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number of professionals from application areas, which are
rather new for ISPRS. These involve animation and virtual
reality, in addition to the many close range applications of
photogrammetry that are emerging, from medicine to
archeology. Finally, | want to express my gratitude for the
generous support of our sponsors, public and private, who
have enabled us to keep the Congress fee at a reasonable
level and to support the travel of about eighty people from
the developing countries, Central and Eastern Europe.
Almost a hundred countries are represented at this XIXth
Congress of ISPRS. I look forward to meeting many of you
during the coming week. With also the social programme
and the technical tours, it will be a busy week. If, after all,
one week proves to be too short , the next Congress Direc-
tor is welcome to change it: China, Spain or Turkey?
200
Welcome by Lawrence W. Fritz, President ISPRS
Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen:
On behalf of Council and our 120 Ordinary, Associate and
Regional Member Societies, it is with honor and pleasure
that | welcome you to this XIXth ISPRS Congress. ISPRS is
now 90 years old! Less than two weeks ago, on July 4th,
ISPRS celebrated the 90th anniversary of its founding.
Fifty-two years ago, The Netherlands hosted our Society’s
VIth Congress in The Hague. We are pleased to return now
for our XIXth Congress, a Congress that marks the transi-
tion of our Society into the 21st Century.
This ISPRS Congress is an event of celebration and
achievement - scientific, commemorative and social. Sci-
entific, as you will see in the extensive technical program
prepared by our seven Commissions and their 45 Working
Groups; Commemorative because of the long and glorious
role that The Netherlands has had in helping shape the via-
bility of ISPRS; and Social for the many opportunities for us
all to interact and enjoy the events and wonderful distrac-
tions prepared by our hosts. Our achievement is exempli-
fied by the leading role the photogrammetric, remote sens-
ing and spatial information sciences are taking by helping
the global community rapidly advance in this ‘information
age. :
. The Netherlands Society was formally admitted to ISP |
. Membership at the Paris Congress in 1934 and has been
very active in its affairs ever since. At the Rome Congress
in 1938, the leadership of ISP was awarded to The Nether-
lands, with Prof. Willem Schermerhorn elected ISP Presi-
dent. Prof. Schermerhorn was responsible for many note-
worthy achievements, including initiating the International
.. Journal of our Society and founding the ITC. He also
. became Prime Minister of the Netherlands in the post war
“International Archives of Photogrammerty and Remote Sensing. Vol. XXXIII, Part A. Amsterdam 2000.
years and he was elected an Honorary Member of ISPRS.
Thus, the 1948 Congress in The Netherlands was a time of
rebirth for the Society. And as we speak of achievements
and Schermerhorn, let us remember those who have con-
tributed to the scientific heritage of our Society and have
since passed on. Since 1996 three notable colleagues
have died. They were Carper Tewinkel, who during 1968
through 1976 was ISPRS Secretary General and 1st Vice
President, was the 1964-1968 Commission Ill President
and served many years as Editor-in-Chief of the Pho-
togrammetric Engineering Journal; Dr. Roberto Pereira da
Cunha, our recent 1992-1996 Commission VII President
and Coordinator of Institutional Relations at INPE; and Dr.
Hellmut Schmid, the recipient of the 1968 Brock Gold
Medal Award, who introduced our disciplines to the gen-
eralized least squares method for solving the collinearity
equations and who envisioned and led the world-wide
satellite triangulation program. | ask you all to please stand
for a moment of silence in remembrance and appreciation
. of these and all of our colleagues and friends who have
died since our last Congress. Thank you.
. Just as the 1948 Congress here in The Netherlands was a
_ time of rebirth for the Society, this 19th Congress launches -
the Society's plan for the future. The Society leadership
has formulated an ISPRS Strategic Plan to help manage
the influence that our sciences and technologies will have
‘in meeting the challenges of the global community in the
. foreseeable future. We recognize that our disciplines are
experiencing major changes in the way that we acquire,
process and disseminate imagery and the information
products derived from it.
_ We see the modern role of ISPRS and its Members as pro-
