economic implications such as how much confidence do I have in a decision
based on some kind of GIS process? This means providing scientific leadership
to linking uncertainties in databases to uncertainties in the mathematical models
used, to the cost impacts of the decisions. In land reallotment, this balancing act
is taught at Delft but could be extended to include other economic aspects of
Geomatics.
All this leads to the conclusion that if I had to design a Geomatics MSc program,
I would get quite close to what Delft Geodesy offers with possibly some
modifications and linkages to other universities to fill the missing pieces in
economics and certain aspects of law.
The Challenge
All this is of course seen from a Canadian perspective where the need for the
establishment of Geomatics and of Geomatics Infrastructures has been
recognized for some time. This is reflected in such things as the Inter Agency
Committee on Geomatics in the federal government of Canada, which provides
leadership to Geomatics and related infrastructure development at the federal
level. There is a Geomatics Council which advises the Minister responsible for
the national surveys and mapping program. It is composed of four key advisory
committees, namely on National Surveys and Mapping (including Cadastre), on
Remote Sensing, on the National Atlas of Canada and on Geographical Names
all of which are recognized to be key elements to geomatics development. At the
federal-provincial level there is the Canadian Council on Geomatics which
governs coordination of federal and provincial activities, particularly to achieve
the multiple use and sharing of geo-information once it has been surveyed by
either federal or provincial agencies. Finally, there is the Geomatics Industry
Association of Canada, which grew out of the Canadian Association of Aerial
Surveyors in recognition of the broader scope of private sector companies that
contribute to surveying and mapping in a Geomatics context.
But, for Dutch geodesists to make their contribution to Geomatics development
in the Netherlands they must first help create institutional recognition of the
geomatics concept, under whatever name you may wish to let it masquerade.
Once this support for the concept begins to grow the question is, which
organization should take the lead role in its development? Rijkswaterstaat,
Kadaster, Topografische Dienst?
I felt that most of these organizations are applying digital technology to
accelerate conventional processes without giving too much thought to the
"information character" of their work. There also does not seem to be much
recognition for the fact that all these organizations are in the "information
business". This to me was surprising because there is some very good dutch
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