WHAT IS THE FUTURE OF OUR PROFESSION ? 
Hans-Peter Bahr 
Prof. Dr.-Ing., Institute for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing 
Karlsruhe University, Germany 
Commission VI, