The Full Picture

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Capacity building networks for

Earth observation and geo-ICT:

a first step towards a virtual university

Martien Molenaar and Chris Mannaerts,

International Institute for Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation (ITC)

arth observation and geo-information are essential for the

monitoring of spatial processes that affect the sustainable

development of our living environment. The management

of these processes requires decision power at different adminis-

trative and political levels ranging from local to global scale.

A worldwide scientific and professional community develops and

implements tools and methods to deal with these issues. They

develop indicators at different resolution levels and their specifica-

tions based on profound knowledge of these processes and of the

technology for earth observation and geo-information processing.

Such a community should ideally be a worldwide one for several

reasons. Three of the most important are:

• The awareness that these processes are of a supra-national and

even a global scale implies that world wide efforts are required to

deal with these scientific problems, and that all

nations should contribute.

• The globalization of the economy implies the devel-

opment of global delivery chains products and

services.

Partners in these chains must have a

common understanding of the specifications and

conditions for product and service delivery. This

should be developed through a global involvement in

research, technology and service development.

• The fact that it is impossible for national economies

to maintain sufficiently high investment levels over

the full range of modern research sectors implies that

national and regional priorities will be set for fields

of interest. We will see an increasing regional or even

(inter) continental spread of fields of expertise, first

for research but consequently also for technology

development and consequently for higher education.

Problems faced by geo-information providers

Until twenty years ago production processes for geo-

data, or maps, were quite stable and the development

mapping technology and concepts allowed time hori-

zons for investments to the order of 15 to 25 years.

Presently the development of technology requires a time

horizon for investments in hardware of three to five

years and concepts for information products and

services have to be adjusted every five to eight years.

Consequently GI-providers and users must adjust their

geo-ICT architectures continuously, which has techno-

logical, organizational and institutional consequences.

The technology aspect concerns the development and

application of concepts for spatial data modelling, for

the information extraction from image data and for the

processing, analysis, dissemination, presentation and

use of geo-spatial data. The organizational and institu-

tional aspects concern the development and

implementation concepts for the structuring, organiza-

tion, management and institutional arrangements of

processes for geo-spatial data production and the provi-

sion, as well as the use of geo-information services.

Source: ITC

GI-providers and users must adjust their geo-ICT architectures continuously,

which has technological, organizational and institutional consequences

Strategic alignment model, after (Henderson et al, 1992)