2010-2

FACULTY OF GEO-INFORMATION SCIENCE AND EARTH OBSERVATION

ITC News

• Topography inSeismic Amplification

• DecCoCast

• The Kronkel

• New Visual Identity

F A C U LT Y O F G E O - I N F O R M AT I O N S C I E N C E A N D E A R T H O B S E R VAT I O N

content

Main FeaturesTopography in SeismicAmplification 2DevCoCast 5The Kronkel 8New Visual Identity 10

Education NewsRefresher Course Tanzania 12GEONETCast 13

Research NewsRole of Economic Clusters 15PhD Training Weekend 16

Project NewsDisaster Risk Management 18

Events24th FIG Congress 19ISPRS Symposium 21

Visits to ITCITC Visits the Balkan 22Visit Malaysian Minister 23

AnnouncementESRI Student of the Year 24

Life after ITCAlumni Meet Nepal 25Alumni Meet Havanna 25Life at ITC 28What does ITC mean 28Capacity Development 30ESRI Achievement Award 32Alumni on LinkedIn 32

1ITC News 2010-2

I N T R O

2010number 2

Red, blue, orange, green … no, it’s not rainbows on our mind but ITC’s newvisual identity (page 10). Along with the new faculty comes a new housestyle, and one that, while preserving the best of the past, introduces new el-ements that reflect ITC’s new status as part of the University of Twente. Thecolours mentioned above, representing education, research, project servicesand faculty wide, respectively, are again prominently displayed − as indeed isthe famous Kronkel (page 8), which has quite a history of its own!

No doubt ITC News itself can be considered faculty wide as it seeks to keepyou up to date on developments in education (such as the refresher courseon strengthening local land governance (page 12) and the course on GIS,remote sensing and GEONETCast (13) and movements on the project front(reports on the DevCoCast regional land training workshops in Argentinaand Brazil (5) and the courses on GIS for disaster risk management inThailand (18). And when it comes to research, well, this core ITC process isby its very nature news. The role of economic clusters in improving urbanplanning support (page 15) may seem a far cry from the importance of to-pography in seismic amplification (page 2) − but not at ITC.

Turning to more mundane matters, if you’re faced with selecting a birthdaygift for an inquisitive toddler, it might be an idea to add DUPLO to the topof your list. Not merely a possible solution to your immediate problem, itmay also open the gate to a promising academic career in later life. In thearticle on the PhD training weekends (page 16) recommendations abound,so this product seems well worthy of serious investigation.

Of course, within these core processes are people, and it is always interest-ing to read about the multicoloured experiences of our alumni in their “lifeafter ITC”. If you turn to pages 28 and 30, you may come across names youknow; you will certainly find two fascinating stories.

So even in this year of change, when a new visual identity is making itsentry, we are hoping that, as in times past, ITC News is continuing to meetyour needs in terms of communication and information.

Virtually yours, Janneke Kalf Jorien TerlouwManaging Editor Editor

introduction

Managing Editor: Janneke KalfEditor: Jorien TerlouwEditing: Janice CollinsDesign&PrePress: Henk Scharrenborg

(Composer DTP service)Printing: Drukkerij Roelofs EnschedeISSN: 1389 9368

Correspondence to: Managing EditorITC NEWS

P.O.Box 2177500 AE Enschede

Phone: +31 (0)53 487 44 11Fax: +31 (0)53 487 45 54E-mail: itcnews@itc.nl

colofonITC NEWS is published quarterly, by ITC, Enschede, the Netherlands

The views expressed by the contributors do not necessarily reflect those of ITC

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M A I N F E A T U R E S

Seismic AmplificationEvery year, earthquakes lead to massive de-struction and high rates of casualties. It isnoted, however, that not all earthquakescause similar seismic shaking and resultingdamage. Damage can vary strongly fromone location to the other on a scale of afew hundred metres or even less. There areseveral factors that play a crucial role in theamount of shaking occurring at a particularsite. The intensity of ground shaking thatany location will experience during anearthquake is a function of three main fac-tors: (i) earthquake source, (ii) medium andpropagation, and (iii) site factors. Source ef-fects are the earthquake magnitude, depthand mechanism. Large and shallow earth-quakes at convergent faults usually produceground motions of large amplitude andlong duration. In addition, large earth-quakes produce strong shaking over muchlarger areas than smaller earthquakes. Thedistance of a site from an earthquake af-fects the actual amplitude of ground shak-ing at that specific location. In general, theamplitude of ground motion decreases withincreasing distance from the focus of anearthquake. The frequency content of theseismic signal also changes with distance.Close to the epicentre, both high- and low-frequency motions are present. Fartheraway, low-frequency motions (slow defor-mation) are dominant, a natural conse-quence of wave attenuation in rock, therebyin general reducing the damage potential.

Analyses of earthquake damage worldwidesuggest that the severity of shaking de-pends on several local site-specific factorsbesides the distance and magnitude of anearthquake. Local site conditions can leadto amplification of seismic waves and to un-

usually high damage. Unconsolidated mate-rials, such as sediments and landfills, am-plify ground motions. Certain frequencies ofground shaking may generate dispropor-tionately large motions because of waveresonance and/or focusing in basins. Two fa-mous cases of such local amplification ef-fects are the events in Mexico City (1967),where amplification at specific frequenciesoccurred in the sediment basin underneaththe city, and Seattle (1965), where subsur-face topography led to focusing of seismicenergy and very local amplification in partof the city.

Role of TopographySeismologists have long been aware of therole of topography in influencing the inten-sity of seismic response. The impact of to-pography on the uneven distribution of seis-mic response and associated devastationhas frequently been observed and docu-mented during seismic events. Recent largeevents in Pakistan (Kashmir earthquake,2005), China (Wenchuan earthquake, 2008)and Haiti (earthquake 2010) all show mani-festations of seismic amplification due tothe topography. This effect has been stud-ied extensively, numerically and experimen-tally at a local scale (single slope or hill), andhas shown amplification of seismic responseat ridge crests and de-amplification at ridgetoes. This effect has, however, rarely beeninvestigated at a regional scale. Recently,seismologists have been working towardsthe development of techniques for near-real-time ground shaking prediction at a re-gional scale. These techniques predict thespatial variation of ground shaking at a re-gional scale (i.e. large areas without exactboundaries and comprising many topo-graphic features). The most common and

The Importance of Topographyin Seismic Amplification

Mark van der Meijde vandermeijde@itc.nlMuhammad Shafique shafique@itc.nl

3ITC News 2010-2

M A I N F E A T U R E S

frequently applied tool has been developedby the USGS, i.e. ShakeMap. This and othermodels do not consider topography as anindependent parameter in the estimation ofground shaking. And the relevance is illus-trated by observations that topography canchange peak ground acceleration (PGA) val-ues by over 100% in rugged terrain. Sincemost of the seismically active areas are asso-ciated with rugged terrain, investigatingand incorporating the topographic impacton seismic response is important for seismichazard assessment, mitigation and near-real-time seismic shaking prediction.

Impact of Topography at Regional ScalePredicting the realistic regional impact oftopographic seismic response is strongly de-pendent on the resolution and accuracy ofregional topographic information. With thewidespread availability of the digital terrainrepresentations generally referred to as digi-tal elevation models (DEMs), many terrainanalysis studies have explored the utility ofDEMs and their derived topographic param-eters. The resolution and accuracy of a DEMhave a significant impact on the quality ofDEM derivatives such as slope, relativeheight, aspect and curvature of the terrain,all very important factors in topographicseismic amplification analysis. Terrain fea-

tures smaller than the DEM resolution can-not be represented distinctly or with theirtrue value, but instead are averaged to asingle pixel value, which is important whenDEM derivatives are used for predictivemodelling, such as for topographic seismicresponse prediction.

Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM)DEM and Spaceborne Thermal Emission andReflection Radiometer (ASTER) derived DEMat 90m and 30m resolution, respectively,can be acquired with (almost) global cover-age and free of charge. This readily availabledata can be utilized for exploring the topo-graphic seismic response at regional andlocal scales, particularly in near-real time.Recent studies (e.g. Shafique et al., 2009;Anggreani et al., 2010) evaluate topo-graphic attributes and seismic parameterscomputed from such DEMs in order to in-vestigate the impact of quality and resolu-tion on the derived topographic seismic re-sponse. Methodologies are being developedto readily derive the spatial distribution ofrelevant topographic attributes and seismicparameters. The impact of DEM source andresolution on slope gradient, relative heightof terrain and shear wave velocity (top 30m; VS 30) are evaluated through full wave-form modelling using a spectral finite ele-

Seismic amplification_01: Amplification map for Haiti (left) based on ASTER DEM (after Anggreani et al., 2010). Map indicates (de-)amplificationin % with respect to situation without topography. Clearly visible is the amplification effect on ridges and de-amplification in valleys and as“shadow” effect on slopes that are facing towards the earthquake source. It can clearly be seen that much higher detail is provided on local PGAextremes, compared with the output from ShakeMap (right). The result could be combined with results from ShakeMap to provide more accu-rate PGA values after an earthquake.

4 ITC News 2010-2

M A I N F E A T U R E S

ment modelling code (SPECFEM3D). It is ob-served that, although relatively coarse reso-lution DEMs (30 to 90 m) underestimate thecritical sites of steep slope gradient and thelower VS 30 areas, it has little impact on de-rived regional topographic amplification fac-tors. The slope gradient is observed to bethe topographic attribute most sensitive toamplified seismic response, followed by the

relative height between the bottom of themountain and the top. Such seismic amplifi-cation models can be used in the future forrapid assessment of areas experiencing in-creased seismic amplification or for hazardstudies by running various earthquake sce-narios.

