23rd FIG General Assembly, Prague 2000
Minutes
Appendices



APPENDIX TO ITEM 32

Report from ACCO

ACCO MEETINGS

ACCO had two successful meetings during the Working Week. A number of issues were discussed and key outcomes were as follows:

FIG AND COOPERATION WITH UN AGENCIES

The Commissions noted the extensive links being established with a range of UN agencies by Professor Ian Williamson. In discussion with ACCO and subsequently with the Bureau it was noted that the prime areas of focus with the UN would be those linked with the Istanbul+5 and Rio+10 agendas.

ACCO were also supportive of the work to promote the role of the surveyor in Agenda 21 and to support the creation of an FIG paper on this theme. It is planned to review the draft paper produced by the Task Force, chaired by Helge Onsrud with a view to publishing this document in 2001.

Standards

ACCO noted and supported the ongoing work of the Task Force on Standards.

LINKS WITH OTHER ORGANISATIONS

ACCO acknowledged the value in establishing links with other international bodies. In particular it supported the establishment of bilateral agreements with sister bodies such as IAG, ISPRS, ICA and IHO following the dissolution of IUSM. In addition it noted the value in establishing links through strategic alliances with other professional bodies with interests in fields allied to the FIG.

A list of bodies with which to establish links will be agreed with the Bureau. In all cases it was noted that links would be established with the full involvement of the relevant Commissions.

REGIONAL ACTIVITIES

There is support within the Commissions to work with regional Bodies in particular in Africa, Asia and South America. Several Commissions indicated interest in being involved in forthcoming seminars in Nairobi and Western Africa. Furthermore there are plans to hold similar events in Central and Latin America in collaboration with the World Bank and local surveyors.

GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT

ACCO noted the draft recommendations on the future governance and management paper. ACCO was keen to ensure that a representative from this body was linked to the new Council and looked forward to selecting a member in due course. In the interim Matt Higgins would contribute to the new Task Force which would be considering the future structure of the Commissions.

PREPARATIONS FOR KOREA AND WASHINGTON 2002

ACCO noted the progress being made on the preparations for Korea and Washington. In the former case it was noted that an open call for papers would take place in the summer. It was noted that it was critical to ensure that Korean and other topics of regional interest were included in the programme.

The theme of the Washington meeting Geomatics and Property Valuation for Global Sustainable Development was noted and supported.

ACCO acknowledges the considerable work being undertaken by both the US and Korean organising committees.

ESTABLISHMENT OF NEW WORKING GROUPS

It was noted that a new joint Working Group between Commissions 2 and 9 had been formed to consider the issue of Education of Valuers.

FURTHER COMMISSION CO-OPERATION

ACCO decided to meet next time during the FIG Working Week in Seoul, Korea. Between Korea and Washington 2002 there will be an additional ACCO meeting probably in Washington in October 2001. The aim of this meeting is to discuss the strategies of FIG, for the Commission chairs to finalise the programme for the Congress 2002 and for the Vice Chairs to prepare their Work Plans for 2002-2006 focussing activities of joint Commission interest.

As noticed several times there is not sufficient time during the Working Week for the Commission officers to get together and discuss various issues that might be of mutual benefit to the Commissions and FIG. Therefore it was agreed to have an additional inter-commission meeting in Seoul before the Working Week and official meetings. The idea of this meeting is to share experiences and ideas on known and new activities.

The representatives of ACCO discussed on the ACCO representation in the new Council (ACCO representative to be appointed in Seoul). The draft proposal is to have an executive committee composed of two existing Commission chairs and one vice chair. One of these would represent ACCO in the Council while the others would be deputies.

ACCO representatives nominated an interim co-ordinating group to prepare procedure for election of the executive committee and nomination of candidates to be elected in Seoul and to co-ordinate ACCO input in the Task Force on the Future of the Commissions, Task Forces and Permanent Institutions.

APPENDIX TO THE ACCO REPORT

COMMISSION ACTIVITIES DURING THE FIG WORKING WEEK IN PRAGUE

In addition to the ACCO meetings all Commissions had meetings at least once during the Working Week. In addition to the Commission reports circulated with the agenda the main results from the meetings in Prague were:

Commission 1
  • 18 people attended the meeting, at which WG chairs gave their reports, unfortunately there was very little interest from those who were present to assist with the further work
  • Commission 1 plans to have 3 sessions in Korea with themes
    • Private Sector Surveyors, 3 papers
    • Commission 1 Activities, 3 papers
    • International Issues, 3 papers
    • Workshop on Business Practices

Further a joint session is planned together with Commission 2 and the Task Force on Under-represented Groups.

