Strong Commission 3 Participation to the International Conference on Spatial Data Infrastructure 201015-17 September 2010, Skopje, Macedonia FYROM
The 2010 International Conference on Spatial Data Infrastructures was successfully held at FON University in Skopje, FY Republic of Macedonia, from 15th to 17th September, 2010. The conference was organized by Geo-SEE (South-East Europe Research Association on Geo Sciences) and was supported by six co-organisers (FIG, EUROGI, Chamber of Authorized Surveyors of Macedonia, FON University, ITC, and Geography Department of SUT). Rector of the FON University Prof. Aleksandar Nikolovksi and Prof. Bashkim Idrizi, chair of the Organizing Committee made the opening speeches. Two keynote speeches were made by Prof. Chryssy Potsiou, current chair of FIG Commission 3, on behalf of FIG, with a title “Spatial information management and the current rapid processes of urbanization”, and by Prof. Mauro Salvemini, President of EUROGI, on behalf of EUROGI with a title “European and International dimension of GI management for societal and environmental sustainability”. FIG Commission 3 was also represented by its incoming chair Prof. Yerach Doytsher and WG chair Prof. Hartmut Mueller, who also had presentations. In Skopje, all three FIG Commission 3 experts presented FIG publication 48 on “Rapid Urbanization and Mega Cities: The Need for Spatial Information Management”. The Conference was attended by more than 100 participants/authors from 23 different countries (Hungary, Albania, Kosovo, Sweden, Greece, Croatia, Turkey, FY Republic of Macedonia, Slovenia, Belgium, Germany, Bulgaria, Austria, Czech Republic, Serbia, United Kingdom, Finland, Italy, USA, France, Scotland, Israel and Ireland). The congress was also attended by representatives of the following relevant agencies: Agency for Real Estate Cadastre of Macedonia, Kosova Cadastral Agency, Hungarian Association for Geo-information, Albanian National Institute of Statistics, Ministry of Agriculture of Kosovo, Hungarian Cascadoss Association, Statistical Office of Kosovo, Ministry of Environment and Climate Protection of Germany, Ministry of Environment and Spatial Planning of Kosovo , Macedonian Spatial Planning Agency, Macedonian Public Enterprise Makedonija Pat, and the Slovenian Forestry Institute.
Most discussed issues in the conference were about NSDIs, INSPIRE, WebGIS, geoportals, mapping, GSDI, regional and urban management, SDI development and assessment, commercial and open source software, coordinate frames, cadastral data, land management, data harmonization, cooperation between stake holders, policies, strategies and legal aspects. At the closing session, conclusions had been approved by all participants, as conference resolution. Conference was closed by Prof. Chryssy Potsiou as representative of FIG. All papers published in proceedings are now available at OICRFs web site, also free downloadable. Within the conference, beside the key note speeches and presentations of papers, two workshops have been organized as well. First workshop was related to the efforts for data harmonization through the Humbold project, chaired by Mauro Salvemini and Anders Ostman, and the second one for the possibilities of utilization of Open source software, chaired by Arnaud Deleurme and Naumce Lazarevski. The Conference was among the most successful ones in the region and participants have agreed on the importance that Geo-SEE (South-East European Research Association on Geo Sciences) will organise a follow-up conference within 2-3 years to address the current SDI needs and assess the progress in the South-Eastern European region. Participants have enjoyed the excellent hospitality of the organizers and they had a wonderful time for discussions and entertainment during the social events held in the beautiful old part of the city of Skopje.
Prof. Chryssy Potsiou 16 December 2010 |