ReferencesAnngreani, D., van der Meijde, M., Shafique, M.

Modelling the impact of topography on seis-mic amplification at regional scale. Enschede,UT-ITC, 2010, p. 46.

Shafique, M., van der Meijde, M, et al. In:Remote Sensing for a Changing Europe: pro-ceedings of the 28th EARSeL symposium, 2-7June 2008, Istanbul, Turkey/edited by D.Maktav. Amsterdam: IOS Press, 2009. ISBN978-1-58603-986-8-386. pp. 386-394.

USGS Shakemap:http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/shakemap/ SPECFEM3D:www.geodynamics.org/cig/software/packages/seismo/specfem3d/

Authors:• M. van der Meijde, Associate professor in geo-

physics and 3D geological modelling,Department of Earth Systems Analysis, Facultyfor Geo-Information Science and EarthObservation (ITC), University of Twente, TheNetherlands, email: vandermeijde@itc.nl

• M. Shafique, PhD scholar, Department ofEarth Systems Analysis, Faculty for Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation(ITC), University of Twente, The Netherlands,email: shafique@itc.nl.

This article was originally published in the Asian

Disaster Management News (2010 Vol.16, No. 1).

Online versions are available at www.adpc.net.

Muhammad Shafique Dr. Mark van der Meijde

5ITC News 2010-2

M A I N F E A T U R E S

GEONETCast provides reliable, worldwideand continuous access to information and isan easy and effective way for countries toreceive satellite and environmental data.The GEONETCast for and by DevelopingCountries (DevCoCast) project, funded bythe European Community’s 7th FrameworkProgramme for Research, involves develop-ing countries more closely in theGEONETCast initiative. Many earth observa-tion data products, some produced in LatinAmerica, are freely shared via GEONETCastand can be received using off-the-shelf low-cost ground reception infrastructure.

Building on experience previously gained inAfrica when organizing similar trainingevents in close collaboration with the EUand AU initiative African Monitoring of theEnvironment for Sustainable Development(AMESD) (e.g. at the RCMRD, Nairobi, and

AGRYMET, Niamey), these five-day work-shops were organized by the DevCoCastLatin American project partners (CREAN,INTA, INPE and ITC, with support fromVITO), and were hosted by the Centre forSurveying and Assessment of Agricultureand Natural Resources (CREAN) of theNational University of Córdoba from 31 Mayto 4 June 2010 and by the Centre forWeather Forecast and Climate Studies(CPTEC) of the National Institute for SpaceResearch (INPE) from 7 to 11 June 2010.

To present the recent developments andachievements to a wide range of thematicexperts from various countries in LatinAmerica, these workshops focused on thefollowing aspects:• exploring the potential of the

GEONETCast broadcasting technologyand the environmental data it offers, with

Many countries

face serious

environmental risks

and need accurate

earth observation

data and derived

environmental

information for

their sustainable

development.

DevCoCast Latin Americanproject partners

CREAN Andres RaveloINTA Tomas HartmannINPE Sergio PereiraVITO Tim Jacobs

Carolien ToteITC Ben Maathuis

Bas Retsios

DevCoCastRegional Land Training Workshops

in Córdoba, Argentina, andCachoeira Paulista, SP, Brazil

Ben Maathuis maathuis@itc.nlBas Retsios retsios@itc.nl

Group photo of participants attending the Argentina workshop

particular reference to Meteosat SecondGeneration (MSG) and the SPOTVegetation instrument

• demonstrating how to archive and processdata, using the GEONETCast Toolboxplug-in developed under ILWIS 3.7

• presenting regional data disseminated viaGEONETCast, building on the experienceof Latin American users.

The DevCoCast Latin American workshopscombined theory and practical assignmentson a number of topics, for exampleGEONETCast, system reception and soft-ware, the data delivered by variousGEONETCast services, as well as the region-specific data delivered to Latin Americathrough GEONETCast by various data dis-tributors, such as INTA, INPE and VITO.

GEONETCast, Reception System andFreeware Software UtilitiesAn overview of the GEONETCastEnvironmental Data Dissemination Systemand the international organizations support-ing this effort (GEO-GEOSS) was provided.The set-up of a low-cost ground receivingstation and the software utilities available(the newly developed GEONETCast toolboxplug-in under ILWIS 3.7 and SIGMACast)were shown. This was accompanied by asite visit and a demonstration of the low-

cost ground receiving stations installed atCREAN and INPE-CPTEC, providing partici-pants with a good overview of the requiredGEONETCast system hardware components.Furthermore, the application procedures forthe EUMETCast/GEONETCast Americas serv-ices were presented. During the practical as-signments, participants were introduced tothe use of the GEONETCast toolbox andother software components (e.g.SIGMACast) that enable the GEONETCastdata stream to be processed.

Data Delivered by Various GEONETCastServicesHere the various satellite images and prod-ucts available in the GEONETCast datastream were introduced, with special focuson MSG/GOES, SPOT Vegetation, INTA andINPE products in the DevCoCast AmericaService, including the fused CBERS high-res-olution product. The theoretical backgroundwas also given in order to facilitate an ap-propriate assessment of the variousDevCoCast products. In addition, attentionwas paid to relevant ongoing research andoperational services, such as the INTA andINPE-CPTEC experiences in providing regularenvironmental products and disseminatingthese via GEONETCast, as well as the INPE-CPTEC SOS System for monitoring severeweather conditions.

6 ITC News 2010-2

M A I N F E A T U R E S

Checking ground receiver at CREAN

Group photo of participants attending the Brazil workshop

Region-Specific Data Delivered to LatinAmerica through GEONETCast and theDevCoCast InitiativeVarious satellite images and data productscovering South America and disseminatedby GEONETCast and those produced on aregular basis through the DevCoCast initia-tive were used during the different practicalsessions, for example:• images from MSG, GOES and METOP-

AVHRR/3, together with some of theMSG-derived products (e.g. cloud mask,multisensor precipitation estimate, atmos-pheric motion vectors)

• vegetation and agriculture indicators (e.g.SPOT Vegetation 10-day composite NDVI,dry matter productivity and green coverfraction, NOAA AVHRR-based NDVI, INTA’s

absolute and anomaly NDVI) and theirtime series analysis

• water resources (NDWI) and weatherproducts such as the 15-minute multisen-sor precipitation estimates, aggregatedrainfall products and INPE’s convective sys-tems tracking and nowcasting, lightningdischarges images, ultraviolet radiationindex and other rainfall satellite products

• INTA’s fire risk and detection product andthe evapotranspiration product

• the high-resolution CBERS HRC-CCDfused image product.

Moreover, the diurnal variability of MSG-based products from LandSAF, such as landsurface temperature and evapotranspira-tion, was investigated, using batch loopingroutines to facilitate effective import andpreprocessing of the multi-temporal data.

The workshop also served as a platform fordiscussing relevant thematic applications tobe further developed using information pro-vided by the GEONETCast data stream dur-ing a two-week advanced training courseprovisionally planned at the beginning ofnext year at ITC. This effort should result inan application guide covering various topicsthat demonstrate the use of the images anddata provided by GEONETCast andDevCoCast for Latin America. It is foreseenthat selected participants of the variousAfrican workshops will also contribute, pre-senting relevant applications from theAfrican continent. This application guide, in-cluding free open-source software and sam-ple data, can be used by interested organi-zations and within universities to acquaintthe parties concerned with the current ca-pability in terms of reception and use of en-vironmental data.

Both workshops were attended by a total ofnearly 60 participants from Argentina,Bolivia, Brazil, Cabo Verde, Chile, Mexico,Paraguay and Peru. Some of the participantswere able to attend thanks to sponsorshipby NOAA–GEONETCast Americas. Therewas great interest in setting up ground re-ceiving stations at participants’ organiza-tions for various applications using the im-ages and data delivered by GEONETCastand the products that are currently opera-tionally provided through the FP7-supportedDevCoCast initiative.

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M A I N F E A T U R E S

ITC News 2010-2

An onsite visit to see the computer hardware configuration of the ground receivingstations used at INPE

The various antennas used at INPE

A brief explanation for those readers un-aware of its history:In 1954 Charles Hammes, a sculptor wholived in Nijmegen, was invited by Prof.Willem Schermerhorn to create a decorativeallegorical statue appropriate for a new andgrowing institute. It was unveiled at theopening of ITC’s building in Delft in 1956.

The statue shows a broad continuous stripsymbolizing the Earth, around which a fig-ure is flying that can be seen as a bird or anaeroplane following its path. In this way, thestatue symbolizes the range of science,worldwide in its scope (the bird), and pho-togrammetry (the aeroplane). It wasmounted on a schist base, bearing the em-blems of FAO and UNESCO.The Kronkel guarded the front door and it

became a kind of tradition that, on gradua-tion, groups of students were pho-tographed in front of it, thus becoming im-mortalized.

When ITC moved from Delft to Enschede in1971, the Kronkel followed. Here inEnschede, it was given a prominent placeon Boulevard 1945 in front of the premises.It was unveiled on 24 November 1971 bythe mayor of Enschede. As the original greycolour did not suit ITC’s new building, theKronkel was painted yellow.

The tradition of immortalization in front ofthe Kronkel lived on.

