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Recommendations
of The 7th International Seminar for GIS Applications in Planning and
Sustainable Development The
7th International Seminar for GIS Applications in Planning and
Sustainable Development was held in Cairo during the period 19 – 21 Zul
Qa’da 1421H / 13 – 15 February 2001AD, with the participating of OICC
members, while hosting local and international experts, under the auspices of
the UN Economic & Social Affairs Division, International Society for
Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ISPRS) and Environmental System Research
Institute. Cairo Governorate of the Arab Republic of Egypt organized the
Conference, in cooperation with the OICC. The
Conference included three main sessions, in which five keynotes were delivered,
in addition to ten parallel sessions, where sixty work papers pertaining to
sustainable development were submitted on various topics, in addition to a
workshop on “Management and Planning of Utilities in Cities”. In
addition to the foregoing, the Seminar organized scientific visits to the
Greater Cairo Utility Network Center and the National Authority for Remote
Sensing and Space Sciences, as well as visits to the Fatimid Cairo, in order to
witness Governorate heritage preservation projects at Al Darb Al Asfar. During
deliberations, the extent of advancement in GIS applications and remote sensing
in the following fields has been revealed: i.
Sustainable Development; ii.
Information Technology & System Development; iii.
Capacity Building & Training; iv.
Knowledge Transfer & International Cooperation. We
start the recommendation report by a study of the status quo of GIS applications
and remote sensing in planning and sustainable development to find out the
extent of development of such systems in comparison with the status quo of the 6th
International Seminar on “GIS, City Sustainability and Environment”, held
during the period 10 – 14 December 1995AD. This review tackles the following
themes: i.
Decision-making related to information systems; ii.
Participation among organizations in the field of information systems; iii.
Economics of information systems; iv.
Technologies of information systems. First: Decision-making by Information Systems: The Committee decided to make record of the following:
Second:
Participation among authorities in the field of GIS 1.
Studies emphasized the importance of cooperation between international,
regional and local organizations, as a condition for the success of
GIS applications in sustainable development; 2.
Application showed that GIS was integrated in day-to-day work in an
advanced manner, and that it has become a tool for business administration in
several institutions. This process emphasizes the actual participation among
some of these authorities. Third:
Information System Application Economics 1.
Studies displayed the efficacy and economy of applying the technology of
remote sensing, in order to obtain GIS inputs, to the extent of considering the
system of remote sensing an integral part of GIS; 2.
Low cost of GIS applications and remote sensing has rendered them,
technically, available for everyone.
Fourth:
Information System Technologies 1.
There still exists the difficulty of obtaining RS images from available
sources in developed countries; 2.
Researches have proven the importance of using documented data; 3.
Data propriety sets have been abolished after the proposed open GIS
Agreement; 4.
Submitted applications displayed the capacity of some institutions to
compile, update and maintain all the required data; 5. Training on GIS applications has developed in universities and has
extended to private training centers; 6.
In spite of the spreading of GIS, there is yet the need for codifying and
classifying data compiling criteria; 7.
Studies have shown a growing awareness, concerning the importance of
accurate information; 8.
Applications submitted in the Conference responded to the need to
comprehend and analyze intricate relations in all domains; 9.
The importance of GIS has developed, where some emerged with a capacity
to respond to Internet environment. In
spite of the success of many cities in using GIS applications and remote
sensing, which is represented in accomplishing several sectoral projects with
high technical accuracy and by using the most update systems, certain negative
aspects arise, namely: First:
Lack of development of theoretical backgrounds of applications, applied
analytical methods and the decision-making process, where many applications have
become simplified; Second:
Appearance of some deficiency in attaining optimal and aspired benefit
from applying these systems. Consequently,
three recommendations arise from the strategy of continually raising the
scientific and theoretical efficiency by a prompt intensification of the process
of knowledge transfer, both theoretical and practical, in fields of methods of
analysis and decision-making. The
Committee deems that decision-making support should include the different
structures of decision-making, such as popular participation, backing NGO
projects by means of modeling multi-media and linking them with GIS. The
Committee also believes that importance should be given to economic and social
factors in transferring technology, as well as the consideration of heritage,
and to be certain of the importance of utilizing GIS and close-range sensing, in
preserving the architectural heritage of Islamic cities. The
Committee also asserts the importance of learning about the most updated
analytical and statistical programmes, modeling and simulation in all sectors
concerned with sustainable development, in order to attain numerous alternatives
that enable optimal solutions. The
strategy for scientific capacity building in the field of information system
techniques and sustainable development could be translated into a specific plan
of action for knowledge transfer. With
respect to the theoretical and applied background in professional and technical
fields, the following recommendations could be made: 1.
To ensure that continuous education is economically feasible for
individuals through open universities on the Internet, as well as distance
training; 2.
To assert that intensive practical training courses over 3 – 6 month
for 7-10 days in certain fields of specializations are equally feasible for NGOs
and governmental organizations in member capitals and cities, as well as
participants; 3.
To guarantee the exchange of the best of practices between OICC members
through the Internet and OICC website; 4.
To continue the organization of scientific conferences and seminars, in
view of the clear advantage in transferring knowledge and raising the awareness
of themes of meeting; 5.
To cooperate between international technical organizations and OICC in
terms of knowledge transfer produced by international scientific conferences to
OICC active and associate members, and to cooperate in creating an
open-university network and supervise training courses. We
wish to underline the comment of the UN Economic and Social Affairs Division
that stressed the necessity to update methods of decision-making. International
organizations have expressed readiness to cooperate with OICC to serve OICC
members, each within this field of specialization, such as: i.
World Heritage Center for ensuring the preservation of cultural and
architectural heritage and cooperation towards this end; ii.
ISPRS affirms its readiness for technical cooperation, concerning the
knowledge transfer of remote sensing programmes and courses for OICC members; iii.
ESRI will continue to cooperate in transferring new technical knowledge
in GIS development. Hence, the Committee recommends the implementation of cooperation agreements and coordination for the participation of international organizations with OICC in transferring technology to its members within the framework of a co-financing program renewable every three years. The Committee also recommends that the United Nations and its agencies follow up and support efforts exerted in transferring knowledge by the OICC and international technical organizations and bodies.
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