International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences, Vol XXXV, Part B6. Istanbul 2004
Over the years the demand for ITC’s products and services has
changed and ITC has changed its capacity building strategy and
instruments accordingly. Not only by strengthening capacity
building institutions across the world (Section 1.2) but also by
adjusting its products and services. Over the years technician
and technologist type of programmes were transferred to its
sister institutes and replaced by advanced levels to include
Master of Science Programmes (as from 1967) and PhD level
(as from 1990), supported by capacity building through research
and advisory services. Content wise the educational
programmes also changed in correspondence with technological
developments and changing demand in society.
1.3 A new challenge
Such changes have occurred gradually, over time, enabling ITC
to adjust its products and services and the delivery mechanisms
accordingly. Since the end of the 1990-s, however, ITC is
observing changes in its operating environment that come much
more rapid with potentially more dramatic implications for ITC
than hitherto experienced. Local capacity has increased, demand
is changing, policies with respect to development cooperation
(effecting funding) and higher education (affecting the
institutional position), changes in society (both economic and
technological) all have potentially far reaching implications.
1.4 Structure
This paper first of all defines the term “capacity building”
compared to “education” in order to specify the particular
mission of ITC. Subsequently the various changes in the
operating environment of ITC are dealt with in adequate detail
to understand the implications for capacity building by ITC.
Chapter 4 elaborates the way ITC has thus far addressed the
implications of the current changing environment and the way it
intends to do so in future.
2. CAPACITY BUILDING DEFINED
2.1 Capacity building: beyond education
Capacity building aims at improving the ability of entire
organisations to perform agreed tasks, either singly or in co-
operation with others. Education, directed at human resources
development, i.e. the supply of technical skills and professional
values is only one component of capacity building (Georgiadou,
Y. and R. Groot, 2002).
Where a proper organisational and institutional environment is
lacking, as is the case in many developing and emerging
economies organisational and institutional strengthening form
the two major other components of capacity building (Figure 2)
We observe, the world over, a rapidly changing position of
public organisations traditionally charged with the production
and dissemination of geographical information. Privatisation,
cost-recovery drives and competition from an emerging private
sector, arc just a few of the changes which affect the
organisational and institutional capacity requirements of such
organisations. These developments require an organisation to
avail of human resources that not only have the technological
skills and professional values required to address these
developments but who are also able to deal with the various
management aspects to operate within and contribute to
institutional setting and policy issues.
PURPOSE FOCUS
Human Supply of technical and professional personnel
development
resources
Strengthen the management capacity of organisations:
institutionalise geo-ICT solutions (systems and processes) as
well as strategic management principles
Organisational
strengthening
BUILDING FOR
EOINFORMATICS
Strengthen the capacity of organisations to develop &
CAPACITY
G
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Institutional negotiate appropriate mandates and modus operandi as well
strengthening as appropriate (new) legal and regulatory frameworks
Figure 2. Components of capacity building (Source:
Georgiadou, Y. and R. Groot, 2002)
The instruments towards building capacity can clearly not be
limited to education or training. Research capabilities will need
to be enhanced and advisory services to be provided to
complement human resources development.
2.2 Sustainable capacity building
The term “sustainability” generally refers to financial aspects. In
other words, it deals with the question whether there will be
financial resources to continue the capacity building efforts in
future.
There are, at least, two more aspects of sustainability that are
important in capacity building, ie. “scientific” and
“institutional” sustainability.
The “scientific sustainability” of a capacity building programme
refers to its capability to continuously upgrade its contents in
correspondence with the requirements as defined by
developments in the environment and society at large. This
generally requires such a capacity building programme to be
linked to or operate within a research environment.
With "institutional sustainability" is meant the institutional or
legal environment in which the capacity building activities take
place, or in other words the official mandate and legal position
of the organisation. This calls for such efforts to be undertaken
by organisations firmly embedded in existing frameworks rather
than project-approaches to capacity building involving new
and/or temporary institutional frameworks.
3. CHANGING ENVIRONMENT
Although ITC has experienced changes in its operating
environment since its founding in 1950 and has adjusted its
strategies to fulfil its mission, its current operating environment
experiences unprecedented changes
3.1 National capacity
The capacity of national institutions to provide education and
training in geo-information science and earth observation is
rapidly growing in the countries that have traditionally sent
people to ITC. This concerns academic institutions, which
provide education at bachelor, master and even PhD level but
also vocational education organisations, training branches of
professional organisations and private sector institutions that
provide short technical training. It seems that international
education activities, of which ITC has been one of the
contributors, has paid off!
