| ISPRS
Welcome by Dutch Minister for Development Co-operation
The Netherlands" Development Co-operation Programme the next Congress in 1948 in The Hague, The Netherlands.
strives continuously to bridge the gap between the rich and Being the first post-war Congress, it took place in a spirit
the poor countries. These gaps are particularly wide in ^ of great international co-operation and solidarity. Upon the
ISP's recommendation, The Netherlands'
Government decided to establish the Interna-
tional Training Centre (ITC) for aerial survey
and earth sciences, to accelerate the produc-
tion of geographical information in developing
countries.
In the year 2000, ITC celebrates its 50th
anniversary. By then, it will have organised
training and educational courses in The
Netherlands for 15,000 specialists from 150
countries and an equal number through its sis-
trer-institutes and projects abroad.
Many of them participate in the ISPRS net-
work, which connects scientists and techni-
cians from all over the world, in support of
processes towards sustainable development.
Although communication has become much
faster thanks to the new information and com-
munication technologies, there is still much to
be achieved to reach all corners of the world,
and all levels of society, to support the accel-
erated uptake and impact of scientific findings,
and vice versa to increase the influence of
stakeholders' information requirements on
research and development.
The theme for the turn-of-the-millennium
ISPRS Congress in Amsterdam, "Geoinforma-
tion for All" reflects a spirit of world-wide soli-
darity, the wish to contribute to a better quality
of life for all and a productive environment for
science and technology, including the spatial sciences, present and future generations.
photogrammetry and remote sensing.
Bearing this very much in mind, | am very pleased and
proud that Amsterdam has been chosen to be the venue of
the XIXth ISPRS World Congress in the year 2000.
During the past century, photogrammetry received a strong
impulse from Willem Schermerhorn, geodesist and first
Prime Minister of The Netherlands after World War II.
Schermerhorn was elected president of the International Eveline Herfkens
Society for Photogrammetry (ISP) in 1938 and organised Minister for Development Co-operation
8. — 7 International Archives of Photogrammerty and Remote Sensing. Vol. XXXIII, Part A. Amsterdam 2000.