However, as plans for a new building werebeing finalized in 1993, it became clear that

8 ITC News 2010-2

M A I N F E A T U R E S

The Kronkel:ITC’s Logo and TrademarkHomme Martinus martinus@itc.nl

An onsite visit to the weather forecasting room at INPE-CPTEC

For further information, consult the web resources indi-cated below. For further details on:• DevCoCast and the products disseminated:

www.devcocast.eu • DevCoCast Argentina workshop: www.fotomap-

geo.com/devcocast-argentina• Sigmacast: http://sigmacast.cptec.inpe.br/sigmacast/• INPE SOS system: http://sos.cptec.inpe.br/sos/• Geonetcast Americas and the INPE products dissemi-

nated:http://geonetcastamericas.noaa.gov/product-pro-ductlisting.html and http://satelite.cptec.inpe.br/geonetcast/

• ILWIS 3.7 and the GEONETCast toolbox: http://52north.org/and http://itc.nl/GEONETCast-General-information

• MSG/METOP/JASON: www.eumetsat.int• GEONETCast environmental data

stream:www.eumetsat.int/Home/Main/Access_to_Data/ProductNavigator/index.htm

• Group on Earth Observation – the Global Earth ObservationSystem of Systems:www.earthobservations.org/

The Kronkel is a

famous feature of

ITC, and many of

our alumni will

recognize it as ITC’s

logo and trademark.

no place had been planned for the Kronkel.Afraid that the statue would be consigned tothe scrap yard, Mrs Ann Stewart, editor of theITC Journal, made an appeal to journal read-ers in the 1993-3 issue to save the Kronkel.As far as can be recalled, about 100 readerscompleted and returned the short form −among them, alumni from the 1950s!

ITC moved to its new premises in 1996,leaving the Kronkel behind on Boulevard1945. In 1999, permission was granted by

the Enschede City Council to move theKronkel to ITC’s new building, and inFebruary 2000 the statue was lifted from itsbase and, after an overhaul, relocated toHengelosestraat on 7 April.

For six years the Kronkel stayed at this loca-tion. Because of adjustments to Hengelose -straat, the Kronkel was moved next to theentrance of the Institute. In the meantimethe bronze colour had been changed tobright yellow again.

9ITC News 2010-2

M A I N F E A T U R E S

In front of the building in Delft Emblems of FAO (ear of corn) and UNESCO (temple)

In front of ITC (1970)

A - Used while the Institute was housed in Delft up to 1971B - As used in the ’80sC - Almost a copy of the actual statue (but in reverse), used

from the mid-‘80s until 17 May 1994

An artist’s impression of the Kronkel,used from 17 May 1994 till today

On the occasion of the Institute’s50th anniversary in 2000; thisspecial jubilee logo was used onlythroughout that particular year

On Boulevard 1945, Enschede

On Hengelosestraat

A B C

The ITC logo is based on the Kronkel and is used on all the Institute’s stationery and products.It was introduced in the early ‘60s and has undergone a few variations over the years

On 1 January 2010,

the International

Institute for Geo-

Information Science

and Earth

Observation (ITC)

became a faculty of

the University of

Twente.

The merger has

been implemented

in a way that

preserves the

distinctive character

and mission of ITC.

As a university faculty, ITC will be morefirmly embedded in the Dutch academic ed-ucation system. Furthermore, the integra-tion with the University of Twente will leadto innovative research and education inareas such as energy, environment, climatechange, water, geo-information and earthobservation, and disaster management.

ITC’s new status as a faculty of theUniversity of Twente obviously influencesour visual identity (or house style). We willintroduce the UT’s visual identity in such away that ITC’s identity will be preserved. Thevisual identity of the University of Twenteconsists of a logotype (figure 1) and a num-ber of elements (figure 2). The logotype isplain and strong: University of Twente. It ispart of a new, innovative, ambitious style. Auniverse of elements, used in different waysand variations on means of communication,has been created.

The most prominent feature of ITC’s “old”visual identity, the ITC logo (or Kronkel), willbe preserved and, when you read the articleon page 8 about the origin and history ofthe ITC Kronkel, you will understand why.Furthermore, our colour scheme (red for ed-ucation, blue for research, orange for proj-ect services and green for faculty wide) willreturn in the element that is part of ournew visual identity (see figure 3). A newbackground colour for brochures will beadded to the colour palette (see figure 4).

The visual identity of the University ofTwente will be introduced at ITC in phases.Starting in July 2010, we aim to haveadapted all communication means andmedia carrying the “old” visual identity byDecember 2010. So do not be surprisedwhen you start to see new business cards,stationery (figure 5), brochures, documentsand other materials with a fresh look andfeel emerging from ITC. They will still carryour familiar ITC logo!

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M A I N F E A T U R E S

A NewVisual Identity for ITCJanneke Kalf kalf@itc.nl

Figure 1: The University’s logotype: plain and strong Figure 2: A universe of elements as part of the visual identity of the

11ITC News 2010-2

M A I N F E A T U R E S

Figure 4: Grey is used as the background colourfor brochures and other printed material

Figure 5: Stationery and business cards

e University of Twente

Figure 3: The element in four colourvariations that is used as part of thevisual identity of the Faculty ITC

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E D U C A T I O N N E W S

Participants of the refresher course

Land policies are intended to guideaccess to land, land reform and landdevelopment. These are centralthemes in the ITC Land Administra-tion programme. The registration ofpeople’s rights to land is an impor-tant component as it may help toprotect rights against third parties.

Land policies are reflections of theideology and political ideas of thegoverning (urban) elite. When poli-cies are implemented and reach localand remote realities, there might bea mismatch between the policy per-ceptions and priorities and the localconditions. Especially in countrieswhere a dual tenure system is found(customary and statutory), the mis-match may be big. The analysis ofland policies with their implicit per-ceptions and local conditions was thetheme of a refresher course financedby NUFFIC for the East AfricanRegion. The course took place inBagamoyo, Tanzania, between 14and 25 June. NFP alumni from ITC,ISS and IHS joined the programme,which was organized as a workshop.

The Land Administration Unit withinARDI University in Dar es Salam, apartner of the UNU-ITC School ofLand Administration Studies, was thecounterpart in the workshop andprovided all the logistical support inan excellent manner. Applications forthe workshop had to be accompa-nied by an abstract of a presentationand paper to be delivered in the pro-gramme. Participants were selectedbased on these abstracts. A group of16 participants and some ARU staffjoined the programme. Johan deMeijere and Anthony Arko Adjei

from ITC facilitated the programme,while ARU staff and resource personsfrom other agencies provided addi-tional lectures.

The presentation of each participantwas summarized and documented ina “mental map”. Towards the end,some 20 of these maps were avail-able. Participants then clusteredthem in themes to summarize find-ings and draw conclusions. Fourthemes were identified: land policy −formulation and implementation; ac-cess to land and land information;public goods and land acquisitioncompensation; customary systemsand change.

A major finding was that East Africancountries have been subject to dra-matic changes in tenure regimes im-posed by new ruling classes.Customary or feudal regimes arebeing overruled by colonial, military,socialist, tribal and other elites. Sincethe 1990s, African nations have ad-

hered to liberal market economic ide-ologies, combined with concepts ofgood governance. Land tenure,though, is only being slowly or par-tially reformed. Land in many coun-tries still belongs to “the people”(i.e. the state and vested in the presi-dent). Often the interests of foreigninvestors supported by the govern-ment prevail over the rights to landof traditional land users. In how farthe criteria of good governance arereally being met at central and locallevels is a topic for further analysisand research.

In neo-liberal land policies, issuanceof certificates to “improve tenure se-curity” is a favourite topic. Big proj-ects have been undertaken in severalcountries to issue such documents,but the usefulness and institutionalembedding of such titling pro-grammes have not been proved.Interesting were the findings thatsmall farmers in Ethiopia perceive thedocument as a guarantee that no

education news

Refresher Course Strengthening Local Land Governance − Bagamoyo, Tanzania

Johan de Meijere meijere@itc.nl

Anthony Arko Adjei arkoadjei@itc.nl

13ITC News 2010-2

E D U C A T I O N N E W S

new policy reform, with correspon-ding land tenure regime change, willoccur in the short run. The findingthat perceived (freehold) tenure in in-formal urban areas of Dar es Salamwas better and more flexible thanthe Certificate of Residence as issuedby the state (restrictive leasehold) isalso very interesting.

The abuse of political power in allo-cating public/state land to elites is aphenomenon that has occurred on amassive scale in Kenya, and possiblycontinues in several countries. Thelack of public land registers facilitatessuch practices. Once registered informal private land registers, it be-comes almost impossible to remedythese injustices from the past, as theexperience in Kenya shows.

Many more interesting findings andconclusions were discussed, stimulat-ing our critical thinking about landadministration. The well preparedpresentations of the participants andthe active participation of all, com-bined with the beautiful location onthe shore of the Indian Ocean, made

A total of 19 participants from sevendifferent SADC countries successfullyconcluded ITC’s distance educationcourse GIS, Remote Sensing andGEONETCast on 25 June 2010. Thecourse, which began on 17 May2010, was undertaken within theframework of the Southern AfricanDevelopment Community ThematicAction (SADC-THEMA) of the AfricanMonitoring of Environment for Sustainable Development (AMESD).AMESD in Southern Africa aims to

empower SADC and its memberstates to manage their agriculturaland environmental resources in asustainable way.

Goal“This training will improve the capac-ity of the participating countries towork with the GEONETCast data,and enables our participants to be-come familiar with GIS and remotesensing,” says Isaac Kusane, the proj-ect leader of SADC-THEMA within

the Botswana Department of Mete -orological Services. He further ex-plains, “Good knowledge of GIS andremote sensing forms the basis forworking with AMESD services in thefuture. Ultimately we are not aimingat passive users of the services, butrather active users who will improveand expand the services in responseto the needs of their countries.”