  • Following themes have emerged for Congress 2002:
    • Information Technology and Professional Practice
    • Business Practices
    • Activities of the Profession
    • Customer Service
    • International Agencies
    • The Back Door Ways to Surveying (jointly with the Task Force on Under-represented Groups)
  • The Bureau Work Plan has requested Commission 1 to take action on Quality Customer Service. This can be incorporated into the work being done by WG 1.2 with additional support by the Chair.
Commission 2
  • Commission 2 organised one technical sessions and three commission meetings during the Working Week. Technical session was titled "New trends on Education" and the main theme was Virtual Academy
  • Two Commission meetings were open meetings: one for Virtual Academy and the other for Surveying Students. Commission meeting on Monday focussed on the work of Commission Working Groups.
  • Main results:
  • Commission is willing to include more technical substance (modern technology in education) in the Commission work and to increase co-operation with other Commissions
  • Commission 2 is looking forward to get at least one presentation from different Commissions on education to be included in Commission 2 sessions in Malta, Rosario and Korea
  • Co-operation has started with Commissions 3, 5 and 9. With Commission 9 a new Working Group on Education of Evaluers has been established
  • Commission is willing to develop the use of the FIG Surveying Education Database by developing applications on the database
  • Commission is supporting the exchange of students both in studies and training. SEBD and the Academic Membership will work as a basis for this.
  • The focus in Commission activity is the concept of virtual academy and the curricula contents and developing a methodology for describing curricula in different countries
  • Compared to the past Commission is focusing more on the technical and substantial topics in the surveying education.
  • Commission 2 is planning 4-5 sessions for Korea:
  • Virtual academy
  • University curricula
  • Education of Valuers (joint with Commission 9), and
  • One or two sessions on
  • Mobile multimedia (joint with Commissions 3, 5 and 8)
  • 3D planning and virtual worlds (joint with Commissions 3, 5 and 8)
Commission 3
  • There were two meetings with 27 and 18 participants from 15 countries
  • Commission has invited national delegates to provide national reports to the meetings. This time reports were received from Greece, Norway, Belarus, Austria, Czech Republic and Hungary. All countries seem to have Spatial Data Infrastructure on their agenda for actual or coming development. The national reports seem to be an excellent idea to encourage the delegates to attend the meetings.
  • Commission decided to have its annual meeting in Nairobi in October 2001 in connection to the international joint FIG/UN Seminar. Meeting in 2003 will be in Austria. Estonia has further offered to host an event.
  • Annual meeting 2000 will be held in Athens in October, where the hosts have offered free registration for students.
  • For Washington 40-50 papers are expected. The first session will be dedicated to presentation of the Commission and its activities.
  • In Prague the Commission session was organised as a panel discussion and with a keynote from Prof. Ian Masser, President of EUROGI. The presentation was followed by a lively discussion for more than 45 minutes – a session model that could be used in other Commissions as well.
Commission 4
  • There were no technical sessions for Commission 4 in Prague and therefore the attendance was lower than normally
  • However there were some useful discussions e.g. on building stronger links with various national Hydrographic Societies
  • FIG contribution on the work of Technical Assistance Coordinating Committee (TACC) was discussed as well as FIG support to co-operation with other IHO activities
  • Commission participates the FIG joint seminar in Malta
  • Commission will participate in the work of drafting the FIG Agenda 21.
Commission 5
  • 20 participants from 13 countries attended the annual meeting of the Commission in Prague including all working group chairs
  • WG 5.4 will organise a seminar on New Surveying Techniques and Applications in Urban Areas in Paris 17-19 April 2001.
  • WG 5.5 is preparing FIG Technical Fact Sheets on Reference Frame matters
  • Commission has participated actively in the work of ISO TC 59 and 172 and managed to integrate these groups to one which means that there will be only one integrated standard for practitioners in the future
  • Commission is looking forward to establish or combine a database on technical papers and publications from different sources
  • Commission is preparing a publication on guidelines of the best use of instrumentation that could be published in the FIG series
  • In Korea Commission 5 is planning to have a full day seminar (4-5 sessions with 12-15 papers focussing on Commission working groups (2-3 sessions) and GPS in cadastre
  • In addition a half-day workshop on standards and guidelines is planned for Korea
  • Commission is also planning to co-sponsor a seminar in Colombia and looking for participation to other regional meetings
  • In September 2000 Commission is in charge for the joint FIG seminar in Malta.
Commission 6
  • Commission had its annual meeting that was attended also by the organisers of the WW2001
  • Commission is planning to have two sessions in Korea
  • In addition there is big interest to have papers both from Korea and from the region (Japan, Malaysia etc.). Commission is supporting the open call for papers for the Working Week 2001
  • Themes for Congress 2002 were discussed.
Commission 7
  • Commission held its annual meeting just before the Working Week in Hamburg. This meeting was a great success with 35 national delegates from 25 countries. One day International Symposium attracted 60 delegates
  • Annual meeting 2001 is scheduled for June in Sweden
  • Programme for Korea was agreed with papers for 4 sessions identified
  • Outline programme for Washington was also discussed
  • Working Groups have made substantial progress
  • Programme of support for the FIG/UN initiatives has been discussed and agreed with the Director, FIG/UN Liaison including continuation of existing initiatives (Multilingual Thesaurus, Women’s Access to Land) and looking at new (possible Global Atlas on Land Administration)
  • Closer liaison discussed and agreed with UN agencies including UNECE/WPLA
  • Support discussed for UN preparations for Istanbul+5 and other forthcoming global conferences and FIG/UN events, and agreed in principle.
Commission 8
  • Commission meeting was attended by participants from 8 countries
  • Commission is looking for partnership with other international organisations like IFHP and IsoCaRP
  • Programme and themes for Korea and Washington were discussed.
Commission 9
  • 14 people attended the annual meeting
  • Agreed that there is a need to establish common standards for qualifications and curriculum that can be adopted by new and evolving professional bodies in developing countries. Commission 2 and 9 will co-operate in this programme that includes surveys of present FIG member organisations
  • Agreed that there is a need to create opportunities for CPD for valuers in FIG organisations
  • Commission 9 will continue to liase with other professional organisations starting with a meeting by the Chair with FIABCI in London at the end of May 2000
  • Continue participation in the Task Force on Standards
  • Agreed on tentative meeting in Copenhagen in 2001
Ad hoc Commission on Construction Economics and Management
  • Ad hoc Commission organised a full-day seminar with ICEC in Prague. Attendance to this meeting was not as good as expected. In conjunction to the Working Week also the Region III Meeting of ICEC was organised
  • For Korea ad hoc Commission is looking for programme jointly with quantity surveyors from that region

Vice President Holger Magel
Chair of ACCO

25 May 2000
Commission activities added 5 June 2000, FIG Office



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