FIG Liaison Report to ISO TC211 Plenary

Reston, September 2000

Since the Cape Town plenary, FIG has commented on some of the many TC211 documents reaching CD stage, particularly ISO 19106 - Profiles. Our resources have meant that we have had to focus our activities; we have remained particularly closely involved, through Larry Hothem, in Work Item 16.

FIG remains concerned about the low level of knowledge in the surveying community about TC211's work. Since the December 1999 trawl for information from Liaisons by Chris Gower, we have heard nothing further of any TC211 promotional/ awareness building plans, something which we believe is crucial if the 19100 series of standards is to be widely used in the medium term. We note with concern the lack of reference to these issues in the revised TC211 business plan (N966). FIG remains willing to assist in this essential work. We are currently seeking abstracts of papers for our 2001 Working Week in Seoul, South Korea, in May 2001, where we would like to include a session on standards. At our four-yearly congress in Washington DC in April 2002, we would be very willing to arrange a session of 4-5 papers on TC211 and its outputs, if this would be useful in furthering the work of the TC. A call for abstracts for papers for Washington will go out later this year, with abstracts due in by April 2001.

We continue to take a close interest in TC211 project 19122 on the qualification and certification of personnel, and will try to be represented at the project team meetings in Cape Town - it is a difficult time of year for the people leading our work in this area. In parallel, FIG's Task Force on Mutual Recognition/ Reciprocity continues to move forward and held further meetings at the FIG Working Week in Prague in May. A paper on the subject by Professor Stig Enemark and Dr Frances Plimmer, which was presented at the Prague meeting, was submitted as FIG's response to the 19122 questionnaire distributed during the summer - the paper can be found on FIG's website at its new URL of www.fig.net.

The FIG Task Force on Standardisation is continuing its work. Particular activity recently has included: the formal submission of the FIG Statement on the Cadastre to the Secretary General of ISO for fast-tracking (it has taken many months to understand the exact procedures which need to be followed); the maintenance of a part of the FIG website covering the activity of the Task Force; building a relationship with the International Valuation Standards Committee (IVSC); and starting to work with the standards team within the International Cost Engineering Council (ICEC). The Guide for FIG members on how to get involved in the standardisation process to best effect is now nearing completion and promises to be a useful resource for FIG members and others. In all of this activity, we continue to be greatly assisted by the help of Keith Brannon from the ISO Central Secretariat.

The 2000 FIG Working Week included a general paper on standards and why they are important (by Iain Greenway), and a paper on technical standardisation issues (with particular reference to TC172 SC6) by Professor Jean-Marie Becker and others. Both papers can be found on the FIG web site. The issue of standards remains high on FIG's agenda - we are at last having some success in raising people's level of thinking about standardisation - and we ask that TC211 determines how Class A Liaisons can help ensure the widespread take-up of the 19100 standards.

Mr Iain Greenway
13 Hazelbury Park
Clonee
Dublin 15
IRELAND
Tel + 353 1 802 5316
Fax + 353 1 820 4156
Email iain.greenway@btinternet.com

December 2000