The course participants were staffmembers of the collaborating min-

the programme a refreshing experi-ence in many ways. The exchange ofprofessional and personal experi-ences in the workshop was of greatvalue, and we are happy that NUFFICoffered the opportunity for this re-fresher course, as it produced a lot ofadded value for all − alumni as wellas staff from the educational insti-tutes offering land administrationcourses. A beautiful location on the shore of the

Indian Ocean

Field visit to Chamakweza and Pingo - Land conflict between pastoralist and farmers

Course on GIS, Remote Sensing and GEONETCast Undertaken by SADC-THEMA

© African Monitoring of Environment for Sustainable Development (AMESD), 2010

14 ITC News 2010-2

E D U C A T I O N N E W S

istries (Ministry of Agriculture andMinistry of Environment) of the par-ticipating member countries.Participants from Botswana, Zambia,Zimbabwe, South Africa, Namibia,Malawi and Swaziland attended thedistance education course. A secondsession is planned to start inNovember 2010.

Course ContentThis six-week course takes 20 to 24hours a week. The main topics are theprinciples of remote sensing (threeweeks), the principles of geographicalinformation systems (two weeks), andGEONETCast (one week). The coursehas been specially compiled for SADC-THEMA of AMESD and combines self-study with online support by ITC staff.

The general approach is task-basedlearning that blends theory and prac-tice. Most communication occurs viaITC’s digital learning environmentBlackboard. The participants have tosubmit the results of their exercises toITC on a regular basis for assessmentpurposes. The distance educationcourse concludes with an online real-time exam.

Advantages“The biggest advantage is that thetrainees can stay at their own prem-ises while following this distance ed-ucation course. It is often difficult forstaff to take time off for such acourse. By combining it with theirregular duties, most staff can easilymanage to follow such a course,”

says Isaac Kusane. “Many of the par-ticipants will come to the kick-offworkshop in July in Gaborone andI’m looking forward to hearing abouttheir experiences.”

Masego Nkepu, one of the trainees in Botswana

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15ITC News 2010-2

Realizing an integrated approach toeconomic and spatial developmentsis an important issue in urban policyanalysis and design. As economicclusters (ECs) are becoming an im-portant issue in contemporary urbandevelopment in both economic andspatial practices, the research ad-dresses the potential role of ECs inimproving urban planning support.Specifically, the aim of this PhD re-search is to explore the roles of ECsin strengthening the analytical andmonitoring ability of urban planningthrough better accommodatingurban economic dynamics.

The aim is examined through threeresearch questions on the concep-tual, practical and instrumental as-pects. The research includes an em-pirical study of Beijing, analysing theevolution of ECs in both economicand geographical spaces and the re-lationship between cluster develop-ments and urban growth.

Theoretical explorations conceptuallyshow the value of incorporating ECsinto models of urban planningprocesses through providing fine tun-ing between economic and spatialdevelopments. Theoretical analysisalso indicates the need for an empiri-cal approach to address the nature ofEC development in economic space(functional clusters) and geographicalspace (spatial clusters).

Within the case study of Beijing, ele-ments of a practical implementationof ECs in urban planning practice aredeveloped and assessed. This in-cludes identifying functional and spa-tial clusters and examining their de-velopments in relation to urban

growth and change. Based on input-output tables, statistical analysis de-rives functional clusters, answeringthe question “what are clusters?”.Correspondingly, spatial statisticstechniques address the issue “whereare clusters?” by detecting spatialclusters of functionally related eco-nomic activities and their patterns inthe city. Furthermore, planning analy-sis is implemented with concern forurban spatial growth, transportationand housing. The major empiricalfindings are as follows: • ECs are a key driver and are closely

related to current urban economic-spatial dynamics.

• The cluster pattern changes indi-cate that Beijing’s urban structure isphysically evolving towards poly-centrism, whereas functionally the

city region is still predominantlymonocentric, which challenges thecurrent urban plans.

Accordingly, cluster-based recom-mendations stress strengtheningmanufacturing services relationships,balancing diversification and special-ization in spatial development, andintegrating clusters into the function-ing of places for healthy and sustain-able urban spatial-economic develop-ment.

Based on the conceptual and empiri-cal work in this thesis, a frameworkis proposed to integrate ECs as an in-strument in urban planning supportsystems. It considers three aspects:conceptual and explanatory consider-ations, methods, and contextual (in-stitutional, organizational) considera-tions. To realize such a system,suggestions are also made with re-gard to building data capacity andadditional case-based qualitativelyoriented research.

The prime value added by the re-search is linking the physical and eco-nomic aspects of urban developmentand addressing the issue of ECs as anorganizing principle and driver forcurrent and future urban growth. Theresearch presents the theoretical ra-tionale, an implementation approachand an institutional framework.

R E S E A R C H N E W S

research news

Role of Economic Clusters in Improving Urban Planning Support

Zhenshan Yang zyang@itc.nl

Zhenshan Yang

16 ITC News 2010-2

R E S E A R C H N E W S

The Graduate Programme at ITC ini-tially grew from the first doctorateissued in 1990 to a stable commu-nity of around 50 registered PhDsbetween 1995 and 2005, with some10 graduations yearly. Since 2005,however, the ITC Graduate Pro-gramme has quickly grown to 140registrations in 2010 (including PhDbursaries and AiOs; not countingtemporary PhD interns and co-regis-trations at other Dutch universities). Apart from composing the researchproposal in the qualifier period, eachPhD student coming to Enschede hasto get to know the local environment(customs and culture), how to getalong with staff and colleagues, howto find a balance between work andleisure, and how to keep in touchwith the family. This is a monstroustask indeed, even for those whowere at ITC for their MSc (about halfof the PhD candidates), and it is clearthat in a diverse community like thatof ITC the mutual support among thestudents is huge. It is quite fortunatefor the students of the GraduateProgramme that the IPC (ITC PhDCommittee) has grown, in line withthe increasing number of registrants,

from an ad hoc group of active stu-dents to a formal representative bodyof PhD students at ITC. The IPCstatutes and by-laws were ratified bythe former rector, Prof. Molenaar, inDecember 2009.

Nevertheless, the need to equip ITC’sPhD students for their PhD adventurewas felt by many, and articulated bythe IPC in 2009. As a result, the firstPhD training weekend was held on 7and 8 November 2009 in Rheine,Germany, with 42 participants from19 countries1 To cater for those whomissed this opportunity and for thenewcomers in 2010, a second PhDtraining weekend was held on 26and 27 June 2010, this time inTecklenburg, Germany The secondweekend was attended by 30 stu-dents from 16 countries2.

On both weekends a variegated pro-gramme was offered, with group as-signments, personal SWOT reflec-tions, and discussions on the mostperceived strengths, weaknesses, op-

portunities and threats. Also includedwere presentations on the ITCGraduate Programme and the IPC,the experiences of a number of PhDsin (or past) their final stage, publish-ing strategy, stress, cultural differ-ences, and helpful tools for PhDs.The presentations were given by anumber of ITC and external staff.Claudius van de Vijver of the PE&RCresearch school contributed duringboth weekends. In particular the so-called “DUPLO game”, concerningtopics such as planning, responsibili-ties, collaboration, communicationand deadlines, was an eye opener formany. So the weekends are a mix ofgetting to know one another, teambuilding, and acquiring a lot of use-ful information. Perhaps the mostcomforting side of it is the realizationthat to some extent all PhDs sharethe same problems, face the samechallenges, and have to deal with su-pervisors. One aspect stood out veryclearly: PhD students are in theprocess of becoming independent re-searchers and, while making optimal

The first PhD training weekend was held on 7 and 8 November 2009 in Rheine, Germany

A second PhD training weekend was held on 26 and27 June 2010, this time in Tecklenburg, Germany

PhD Training Weekends: 7-8 November 2009 and 26-27 June 2010

Paul van Dijk vandijk@itc.nl

1 Total of 42 in 2009: India = 12; Pakistan = 7; China = 6; Vietnam = 2;Argentina, Bangladesh, Chile, Colombia, Germany, Ghana, Iran, Italy, Kenya,Nepal, Portugal, Rwanda, South Africa, Syria, Tanzania = 1 each.

2 Total of 30 in 2010: China, India = 5 each; Rwanda, Kenya = 3 each; Pakistan,South Africa = 2 each; Brazil, Bulgaria, Colombia, Ethiopia, Georgia, Iran, Iraq,Italy, Mozambique, Nigeria = 1 each.

use of the feedback of their supervi-sors, should be at the steering wheel− not ignoring useful hints, but norwaiting for full instructions on howto do something.After the 2010 weekend, some par-ticipants gave their opinion of whatthey perceived to be the best part ofit, and this probably gives the bestimpression, together with the photo-graphs of the events:• I enjoyed the weekend because:

- it was in a place nearby but out-side our usual place of study, thistime in a very nice German town.I had the opportunity to meetnew PhD students, share experi-ences and have fun with them.Furthermore, there were activitiesand talks by lecturers and stu-dents about research skills, cul-tural differences, and technicaltools useful for our research.

• The IPC organizing team did agreat job because it is a great ideato meet other experienced peopleoutside ITC and discuss PhD life

with them. • The best of the weekend was:

- a talk about scientific publishing,which is the core of our activitiesat ITC. It was presented in such away that one became aware ofwhat to expect and therefore ofhow to prepare and act accord-ingly.- listening to a completing PhDcandidate from Pakistan narratinghis academic and social challengesduring the PhD journey and howhe had dealt with the same. Itwas insightful because I share thesame challenges.

