Incoming FIG Vice President Chryssy Potsiou attended the 2nd International Training Course for Surveyors

Rome, Italy, 20 September – 8 October 2010

Opening panel discussion.

The Consiglio Nazionale Geometri and Geometri Laureati in cooperation with Geoweb S.p.A., Company providing web services for surveyors, has promoted and organized the Second International Training Course of Territorial Survey; the course took place in Rome from the 20th of September to the 8th of October 2010. The event was supported by the Faculty of Architecture University of Florence, Agenzia del Territorio, Sogei S.p.A., FIG, CLGE, EGoS, AGIT and it was sponsored by the Aerial Surveying General Company – BLOM ASA of Parma, the Topoprogram & Service, and Leica Geosystems S.p.A.

The course was inaugurated at the conference hall of the Cassa Italiana di Previdenza e Assistenza Geometri by the President of CNGGL Mr. Fausto Savoldi and by the President of Geoweb S.p.A. Mr. Piero Panunzi. They highlighted the continuous commitment of the Italian surveyors towards continuing education and the importance of international cooperation for the professional development of surveyors.

The opening ceremony included speeches given by Prof. Chryssy Potsiou, FIG incoming Vice President and current Chair of FIG Commission 3, by Eng. Franco Maggio, Director of the Central Cadastre and Cartography Management of the Agenzia del Territorio, by Dr. Sandro Trevisanato, President of Sogei S.p.A., and by Mr. Randolph Camilleri, President of EGoS.

Particularly noteworthy was the warm message of congratulations sent to President Fausto Savoldi by FIG President Stig Enemark, with which FIG underlined the appreciation to the Italian initiative and to its future development.

The closing speech at the opening ceremony was made by Mr. Giuseppe Simeone, Managing Director of Geoweb S.p.A. also pointed the “pride of Geoweb” in the continuous effort towards the improvement and facilitation of work of professionals, thanks to the strategic harmony established with CNGGL, Sogei S.p.A. and Agenzia del Territorio”; he also anticipated the development of an e-learning version of the Second International Training Course, intended to allow diffusion to a wider audience.

To conclude the ceremony was the held of two speeches on “The birth of Geodetic Cartography in Italy”, by Prof. Andrea Cantile, and on “The Need for Spatial Information in Urban Management”, by Prof. Potsiou. The course was entirely held in English, it had a regular start in the afternoon and saw the participation of Italian, Greek, Israeli and Turkish professors and lecturers and 23 students from Italy, Malta, Greece, Israel, Morocco, Montenegro and Turkey.

The Second International Training Course of Territorial Survey has based on three general aims.

• To promote mutual understanding and exchange information and experience between participants from different countries, cultures and religious belief.
• To provide a general introduction to new methods of surveying regarding the use of spatial information.
• To create effective opportunities for the achievement of specific experiences of field surveying with the use of modern tools, programs and specific geographic datasets.

During the three weeks of the course, the educational work has been performed at Geoweb’s site and in the E.U.R. area, following a tight program of theoretical and practical activities. It was characterized by a continuous exchange of information between teachers and students and had as key point the greatest strength of practical experience, the prevalence of collection and data processing, without neglecting the essential theoretical concepts.

The first week focused on a review of methods for measurement of distances, angles and slopes by an extensive series of lectures and practical exercises of Global Positioning System, and data processing. An interesting technical visit at the head office of the Aerial Surveying General Company - BLOM ASA of Parma then opened the proceedings of the second week, with lectures and practical experience on Remote Sensing Systems, Earth observation systems, photogrammetry and Laser Scanning. The third week of the course focused on geographic open source information tools, with a dedicated practical experience on the implementation of a geographic information system and on the main examples of spatial analysis.

The educational program was enriched by lectures on recent cadastral changes and by a special greeting by the Director of the Agenzia del Territorio Dr. Gabriella Alemanno; speeches were also given by Mr. Bruno Razza on “The role of the Land Surveyor within the Cadasral System”, by Sogei with their support on the new procedures, by Nikolaos Zacharias on “The Cadastral Programme in Greece”, by Dr. Joseph Forrai, Deputy Director General for Cadastre Survey of Israel, on “Coordinate Based Cadastre (CBC) in Israel, Experience and Perspectives”, and by Leica Geosystems on a series of communications on new technologies for the detection and treatment of spatial information.

The Roman educational experience was furthermore enhanced during Saturday’s breaks with guided tours to the major cultural monuments of Rome, to enable the participants to know the magnificence of Rome. The course ended with awarding of certificates of participation. All attendees expressed their gratitude.

Prof. Chryssy Potsiou

16 December 2010