ICG Meeting

The International Committee on Global Navigation Satellite Systems (ICG) met in Pasadena, California, USA, from 8^th to 12^th December 2008. Vice-president Matt Higgins attended the meeting, representing the International Federation of Surveyors (FIG). The ICG was formed as a result of recommendations of the UN Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS), as ratified by the General Assembly of the UN. The UN Office for Outer Space Affairs (OOSA) acts as the secretariat for the ICG. It should be noted that the FIG has a memorandum of understanding with OOSA.

A major development for the surveying and geodesy community at ICG-3 was the formation of a Task Force on Geodetic References. The proposed membership of the Task Force means that for the first time ever, there will be a single forum where experts from the user community (including FIG and the International Association of Geodesy, IAG) can meet directly with experts from the GNSS providers who are responsible for:

- World Geodetic System 84 (WGS84) used for GPS

- PZ-90.02 used for GLONASS

- Galileo Terrestrial Reference Frame (GTRF) used for Galileo, and

- China Geodetic System (CGS`2000) used for Compass.

One of the goals of the Task Force will be to prepare recommended practices for the realisation of each GNSS geodetic reference and its alignment to the International Terrestrial Reference Framework.

FIG Publication No. 44

This publication is a summary report of the seminar, Improving Slum Conditions through Innovative Financing, which was jointly organised by the FIG and the UN Human Settlements Programme
(UN-HABITAT) and took place in Stockholm, Sweden, from 16^th to 17^th June 2008. This two-day
seminar was dedicated to adequate and affordable housing for all.

The seminar focused on the essential elements of a just and sustainable provision of adequate shelter, from the twin perspectives of land and finance.
It brought together leading actors from the public, private and non-governmental sectors working on land and housing finance issues. Within this framework, the seminar focused on the main issues of access to land, security of tenure and access to finance.

Without security of tenure,
the poor are at daily risk of eviction and are reluctant to invest in long-term shelter improve-ments. Without access to affordable finance, poor people are caught in a vicious cycle in which affordable housing is inadequate, but adequate housing is unaffordable.

Surveyors and land professionals play a key role in linking functioning markets for housing and finance. Therefore, FIG is keen to co-operate with UN-HABITAT in this area as part of the long-term co-operation between the two organisations. Amongst the core issues discussed were various forms of individual and collective rights, women's equal access to land and finance, spatial planning, security of tenure and innovative financial instruments.