• Playing with children’s toys (Duplo)helped us to:- learn complex ideas from simplegames- understand the challenges facedon the PhD journey and gain aninsight into strategies to overcomethese challenges- learn how to manage group re-sponsibility and how to shareideas with different modes of

communication to meet objec-tives, while enjoying a simple taskprovided many happy memories.Last but not least, the result ofthis play seems simple but it rep-resents success and/or accom-plishment.

• The best part of the weekend wasthe Duplo game. We learned manyskills, such as strategy design, co-operation, quality control and timemanagement … and, what’s more,we had a lot of fun.

• Sharing personal strengths andweaknesses helped: - to encourage us, since we real-ized that we are not an exception− several others experience thesame problems. The solutions toweaknesses were also useful andwill help us to improve.- us to understand ourselves bet-ter and find a way to improvethrough others’ experiences.

• It was an eye-opener for me, givingme the chance to escape from myoffice and the too-narrow researchwork and get to know other PhDsand their research and daily life.

And last, but not least:• The PhD weekend should be com-

pulsory for every PhD because ithelps students to understand ex-pectations during the PhD journey,size down ambitions and becomeaware of what you are asked to doand what you expect from the su-pervising team and collaborators

17ITC News 2010-2

R E S E A R C H N E W S

Discussions on the most perceived strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats

In particular the so-called “DUPLO game”, concerning topics such as planning, responsibilities,collaboration, communication and deadlines, was an eye opener for many

18 ITC News 2010-2

P R O J E C T N E W S

During the advanced course, specialists are given numerous hands-on exercises

This coming August, ITC will jointlyorganize the fifth GIS for DisasterRisk Management course togetherwith the Asian Disaster Prepared-ness Center (ADPC) and the AsianInstitute of Technology – Geo-Infor-matics Center (AIT-GIC). Approxi-mately 20 participants from Asia,the Middle East and Africa will learnmore about the application of GIS inthe field of disaster management.

Rapid population growth and urban-ization, combined with extreme cli-matic events, are causing a rapid in-crease in the vulnerability ofcommunities exposed to hazardousevents. As a result, disasters are in-creasingly taking a heavy toll of lifeand property. Unplanned growth,both in urban and non-urban areas,calls for adequate preparation to re-duce the impact of disasters. There isa need to include disaster risk infor-mation in development planning andto create awareness among the dis-aster management professionals.Disaster risk information is spatial innature, and geographical informationsystems (GIS) play an important rolein disaster risk assessment and man-agement.

The course started a few years ago asan initiative of ITC alumnus Mr FalakNawaz, who worked at ADPC at thattime. He realized that many disastermanagement practitioners and or-ganizations had little knowledge ofthe use of GIS and earth observationinformation. The first courses were amix of geo-information and earth ob-servation technology, without anyclear definition of the target audi-ence. It quickly became apparentthat more focus was needed, and

now two types of course are offeredannually: an introduction course onGIS for disaster management practi-tioners, and an advanced course forGIS specialists who need to upgradetheir GIS skills in the field of disasterrisk management.

The introduction course deals prima-rily with the geographical aspects ofdisaster risk assessment and manage-ment, and targets disaster manage-ment professionals who intend touse GIS in their day-to-day work but

have no previous − or only very lim-ited − GIS experience. The exercisesare more demo-style in character.The main objective of the course is toimpart knowledge and skills in usingGIS and spatial data for disaster riskassessment and management to dis-aster management practitioners.Participants will learn not only howto carry out disaster risk assessmentfor different hazard types, but alsohow to use risk information foremergency planning and prepared-ness.

project news

Courses on GIS for Disaster Risk Management

Dinand Alkema alkema@itc.nl

The course offers participants a number of options (according to their interests and back-ground) for evaluating specific types of hazards and associated risks

Attracting more than 2,200 partici-pants from 100 countries, the 24thFIG congress, Facing the Challenges– Building the Capacity, which washeld in Sydney, Australia, from 11 to16 April 2010, turned out to be thebiggest FIG congress ever. Amongthe participants were 120 studentsand 250 accompanying persons.

The technical programme, wheremore than 700 of the 1,000 or sosubmitted papers were presented inSydney, was a big hit. In total therewere more than 150 technical andflash sessions, workshops and specialseminars, while the total number ofpresented papers exceeded 800. Theparticipants packed both plenaryhalls and the technical session roomsat the Sydney Convention andExhibition Centre, which is located inDarling Harbour in the heart ofSydney.

During the presidency of Stig Enemark,FIG has extended its partnership withvarious UN agencies, especially in de-veloping pro-poor land administrationand related good governance. FIGnow has 103 members (from nearlythe same number of countries), 37 as-

sociate members, 89 academic mem-bers and 35 corporate members.

The following issues were high-lighted at the FIG congress:• The congress focused on land gov-

ernance and capacity building.

19ITC News 2010-2

During the advanced course, special-ists are given numerous hands-on ex-ercises. The course deals with theprocedures involved in collecting andanalysing spatial data for hazard andrisk assessments of various naturaland human-induced hazards, and of-fers participants a number of options(according to their interests andbackground) for evaluating specifictypes of hazards and associated risks.The main objective of the advanced

course is to provide knowledge andskills in multi-hazard risk assessmentto professionals with a GIS and re-mote sensing background.Participants will gain practical knowl-edge of the uses of GIS and remotesensing not only in hazard and riskassessment but also in loss estima-tion and multicriteria analysis for de-cision-making purposes.

P R O J E C T N E W S - E V E N T S

events

ITC Delegation at 24th FIG Congress

Chris Paresi paresi@itc.nl

24th FIG Congress in Sydney

Introduction course (level 1): 16 to 27 August 2010Advanced course (level 2): 1 to 12 November 2010Both courses will be conducted inBangkok, Thailand.Course fee: USD 2,000

More information on both coursescan be obtained at www.adpc.net,by e-mail (tedadpc@adpc.net), andby using the course finder on theITC website (certificate course).You may also contact the author(alkema@itc.nl).

20 ITC News 2010-2

E V E N T S

• New concepts for land and prop-erty registration and correspondingopen-source software have beendeveloped and tested. FIG hasbeen cooperating with both FAO(FLOSS project) and UN Habitat(Social Tenure Domain Model) ondeveloping low-cost and flexibleland registration systems.

• Satellite-based systems are rapidlybecoming the standard solution forpositioning and land surveying.

• Property registers could play a criti-cal role in early warning services.

• With the wide availability of geo-graphical information, the conceptof “spatially empowered societies”is developing rapidly.

• There has been a definitive move inland surveying education from theacquisition of data to its manage-ment and use, and there has beenconsiderable development in e-learning.

The General Assembly elected Mr TeoCheeHai from Malaysia to be thenew FIG president for the period2011-2014.

The 25th FIG congress will take placein Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, from 9 to16 May 2014.

ITC Highly Visible at 24th FIG Congress

The General Assembly appointed:• Professor Paul van de Molen as honorary member of FIG for his contribution

to the development and promotion of the surveying profession at the inter-national level

• Christiaan Lemmen to succeed Paul van de Molen as director of theInternational Office of Cadastre and Land Records (OICRF), a permanent insti-tution of FIG.

Eight new FIG publications were launched, three of which are (co- ) authoredby ITC colleagues:• The Social Tenure Domain Model, A Pro-Poor Land Tool, authored by

Christiaan Lemmen• Enhancing Surveying Education through e-Learning, co-authored by Liza

Groenendijk• Land Governance in Support of the Millennium Development Goals, co-au-

thored by Paul van de Molen.

Furthermore, ITC, UN-Habitat, World Bank and FIG launched the Social TenureDomain Model (STDM), an open-source pro-poor land administration softwarepackage. And finally, ITC representatives contributed 11 papers and severalsession chairs to the technical programme of the congress

View of the General Assembly

Panel (second from right: Christiaan Lemmen)at the STDM special session

View of the exhibition

New (left) and past (right) FIG presidents

21ITC News 2010-2

E V E N T S

The ISPRS Technical Commission VIon Education and Outreach organ-ized a mid-term symposium from 2to 4 June at ITC in Enschede. Thesymposium had the title “Cross-Border Education for Global Geo-information” and was co-organizedby ITC in collaboration with theAfrican Association of Remote Sensing of the Environment (AARSE)and Geo-Information Nederland(GIN).

The mid-term symposium wasopened by Prof. Martien Molenaar,conference chair and president ofISPRS Commission VI, who high-lighted the importance of cross-bor-der education for global geo-infor-mation. This was followed bywelcome speeches by Prof. TomVeldkamp, the rector/dean of ITC; M.Marien de Bakker, on behalf of thepresident of Geo-InformationNederlands (GIN); and Prof. IanDowman, on behalf of the ISPRSpresident Prof. Orhan Althan.

The three-day mid-term symposiumfeatured around 10 sessions, 40 pre-sented papers, more than six demon-strations, a number of posters, busi-ness meetings, an ice-breakerreception, and a symposium dinner. Itwas attended by over 70 participantsfrom some 30 countries.

The papers dealt with such topics ase-learning methods and tools, web-based education, e-delivery of educa-tional services, cross-border educa-tional programmes, and theinstitutional aspects of cross-bordereducation. Furthermore, attentionwas paid to promoting our profes-sion to young people, and to the ac-tivities and strengthening of theISPRS Students Consortium.

