The FIG Report

Vol. I, No. 5

John D. Hohol, ACSM FIG Forum Head of Delegation

 

The XXIII FIG Congress held October 7-13 in Munich, Germany, was a great success. The FIG Congress was attended by 1,300 delegates from about 100 countries. Thirty-five participants in the FIG Congress were from the USA.  Together with the German Intergeo Conference and other simultaneous events the congress was attended by 3,000 participants. The Intergeo exhibition attracted about 20,000 visitors and 580 exhibitors from almost 100 countries.  The exhibition floor covered over 30,000 square meters (almost 323,000 square feet).  This was the largest FIG Congress as well as the largest Intergeo even held.

 

At the opening ceremony the welcome address was given by Dr. Edmund Stoiber, Bavarian Minister President, the presidential address by Prof. Holger Magel, FIG President and the keynote address by Dr. Klaus Töpfer, long-time General Director of the United Nations Environment Program. The opening ceremony attracted a capacity hall of 1,400 participants. The social highlights included the FIG Congress welcome reception at the Holiday Inn with 700 people, the Intergeo Surveyors Party/FIG Foundation Dinner with 1,800 people at the Löwenbräukeller and the FIG Congress Farewell Dinner with about 600 people at the Hofbräuhaus - all these events were sold out.

 

Some 500 papers in 90 sessions were presented.  Additionally several workshops, seminars and plenary sessions were offered along with 100 poster display presentations. 

 

Key highlights of the FIG Congress included the election of Professor Stig Enemark (Denmark) as the new President of FIG (2007-2010).  Also elected were Matt Higgins (Australia) and Dr. Dalal S. Alnaggar (Egypt) as Vice Presidents for 2007-2010.  Professor Paul van der Molen (The Netherlands) was elected to fill Stig Enemark’s term as Vice President for 2007-2008.  The fourth Vice President is Ken Allred (Canada) who will continue in the new Council.  The new Council will begin its term January 1, 2007. 

 

Dr. Chryssy Potsiou (Greece) was appointed as ACCO (Advisory Committee of Commission Officers) representative to the FIG Council for 2007-2008.

 

Marrakech, Morocco was selected as the site for the 2011 FIG Working Week after winning the majority of support over the other candidates- Rome, Italy; Puerto Rico; and Nigeria.

 

New member associations were approved from Benin, Brazil, Congo D.R., Georgia, Hong Kong, Iran, Mongolia, and Tanzania bringing the total of member associations to 102. In addition, five new affiliate members (ANZLIC, Iceland, Macedonia FYROM, Mongolia, and Romania) were admitted.  The FIG General Assembly also endorsed membership of 7 new corporate members and 13 academic members.

 

Four new FIG publications were introduced.  Reports from the FIG President and final reports from ACCO and the commissions for 2002-2006 were approved as well as draft commission work plans for 2007-2010 were introduced.

 

Presentations were made by nine representatives from the USA including a Plenary Presentation by David Zilkoski, Director, National Geodetic Survey.

 

The ACSM FIG Forum Delegation members in attendance included Steve Frank (Commission 2- Professional Education), Chuck Pearson (Commission 3- Spatial Information Management), Jerry Mills (Commission 4- Hydrography), Tom Soler (Commission 5- Positioning and Measurement), John Hamilton (Commission 6- Engineering Surveys), Bob Foster (Commission 9- Valuation and the Management of Real Estate), and John Hohol (ACSM FIG Head of Delegation).

 

The next FIG Working Week will be held May 13-17, 2007 in Hong Kong, China.