Preparations for FIG Working Week 2009 in Good Progress - Plenary Session Programme confirmed during the visit of the FIG Director

Tel Aviv and Eilat, Israel, 5-9 January 2009

FIG Director visited Israel 5-9 January 2009 to prepare the FIG Working Week 2009 and to meet with the representatives of the Associations of Licensed Surveyors in Israel, ALSI, and Survey of Israel to settle the remaining open issues related to the conference. The FIG Working Week 2009 will be held at Dan Eilat Hotel and Herods Hotel in Eilat at the on the southernmost edge of Israel from 3rd to 8th May 2009.

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Local organising committee of FIG Working Week 2009: Yoav Tal (left), Joseph Kraus, Chair of the Organising Committee and President of ALSI, Joseph Forrai, Haim Srebro, Congress Director, and Moshe Fogel.

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Eilat is a great destination for the FIG Working Week and for holidays. View from the Herod's hotel.
 

The theme of the conference is "Surveyors Key Role in Accelerated Development". In total almost 300 papers have been submitted to the conference. These will be presented in 7 parallel sessions and workshops during the technical conference. More than 35 papers were submitted to the peer review process. The authors have been informed about the acceptance of their papers and the draft programme will be posted on the conference web site in January.

The programme of the plenary sessions were announced during the visit. At the conference there will be three plenary sessions:

  • Geo Information Management with following speakers:
    • Mr. Lawrie E. Jordan III, Director, Imagery Enterprise Solutions, ESRI: Geo Information Management Perspectives for the Future
    • Dr. Vanessa Lawrence, CB, Director General and Chief Executive, Ordnance Survey: The Role of National Mapping Agency in GIM – The Impact of International Co-operation in the Role of National Mapping Agency
    • Dr. Haim Srebro, Director General, Survey of Israel: Geospatial Information On-Line by the Survey of Israel
  • Measurement Management with following speakers:
    • Trimble representative (name to be confirmed): What the New Technology Can Offer to Surveying Sciences and Practice in the Future – Vision for 2014
    • Prof. Dr. Ing. Rudolf Staiger, University of Applied Sciences Bochum, Germany, Chair of FIG Commission 5: Push the Button - or Does the Art of Measurement Still Exist?
    • Dr. Joseph Forrai, Deputy Director General for Cadastre, Survey of Israel: Permanent GPS Network-based Measurement Practice in Israel
  • Emergency and Natural Resource Management with following speakers:
    • Dr. Ze’ev B. Begin, Director of the Geological Survey of Israel and Ex-Minister of Science: The Dead Sea Fault – Thousand Kilometres and 20 Million Years of Destructive Earthquakes
    • Dr. Avi Shapira, Chairman of the Earthquake Preparedness Committee, Jerusalem and Ex-Director of the Geophysical Institute of Israel: On Earthquake Preparedness in Israel
    • Prof. Orhan Altan, President of ISPRS and Chair of the Joint Board GIS Committee on Risk and Disaster Management) Role of Geospatial Professionals in Risk and Disaster Management and Preventing Natural Catastrophes

During the visit the FIG Director met with the organising committee, chaired by Congress Director, Dr. Haim Srebro, Director General of Survey of Israel, and the Council of ALSI under the leadership of President Joseph Kraus, who is also the chair of the organising committee. Most of the meetings were held in Tel Aviv, but the Director visited also Eilat together with Mr. Yoav Tal and President Kraus from the organising committee and representatives from ORTRA, which is in charge for the practical arrangements.

During the visit it became obvious that the arrangements for the Working Week have been made in a very professional way and the meeting venue Dan Eilat Hotel and Herods Hotel in Eilat offer an excellent venue for the technical programme, exhibition and social events. The highlight of the conference will be the gala dinner that has been moved to Wednesday evening instead of the last night of the Working Week to allow all participants to enjoy this unique event. The FIG Foundation Dinner will instead be held on Thursday evening. The participants are encouraged to take advantage of the early bird registration option that is available until 26 February 2009. Participants are also encouraged use the conference hotels Dan Eilat and Herods for accommodation as both hotels offer excellent value for money. There will be more information about practical issues and flight connections to Eilat on the conference web site www.fig.net/fig2009

The FIG Director stated after his visits to Tel Aviv and Eilat that there were no signs of any safety risks in either city. Even during the lower tourist season both cities were full of tourists. But the FIG Council will of course follow the situation carefully and inform about the event to its members as necessary.

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18 January 2009

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Herod's Hotel and Dan Eilat Hotel are located next to each other offering a excellent services for the participants.

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Shore boulevard and beaches are open for public.

 

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City view of Eilat.

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Solomon's Pillars in Eilat.

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Organising Committee meeting at the Survey of Israel: Moshe Fogel (left), Joseph Kraus, Haim Srebro, Joseph Forrai and Yoav Tal.

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ALSI Council members including Ron Adler, long time representative of ALSI in FIG.
 

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Old city of Jaffa in Tel Aviv.

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City view of Tel Aviv from Jaffa.