The highlight of the last day of thesymposium was the Best Paper

Award presented to Mr ArnaudDeshogues for his paper entitled“Enhancement of e-learning in geo-matics by the integration of dynamicmathematics tools”. The prize, whichconsisted of a certificate and a grantof €500, was awarded for originalityand degree of innovation, relevanceto the symposium topic, and in par-ticular for the quality, clarity and styleof presentation.

The proceedings and PowerPoint presentationsare available on the ISPRS Commission VI website(www.isprs.org/technical_commissions/tc_6)

ISPRS TC VI Symposium

Tsehaie Woldai woldai@itc.nl

Group picture of the ISPRS symposium participants

Best Paper Award was presented to Mr Arnaud Deshogues (photo taken by TuulBatbaldan)

Since the 1950s, only around 100students from the Balkan regionhave studied at ITC, while ITC staffhave hardly visited the Balkans atall. With the Balkan region takingits first steps towards the EuropeanUnion, it was felt the time had cometo organize a visit to the region tomeet with our alumni and tostrengthen ITC’s visibility and net-work in the region. Therefore, Marleen Noomen, assistant profes-sor at ITC’s Department of Earth Systems Analysis, teamed up withITC alumnus Dimo Todorovski fromMacedonia to visit several universi-ties and institutes in the region.

From 10 to 19 May, four differentcountries, eight universities, two em-bassies and several (governmental)institutes were visited. The tour started in Sarajevo (Bosnia-Herzegovina), where a visit was paid

to the University of Sarajevo. Thenext stop was Macedonia, wherepresentations were given at the uni-versities of Ss. Cyril and Methodius

(Skopje) and Goce Delcev (Štip), aswell as the State University of Tetovo.At each of the universities, the audi-ence consisted of interested staff andstudents from departments related toearth science. Besides universities, vis-its were also paid to the Dutch em-bassy in Skopje and the Ministry ofEnvironment and Spatial Planning toexchange ideas about cooperation.

After a visit to neighbouring Kosovo,where the University of Priština andthe Kosovo Ministry of Environmentand Spatial Planning were visited, thejourney continued to Albania. At theUniversity of Tirana, the PolytechnicUniversity of Tirana and theAgricultural University of Tirana,many students and staff attendedthe presentations and showed a keeninterest in how to apply to study atITC. Visits to the Institute of Geo -sciences (where two ITC alumni are

V I S I T S T O I T C

ITC News 2010-222

visits to ITC

ITC Visits the Balkans

Marleen Noomen noomen@itc.nl

Sabine Maresch maresch@itc.nl

Dimo Todorovski todorovski10394@alumni.itc.nl

University of Tirana (from left to right): Irena Ymeti (ITC alumna, now at Institute of Geosciences,Tirana), Marleen Noomen (ITC), Dimo Todorovski (ITC alumnus, now at Cadastre in Skopje andpresident of the Mak Hol Nuffic Alumni Association in Macedonia), and Sonila Xhafa(University of Tirana, Department of Geography)

Polytechnic University of Tirana, Department of Geodesy (third from the right: Dr Gëzim Gjata,ITC alumnus from 1992, now head of the department)

V I S I T S T O I T C

ITC News 2010-2 23

On Friday, 21 May 2010, theMalaysian Minister of National Resources and Environment, the Honourable Dato Sri Douglas UggahEmbas, paid a study visit to ITC, together with a delegation of highofficials from the Ministry and theLand Surveyors Board. ITC waspleased to welcome ITC alumnusProf. Abdul Kadir bin Taib, director-general of Survey and MappingMalaysia and chairman of the LandSurveyors Board Malaysia, as one ofthe delegation members.

The Malaysian Land Surveyors Boardis strongly involved in ongoing capac-ity building programmes and the vis-iting delegation was particularly in-terested in ITC’s expertise in thelatest developments in land registra-tion systems and in spatial data infra-structures. After words of welcomefrom Dr Anne Flierman, president ofthe Executive Board of the Universityof Twente, presentations were givenby Mr Sjaak Beerens (Faculty Bureau

working) and the Dutch embassy inTirana concluded the trip.

All in all it was a very interesting,hectic and fruitful visit. We met manyenthusiastic people with a great in-terest in ITC’s studies and researchareas; we learned a lot about the

countries and organisations visited;and we are looking forward to re-ceiving many more students from theBalkans in the coming years. To con-clude, we would like to thank all theITC alumni that so kindly helped usto make this visit such a success.

ITC and former member of the ITCDirectorate), Prof. Jaap Zevenbergen(professor of land administration sys-tems), Mr Chris Paresi (director of theITC-UNU School for LandAdministration Studies) and Dr JavierMorales (assistant professor of spatialdata infrastructure systems). The pre-sentations were followed by a livelydiscussion on the latest trends and

possibilities for collaboration, duringwhich the Minister showed a keeninterest in the topics discussed and instrengthening the collaboration withITC in a continuous building of ca-pacities at the Malaysian LandSurveyors Board. The visit closed withthe exchange of presents and wordsof appreciation from the Ministerand from ITC.

Visit Malaysian Minister of National Resources and Environment

Sabine Maresch maresch@itc.nl

University of Priština, Kosovo University of Priština, Kosovo

The Malaysian delegation with ITC staff in the ITC garden (in the front row, fifth from the left: the Honourable Minister Dato Sri Douglas Uggah Embas;on his left: his wife, Datin Sri Doreen Mayang)

24 ITC News 2010-2

A N N O U N C E M E N T S

It is always rewarding to find thatour former students are doing wellin their professional life “after ITC”.We recently received news that Ron Dalumpines from the Philip-pines, a 2008 MSc graduate of theUPM course, has been awarded theprestigious EDC Student of the YearAward for 2010 at McMaster Univer-sity.

ESRI Inc., the well-known firm thatdevelops GIS solutions, recognizes aselection of academic departments atESRI Development Centre (EDC). Toqualify, the department must be run-ning special educational programmeswhere the development of GIS solu-tions using ArcGIS and sister soft-ware is of outstanding quality.Students enrolled in such pro-grammes enjoy special possibilitieswith regard to equipment, licencesand suchlike, to help them furthertheir understanding and researchprojects.

Ron Dalumpines is currently a PhDstudent at the School of Geographyand Earth Sciences at McMasterUniversity, Hamilton, Ontario. Thisschool holds EDC status. After receiv-ing his MSc degree from ITC, Ronwas granted a six-month ESRI-ITC in-ternational internship at ESRI,Redlands, California. This proved tobe highly successful and brought hima few interesting job offers. However,he saw his career developing in theresearch domain and eventually ac-cepted a PhD position in Hamilton.He has now completed his first yearthere, working on routing problems,map making and tracking.

Ron received the award not only be-cause of his in-depth knowledge ofgeo-information science and thetools that come with it, but also be-cause of his performance as a teach-ing assistant and the fact that he is aregular port of call for fellow PhDswhen it comes to finding solutions totechnically challenging GIS problems.We at his Alma Mater wish him thebest of success in pursuing the PhDdegree that he has set his sights on.

Ron Dalumpine

announcements

ESRI Development Center Student of the Year Award for the McMaster EDC

Rolf de By deby@itc.nl

25ITC News 2010-2

L I F E A F T E R I T C

On Wednesday, 2 June, the ITCAlumni Association Nepal (IAAN) or-ganized a small get-together anddinner reception for Dr YousifHussin and Ms Louise van Leeuwen,who were visiting Kathmandu for aworkshop. We had a great timesharing our memories of ITC, dis-cussing new perspectives for organ-izing short/refresher courses inKathmandu, and talking aboutother issues.

ITC staff members Bart Krol andSabine Maresch participated in theInternational Disaster ManagementConference organized by the CivilDefense in Havana, Cuba, from 14to 18 June 2010, and also organizeda small get-together with ITCalumni in Cuba. The ITC team metwith some 12 ITC alumni in a gath-ering held on 17 June in HotelPalco, Havana. The Dutch ambassa-

dor, Mr R.C.J. Muyzert, and thedeputy head of the Dutch embassy,Mr B.M. van Zwieten, also attended,

and happily took the opportunity toget to know our alumni in Cubaover drinks and snacks.

life after itc

Alumni Meet Nepal

Anish Joshi itcalumninepal@gmail.com

Alumni Meet Havana

Sabine Maresch maresch@itc.nl

Group Picture of the Alumni Meet Nepal IAAN President Joshi Chudamani, Louise vanLeeuwen and Dr. Yousif Hussin

Group picture alumni meet Havana

A small get-together and dinner reception for Dr Yousif Hussin and Ms Louise van Leeuwen

26 ITC News 2010-2

L I F E A F T E R I T C

“Sounds really good to be an ITCstudent …”

Four years ago (in 2006), I heard theabove phrase from a former studentof ITC. At that moment I decided toapply for scholarships and finally, Iguess, one of my dreams has cometrue. I was selected for the 2010GFM4 Diploma course inGeoinformatics, specializing in digitalphotogrammetry and remote sens-ing. From that moment till now, Ihave felt that ITC is the most suitableplace to study geoinformatics, aswell as being a place characterizedby kindness to other members fromall over the world. I am meetingmany friends of various religions andcultures in many countries. I think itis very rare to have the chance to visita lot of countries to study a lot ofcourses. All the students are treatedthe same and ITC has a very goodeducational system.

A Sri Lankan as well as a governmentworker, I am really interested in pur-suing my profession. As a pho-togrammetric technician, I can flyover the mountains and I can touchmy motherland so softly. Even more, Ican give my strength to the govern-ment to develop my small beautifulisland. I am being educated in many

fields, such as information technol-ogy, drafting, painting, remote sens-ing, cartography and much more be-sides. So I am facing a big challenge:to help my small country to a pleas-ant future. And I hope I can do thissatisfactorily, using this new knowl-edge of geo-information science.

