FIG Commission 5
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By Jean-Marie Becker
General Assembly
Two General Assembly (GA) meetings were held. During these
meetings, the GA accepted the proposed nomination for the Commission 5 chair
(Jean-Marie Becker). Our new vice chair (Matt Higgins) was the result of a vote
between two excellent candidates who where proposed by there National
Association (Australia and France).
Matt Higgins, Jean-Marie Becker and Mikael Lilje
The work plan for C5 was adopted at this occasion.
ACCO meetings
The Advisory Committee of Commission Officers (ACCO) had
three meetings during the Congress under the leadership of Bob Foster, incoming
FIG President. The first meeting (the day before the congress start) was
dedicated to all questions discussed in Annapolis (January 1998) and on the
General Assembly agenda. These questions concerned the commissions work plans,
chair, vice-chair and the different task forces. The last ACCO meeting concerned
mostly the future activities and the preparation of the incoming FIG working
week in Sun City (South Africa) and especially the involvement of the
Commissions. The ACCO meetings are very important and useful for the efficiency
of the FIG-work. ACCO has succeeded to reorganise and co-ordinate the technical
work of the Commissions which is fundamental for the future existence of FIG. It
was also decided that the commission secretary could participate to its meetings
in the future.
Technical sessions
Commission 5 organised 10 own technical sessions and some
joint sessions, in total 47 papers were presented by C5 and between 40 and 300
people followed the presentations. The presentations were in general of good
quality and had interesting subjects.
Commission 5 working meetings
Brighton was a kind of transition, overlapping and bridge
between the outgoing chairs (1994-98) and the incoming chairs for 1998-2002 and
also between the working group members. It was the first opportunity for many of
our members to meet each other and make personal contacts in a way to stimulate
our future collaboration.
We had the possibility to inform and discuss the proposed
working plans concerning the specific activities/missions of each WG through
three meetings (about 1 hour each). A majority of our chair and vice-chair as
well as many interested people contributed to the discussions on updating of the
proposed work plans and working group organisation.
In Brighton, we had also the possibility to make personal
contacts with other FIG and commission members, manufacturers, exhibitors, etc
and discuss with them subjects of common interest.
A common reflection was that we had not enough time for these
meetings. We should have had them within the official agenda. We need also
larger rooms with technical facilities so that all interested can participate to
the commission debates. All leaders (Chair and Vice-Chair) should participate to
these meetings. They are very important for the good work and spirit of our team
and to have a good contact with our supporters.
Special session with the manufacturers
By tradition, Commission 5 invites all manufacturers to a
common meeting for discussion of questions of common interest. These meeting
allows informing each partner about problems, suggestions, news and requests.
FIG C5 is the link between FIG Surveyors and the manufacturers.
Due to various things, the participation was limited to about
seven manufacturers mostly representing GPS producers. In total about 30
participated to the meeting. Nevertheless the discussion and debate focused on
some specific questions from the manufacturers side (e.g. too high registration
fees for the exhibitors, few visitors) and from the C5 surveyors side (e.g.
concerning open access to raw data and formulas used in the instruments, better
information about the technical specifications including the limitations).
We also made a common agreement to have common meeting at
each FIG working week, or at least once per year. Furthermore, C5 will in the
future inform about technical news in its Newsletter.
Technical excursions
Commission 5 and 6 arranged three technical tours:
- Ordnance Survey in Southampton.
- Greenwich Meridian, Historical Observatory Museum and the Thames
Flood Barrier.
- Bluebell Railway from Sheffield Park to Kinscote.
The most appreciated was the second one, which allowed each
participant to stand over and visualise the reference meridian taking a
photograph in situ!
Visit to the Thames Flood Barrier
Other events where C5 members were involved during the
Brighton Congress
As mentioned earlier some C5 members participated to the
special ISO TC211 meeting concerning the debate on the "geomaticians"
proposal from Canada and the other projects included inside TC211 work.
The CLGE (European Council of Geodetic Surveyors) had
three meetings concerning its activities. Several European FIG members (Vaclav
Slaboch, Jean-Marie Becker, etc) are also CLGE-members and participated to all
meetings.
A French-speaking group (Groupe Francophone de la FIG)
was created and had also its first meeting in Brighton concerning the questions
related to the use of one FIG language (English). About 32 delegates from 13
countries participated to the debate trying to found a solution to the actual
language problems. The debates were very animated and sometimes hot. Different
proposals for actions were presented; the future has to show what this Groupe
Francophone is able to do! This is a growing problem for FIG and we must find a
acceptable solution.
Michel Kasser and Jean-Marie proposed to contribute with some
summaries in French within the Newsletter. The same proposal is valuable for
other languages (Spanish, etc) but we need the help from some translators.
Voluntaries are welcome.
