ISPRS in Africa (2)
"ISPRS continues to support and develop photogrammetry and remote sensing in Africa." This was the message from ISPRS regional representative in Africa Jide Kufoniyi, and ISPRS's first vice-president Prof. Ian Dowman in GIM International of August 2009.
They were reporting on the first meeting of the Committee on Development Information, Science and Technology (CODIST) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, held last year from 28th April to 1st May. CODIST, with its working groups, is one of the seven subsidiary bodies of the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) that has adopted the role of reviewing challenges and issues pertaining to the information and communications technologies, geoinformation, and science and technology sectors; formulating policies and strategies to address Africa's development challenges and determine priorities reflected in the ECA Science and Technology Division.
In our November Mailbox we published website reactions from two readers to this report. According to Felix Iyiola, "What we need in Africa is to sensitise policy makers and make appropriate legislation for everyone," hile Queen Umeana agreed, putting forward suggestions for the ISPRS. Dowman, in his turn, wrote to the editor expressing his gratification at the response to the report and marking the comments from Felix Iyiola and Queen Umeana as particularly relevant.
However, Dowman believes ISPRS needs more input from Africans involved in geomatics in order for a meaningful strategy to be developed for sensitising policy makers and evolving dynamic education and outreach programmes. Membership of ISPRS is open to agencies, institutions and organisations engaged in arth observation and patial information sciences, including space science and technology, photogrammetry and remote sensing. Suggestions on how to achieve these aims may be sent to Jide Kufoniyi (jidekufoniyi@yahoo.com) or Ian Dowman (idowman@cege.ucl.ac.uk).
Survey Team
Adewale Bankole, registered surveyor and GIS specialist with Arinmap Consultants, Abuja, Nigeria here presents his team, working on a survey for georeferencing satellite imagery of a cattle route that runs from Damasak, Nigeria/Niger border, to Obudu Cross River State in southeast Nigeria. The goal is to enable the 1,200km-long route to be charted on the national map. This picture was taken at a cattle drinking well that is more than 40m in depth, near Damasak, Borno State in northeast Nigeria. Pictured are (left to right): Dayo Salau, surveyor, Adewale Bankole, project manager, Idara Harry, and Kolawole Arinola.
Dear Editor
After a long career of thirty-eight years, I retired in May 2008 at the age of sixty as a Group B surveyor from the Geological Survey of India. Since then I have been regularly enriched with the latest know-how emerging in surveying through my regular mailings of GIM International and Hydro International. I really find the articles, features and ads therein most useful in the current age of technologies involved in surveying. Sometimes I feel reincarnated in the field of surveying!
With thanks and regards,
Nirankar Sharma
India
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