The ISPRS2012 offered delegates eight exciting days of tutorials, presentations, and technical tours. The main technical programme consisted of plenary sessions, oral presentation sessions with 12 parallel streams, and short presentation sessions with interactive, digital posters. There was also an engaging social programme that delivered a mix of cultural and sporting events. Sr Simon Kwok, VP, and I attended the meetings of the General Assembly (GA) of the ISPRS during the 22nd Congress held on 25 August to 1 September 2012 in Melbourne, Australia. The HKIS is an Ordinary Member of the ISPRS, and we have to cast our vote on agenda items in the GA.

 

The eight-day program was fully packed with four GA sessions, four plenary sessions, various technical/theme/special sessions on top of the welcome reception, a Congress dinner, and other social events.

 

Mr Orhan Altan, the President of the ISPRS, chaired the General Assembly, which featured lengthy agenda items to be decided on by members. Among them, members had to elect the hosts of the Technical Commissions, the host of the 2016 ISPRS Congress, and fellow members for key posts in the Council of the Society.

 

The direction and management of the Society, including the conduct of its technical and scientific program, is undertaken through the following components: the Congress, the General Assembly, the Council, the Financial Commission, the Technical Commissions, and the Sustaining Members Committee. The scientific activities of the Society are entrusted to and conducted by eight Technical Commissions and their Working Groups. At every quadrennial Congress, the General Assembly: (a) elects eight Ordinary Members who will host the eight Commissions and (b) approves Resolutions that provide direction for scientific activities to be undertaken.

 

We are delighted to learn that Mr CHEN JUN of the National Geomatics Centre of China (國家基礎地理信息中心) was elected President of the ISPRS. The  Congress Director elected was Ms LENA HALOUNOVA of the Czech Technical University, who will host the 2016 ISPRS Congress in Prague. The GA serves as a platform for international experts in photogrammetry and remote sensing to  shape our future with the latest technology and international cooperation.

 

The Plenary Sessions of the Congress highlighted the need to see the future through a better knowledge of the present, the Way Forward for Dynamic GIS, and Geomatics and Disaster Management. We were also glad to recap our memories of university in the old days by listening to Dr Steward Walker, ex-NELP lecturer and the Director of BAE Systems, deliver a lecture on the Development of Photogrammetry.

 

The welcome reception provided a leisurely and friendly environment to delegates on the first Congress evening so that we could meet old and new friends.

 

The Congress dinner was held during the last evening of the Congress at the Melbourne Horsing Racing Course. Delegates took the opportunity to say farewell to their international counterparts.

 

The Congress Exhibition, with 85 exhibitioners, displayed some state-of-the-art products and services in the area of photogrammetry and remote sensing. We exchanged ideas with major suppliers about Hong Kong’s current situation using photogrammetric techniques in data capture and how the latest techniques would further improve the quality of land surveying in Hong Kong.

 

Prof Ding delivered the opening speech to new students who had just enrolled in the program, either in the HD, BSc (3-year), or BSc (4-year) program. The HKIS was invited to brief the students on their career paths, as well as the route to achieving the status of professional land surveyor. I wish them a good start and look forward to seeing them in their future careers as land surveyors in Hong Kong.

 

If you have any views on the Council’s work, please feel free to send them to the Hon Secretary at [email protected] or to me at [email protected].