This GFM4 course covers many areasof geo-information science. The coremodules dealt with methods of geo-data acquisition and the basic princi-ples of geographical information sys-tems and geo-visualization, while bythe end of the fourth module thebasic concepts of photogrammetryand remote sensing, database de-sign, cartographic concepts and thedissemination of geo-information viainternet had been covered. Thencame the three main specializationcategories: remote sensing, GIS oper-ation, and cartography and geo-visu-alization. During these classes, manynew technological applications in thegeo-information domain are treated.And finally the integration groupproject, including the study excur-sion, will come, with the individualfinal assignment in modules 10 and11. The entire process of this well-categorized course has been devisedby thoughtful geo-informative minds,and the learning path is piloted

under the sharp eyes of the coordi-nation staff and course directors.

Another good point is that the stu-dents have reasonable refreshmentperiods, enabling them to visit manyplaces in Europe. With the help ofthe Student Association Board (SAB),I have visited many European coun-tries, for example the UnitedKingdom and Germany, as well asmany nice cities in the Netherlands.The SAB organizes many trips, notonly for enjoyment but also for thepurpose of gaining comparativeknowledge of other European cul-tures. This method is again reallygood in terms of refreshing our over-all knowledge. For many years, I havewanted to find great satisfaction inworking at my job, and ITC standsout as the premium institution to de-liver the required training in an en-joyable environment. In addition toacademic breadth, there is a greatvariety of extracurricular activities,and I am excited about continuingmy interests in sport alongside mygeoinformatics studies.

ITC has its own sophisticated scien-tific library, which contributes to theeffectiveness of the education. Herestudents can gain in-depth knowl-edge and expertise in many fields.

Life at ITC

Mevan Nishantha Kumar Bandara bandara14102@itc.nl

London trip Visit to the clog factory

27ITC News 2010-2

L I F E A F T E R I T C

This service is very helpful during re-search studies as its scope goes be-yond the boundaries of any normallibrary. Internet facilities and the li-brary’s own web page give readersmass resource coverage, helpingthem to achieve their goals.

The ITC hotel deserves considerablepraise too. From the reception staffto the cleaning staff, they all work soconsiderately. They always have agood system to follow and it servesas a fine example to other hotel sys-tems. ITC and the hotel are well cou-pled, giving good service to all na-tionalities.

NUFFIC too erected a remarkablemilestone in my life. LinkingKnowledge Worldwide is well re-

Not all but most of the technicalproblems are solved with the soundknowledge provided, and I truly be-lieve that I will fulfil my potential byattending the University of TwenteFaculty of Geo-Information Scienceand Earth Observation.

flected, with shining gold letters inour book of knowledge. It providesus with a tremendous opportunity tovisit the Dutch nation and surf theentire European region.

Finally, I conclude that ITC has clearlyemerged as the best choice for me.

Surveying task

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28 ITC News 2010-2

L I F E A F T E R I T C

I graduated as a geographer at theUniversity of Havana in 1981 andstarted to work with GIS and digitalcartography in 1984 while employedas a young scientific researcher atthe Institute of Geography of theCuban Academy of Sciences. Inthose days, we used a simple PC(8086 processor driven with 20megabyte hard disk) and AutoCAD,together with Dbase, to build a sortof integration of graphic and attrib-ute data that should, somehow, be-have as a vector GIS. Almost alwaysit did … slowly, but it did. I took myfirst remote sensing course in 1986(remote sensing applied to geol-ogy). It was offered as a postgradu-ate course for Academy of Sciencesprofessionals by the Institute of Ge-ology of the same institution. Onthat occasion, the majority of theanalysis and interpretation was ana-logical, performed on plotted satel-lite images.

During the year 1988, I first heardabout ITC (known at that time as theInternational Institute for AerospaceSurvey and Earth Sciences) and de-cided to apply for a scholarship for apostgraduate course that seemed tomatch my interests perfectly: GIS/LISfor Urban Applications. The bureau-cracy was so ponderous and ineffi-cient at the Institute of Geographythat I could not present the docu-mentation on time, even though theprocess had started several months inadvance. So, on the first working dayof 1989, I initiated the whole proce-dure again. This time the efforts suc-ceeded: the application was acceptedby ITC and I was granted a scholar-ship − I was going to study GIS atone of the world’s most importantteaching organizations concernedwith this subject!

Studying at ITCArriving in Enschede during the firstdays of September 1989 was a turn-ing point in my life. The first shockwas the language: ITC English. Iclearly remember one of our firstmeetings in a classroom at the oldbuilding on Boulevard 1945. All threebranches (Cadastral, Rural andUrban) of the postgraduate GIS/LIScourse were gathered in the sameroom; there were about 40 people.The professor leading the session,Johan de Meijere, encouraged ques-tions from the students. He was veryactive and efficient in the process,and gradually the complexity of thequestions from these students, whocame from so many parts of theworld, increased, as did the speed ofconversation. At a certain point, I re-alized with great surprise that I wasable to understand only the answersor comments provided by Mr deMeijere, or eventually (if it came froma Latin American country) a question.So I found myself imagining thequestions based on the informationprovided by the answers. When theclass ended, I went to talk to the pro-fessor and he said that after a coupleof months all of us would be capableof understanding one another per-fectly well, and we would also knowfrom which part of the world our fel-low student came just by the way hespoke English. He was right!

Time was passing by, and we wereimmersed in a hectic routine of theo-retical lectures, evaluations and prac-tical exercises that occupied most ofour time. We learned many things …sometimes the hard way, like findingout that, if you delayed leaving ITCtoo long in the afternoon, you mightnot have fresh bread to eat thatnight. No supermarket was openafter 6:00 pm in those days.Enschede has changed a great deal.

The everyday learning activities werevery intense and I enjoyed them alot, especially because the teachingmethod encouraged students to taketheir own decisions and explore asdeeply as desired. It was demanding,but at the same time gave the free-dom to choose and behave accord-ingly. We studied many computer-re-lated topics, statistics and, what Iliked more, everything related to ge-ographical information systems. Ialso enjoyed the opportunity to dealwith ILWIS, the Integrated Land andWater Information System. So for myfinal report, I used this software asthe main analytical tool to completemy paper.

In March 2010, I was invited to come to ITC as avisiting scholar for one month

The professor leading the session, Johan deMeijere, encouraged questions from the students

What does ITC Mean?

Reinaldo Paul Pérez Machado rpmgis@usp.br

29ITC News 2010-2

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Social LifeSocial life at ITC at the end of the1980s could be intense or almostnon-existent. It depended on severalfactors, such as the course you weretaking (some courses were moretime-demanding than others),whether you had come alone or withyour family, and whether you weresingle or married. But, it must bementioned, the opportunities werethere for all the students to take. Atleast once or twice a month, therewere scheduled guided toursthrough the Netherlands. These trips,organized together with theNetherlands Fellowship Programmes(NUFFIC), were a great success, giv-ing us the opportunity to learn agreat deal about the country thatwas hosting our studies.

When I mentioned that coming toITC was a turning point in my life,this was indeed the case − and notonly from the professional point ofview. It was more important for mylove life. I have been happily marriedto my wife, Violêta Kubrusly, sincethen. Yes, we are another example ofan ITC couple. Violêta is Brazilian, anarchitect and an urbanist, and sheentered the same postgraduatecourse, GIS/LIS for Urban Applica -tions, that I took back in 1989.Sometimes we say − and our friendscorroborate this − that we weremeant for each other. We met in1989 and have been together eversince.

When Violêta heard of a open com-petition organized by the Municipal -ity of São Paulo to select a candidateto go to study at ITC, she was reluc-tant to participate until the very lastmoment. She had already left thepremises of the Planning Secretariatwhere she worked at that time andhad reached the bus stop when shedecided to go back and add hername to the list. That was the closingday. A few days later the competitiontook place and she won first place. Inthe other hemisphere, I was againgoing through all the steps that hadnot worked the previous year. So wemet in 1989 and have been togetherever since. The unwanted delay of1988 turned out to be a wonderfulthing for me. Otherwise we wouldnever have got to know each other.In August 1990, when the course atITC was finished, I went to live inBrazil, where I still live today.

Living in BrazilBrazil is a very big and beautifulcountry, full of contrasts, which aredisplayed with high intensity in thecity of São Paulo. Since the begin-ning, I have been fascinated by thiscity, actually one of the biggest in theworld. In 1993, I passed the exami-nation to enter the Department ofGeography of the University of SãoPaulo as a lecturer. Since then my ca-

reer has evolved more along the linesof academic teaching and research.Today I am an associate professorwith a PhD in human geography(2001). I have done post-doctoratesat the University of Barcelona (2006-2007) and at the Center for Interna -tional Earth Science InformationNetwork (CIESIN) of ColumbiaUniversity (2009). I teach remotesensing, GIS and cartography to un-dergraduate and postgraduate stu-dents.

Returning to ITCSince 1990, I have had the opportu-nity to visit ITC several times. So Ihave been lucky and have been ableto maintain the ties with the institu-tion. And I have seen all the changesthat have occurred since the end ofmy postgraduate course − the newbuilding and the transformation intoa faculty of the University of Twentebeing among the most relevant ofthese changes.

