In his Blog ‘To Do the Right Things at the Right Time: Building up a Global Academic Partnership (GAP) ', posted on the GIM website, Prof. Holger Magel states, "I want to seize the opportunity this blog affords me to reiterate that this is the moment for us to establish a global academic partnership. Preparing future surveyors, land managers and all the relevant professionals in the land-related profession demands an international environment as part of the measure for equipping young professionals with the necessary knowledge they need for tackling issues from a global perspective."

Raja Vikram responds from India:

"Please, let us bear in mind that GAP is not about partners from rich countries telling developing countries' partners what to do. This is about creating a chance for partners from developing countries to put in place policies that will enable their countries to develop sustainably in their different land-sector efforts. It should be a kind of harmonisation of efforts and resources to achieve a common goal.
This is really the message, one that should be taken seriously by American and European geodetic powers. This may be a great opportunity for my country, India."

Survey Team of the Month 

Ralph Carnahan and Wilbur Reid of Informed Land Survey (WA, USA) are elected the GIM International Survey Team of the Month for February.

According to colleague Paul Mabry, "Ralph Carnahan and Wilbur Reid are the two oldest members of our archeology team. This summer they worked with me as survey crew members for about six weeks in our excavations of an Iron-Age fortress in the ower Madaba plains of entral Jordan. In spite of he high temperatures, eights, uncertain footing nd occasional snakes, they learned the duties of topographic surveying and cheerfully trudged many iles of dusty desert. I an only hope that I'm as pry and cheerful as a septuagenarian!"