mid Term Symposium, which will be held in Indonesia, in August 1998.

According to its terms of reference, the Working Group kept close contacts with Regional Organizations. Therefore AIT (Asian Institute of Technology) was fully engaged, as Cooperating Organization, and Prof. Shunji Murai was kindly invited not only to give a lecture, but also to become the Chairperson of the tutorial itself. A volume of International Archives of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing series will collect all the papers presented at each meeting.

General Comments

It is a big pleasure to note as WG VI/3 cooperates with some Cooperating WG's, that it is not a small, isolated Working Group, but it plays an important role among the Technical Commissions and their Working Groups, increasing their cooperation and emphasizing the topics of international cooperation and technology transfer. Furthermore, special attention to real examples should be given by every member, to overcome a lack often experienced in the universities; indeed WG VI/3 according to its Terms of Reference cannot neglect or dismiss contributions from industry, engineering firms, etc.

WG VI/4: Internet Resources and Spatial Data Sharing

Accomplishment of WG-VI/4

• Investigation of the Internet environment for each ISPRS Ordinary Member.
• Promotion of homepages created by each ISPRS Ordinary Member, each Working Group, and each Commission and linked by the ISPRS main homepage.
• Presentation of the �INTERNET AND WEBPAGE GUIDELINES FOR ISPRS to the Council.
• Proposal of the Best Webpage Of The Year Award to ISPRS Webpages.