In March 2010, I was invited to cometo ITC as a visiting scholar for onemonth. The invitation was sustainedby the Erasmus Mundus Programmeof the European Union, with the rec-ommendation of the university con-sortium running the Geo-InformationScience for Environmental Modellingand Management MSc programmeand made effective by Prof. A.K.Skidmore, head of the Departmentof Natural Resources and GEM pro-gramme coordinator. This was reallyan honour, as well as a good oppor-tunity to come back to ITC, this timefor a longer period, and become in-volved with the other side of the in-stitution, teaching rather than study-ing. What’s more, a lot of goodmemories came flooding back when Iwas assigned to stay at the ITCInternational Hotel. The last surprisewas that the reservation was at thevery same building and on the verysame floor where I lived as a studentmore than 20 years ago!

When I mentioned that coming to ITC was a turn-ing point in my life, this was indeed the case − andnot only from the professional point of view

I have been happily married to my wife, ViolêtaKubrusly, since then. Yes, we are another exampleof an ITC couple

30 ITC News 2010-2

L I F E A F T E R I T C

Since March 2009, six months aftermy graduation from the NRM Mas-ter course, I have worked for thegovernment of the Democratic Re-public of Timor-Leste (East Timor) asan adviser on mapping and GIS. Iwas seconded from the GeospatialInformation Authority of Japan(GSI), the national mapping agency,through the Japan International Co-operation Agency (JICA). In this arti-cle, I would like to introduce mywork in Timor-Leste and share myviews about the usefulness of ITCexperiences with the readers.

Outline of Timor-LesteTimor-Leste is a Southeast Asiancountry that covers approximately15,000 km2 of the eastern part ofTimor Island. The country is inhabitedby 1,000,000 people and Dili is thecapital city. Following Portuguese col-onization over 400 years, Timor-Lestewas occupied and administered byIndonesia from 1975 to 1999.Established in 2000, UNTAET (UnitedNations Transitional Administration inEast Timor) supported the country’sadministration until Timor-Leste wonits independence in 2002. As one ofthe youngest states in the world,Timor-Leste is now looking forwardto nation building, so it needs assis-tance in all sectors, including thegeo-information field.

Activities as an AdviserMy activities, which are conductedmainly at the National Directorate ofLand, Property and Cadastral Services(DNTPSC), Ministry of Justice, arecharacterized by three pillars. Thefirst pillar is establishing a geographi-cal information distribution system.Although DNTPSC provided clientswith topographic maps, aerial pho-tos, etc., there were no documentedrules and procedures for managing

and distributing geographical infor-mation. To make the system healthyand sustainable, I drafted two sets ofguidelines for geographical informa-tion management and distribution tooperate the system. DNTPSC has juststarted applying the new guidelines.The next task is to train and familiar-ize staff with the system for the pur-pose of quality services. The secondpillar is the technical transfer activity.Visualization of geographicaldatasets using GIS software is themain part. Sometimes DNTPSC staffproduce customized maps for clientson a job training basis. One big chal-lenge is maintaining the availabilityof GIS software. Breakdown of a PCserver last year has made it difficultto use GIS software so the results ofthis activity have been somewhat lim-ited. The third pillar is promoting theuse of geographical informationamong stakeholders. To this end, Ivolunteered to be the secretary ofthe Geographical Information Group(GIG). GIG, which is a non-profit vol-untary organization, provides aforum for exchanging ideas on GISissues by holding a meeting everytwo or three months and maintainingits website (http://sites.google.com/site/gigtimorleste/home). About 50

experts from government and inter-national organizations, as well as in-dividuals, have joined this group. Inthe absence of a legal or institutionalframework for GIS policy in Timor-Leste, GIG can be considered the na-tional coordination body of GIS pol-icy within the country at present.

First GIS Day Event in Timor-LesteOne of GIG’s recent remarkableachievements was the implementa-tion of a first-ever GIS Day event inTimor-Leste to raise awareness of GISactivities within the country. Thisstarted with the shared recognitionamong some GIG members that, de-spite their important contributions tothe development of Timor-Leste, thework and achievements of GIS-re-lated organizations required highervisibility and awareness among thepeople of the country. To change thesituation, the idea of holding a mapexhibition to commemorateInternational GIS Day was proposedby me and some colleagues at theGIG meeting in July 2009 and re-ceived positive support from themeeting participants.

Working for Capacity Development in Geo-information Field in Timor-Leste (East Timor)

Toru Nagayama tr.ngym@gmail.com

GIG members at GIS day exhibition

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As this was to be the first event ofthis nature in the country, prepara-tion was based on trial and error. Tomaintain effective management,preparatory management meetings(seven in total) were held under myfacilitation every two weeks leadingup to the launch of the event. Tasksranged from securing the venue, de-termining the event title, securingsponsors and creating exhibition ma-terials and presentations, to prepar-ing public relation materials for distri-bution. Both Timor-Leste andinternational GIG members cooper-ated to launch and celebrate thisone-week event on International GISDay (18 November 2009).

The map exhibition, entitled HoMapa Ita Harii Futuru Timor-Leste (inTetun, the official local language; inEnglish: With Maps, We Build theFuture of Timor-Leste), was held inthe exhibition space at theDelegation of the European Union to

Timor-Leste (Casa Europa) from 18 to25 November 2009. Five Timoresegovernment agencies and eight UNand aid agencies exhibited maps andgave presentations at daily seminarsover one week. It was estimated thatabout 500 people visited the event.

For the first time, this event offeredvisitors an overview of the use andcontribution of GIS and mapping ac-tivities in supporting the develop-ment of the country. Implementingthe event also provided the local andinternational community with oppor-tunities to transfer technologies andshare experiences. At the same time,it was recognized that, given the factthat it was the end of the school yearand owing to the limited public rela-tions activities, there were fewer vis-its from school students and localpeople to the event. Significant partsof the event preparation and imple-mentation were organized by inter-national GIG members, which sug-gests the possibility of Timoresemembers assuming more leadershipin conducting an event of this kind inthe future.

Usefulness of ITC ExperiencesThe experiences at ITC are very usefulin my present job in Timor-Leste. Sofar I recognize three major areas toexplain this.

• GIS principles and skills learned atITC: These are directly applied totraining DNTPSC staff. In otherwords, the GIS principles and skillsthat ITC offered are being dissemi-nated to the staff of Timor-Lestegovernment through me. It is alsonotable that the GIS software pur-chased at ITC through a special ac-ademic offer supports my workevery day.

• Systematic approaches to problemsolving: In the NRM Master course,the class learned about the systemapproach and several techniques ofproject management: stakeholderanalysis, problem tree, etc. I havefound these approaches to be veryuseful for identifying problems inthe geographical information distri-bution system at DNTPSC. Clearproblem recognition and structuregreatly helped me to draft guide-lines for operating the system.

• Working in a multinational environ-ment: One of the values of study-ing at ITC is its multinational na-ture. However, the interdisciplinaryproject in Schiermonnikoog, an is-land in the Dutch Wadden Sea,was a truly unique experience formy class, as well as being valuablein terms of understanding how towork in a multinational environ-ment. As a matter of fact, so many

Toru Nagayama presenting at the GIG meet-ing, July 2009

Technical transfer activity conducted atDNTPSC

Toru Nagayama with the GIS day memorial map

ITC has built up an extensive net-work of international contacts withformer students, which since thefoundation of ITC in 1950 hasgrown to a community of morethan 20,000 individuals spread over171 countries. ITC’s mission stressesthe vital importance of its relationswith and consequently its ongoingservices to its alumni in their effortsto develop and to strengthen theirproductive, teaching, and manage-ment capabilities.

donors and international organiza-tions work in Timor-Leste − andthe field of geo-information is noexception − that the working envi-ronment is multinational ratherthan bilateral. When engaged inGIG activities and talking withDNTPSC clients from various coun-tries, I have in mind the way to getgood results from work with mycolleagues, always rememberingthe experiences I had at ITC.

ClosingTo be honest, I did not expect thatthe experiences at ITC would becomeso useful so soon, and I would behappy if my article can give readerssome ideas about career develop-ment after ITC. Finally, I would like tothank the staff of ITC − especially DrDick van der Zee and Mr HenkKloosterman − and my classmates forsharing the wonderful experiences ofthe NRM Master course 2007-2008.

32 ITC News 2010-2

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Mr. Carlos Salman Gonzalez, Direc-tor General of ‘Sistemas de Informa-ción Geográfica, México, received aLifetime Achievement Award duringthe ESRI User Conference in SanDiego.

Mr. Salman Gonzales is an ITC alum-nus (Graduated in 1975) and ac-knowledged ITC in his speech. He

brought modern mapping tools toMexico. Mr. Salman Gonzales alsopurchased a nursery and led a move-ment that has planted millions oftrees in that country. After workingfor the Mexican government, heopened his own mapping company,which today is the largest mappingcompany in South America.

LinkedIn is an interconnected net-work of experienced professionalsfrom around the world. An ITC alum-nus and the ITC alumni office havecreated a group community in whichyou as ITC alumnus/a, student or(former) staff member can sharecommon experiences, passions, inter-ests, affiliations or goals.At the moment the ITC alumni group

has over 700 members and we hopeto grow even more. Discussions,news items and job postings are up-dated regularly by the alumni officeor other members. Feel free to joinand post interesting topics, job op-portunities or connect with fellowgroup members.

Mr. Salman Gonzales

Join the ITC Alumni community at:www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=142077&trk=hb_side_g

ITC Alumni on LinkedIn

Alumni Office alumni@itc.nl

Alumnus received ESRI Lifetime Achievement Award

Communication Department itcnews@itc.nl

2010-2

FACULTY OF GEO-INFORMATION SCIENCE AND EARTH OBSERVATION

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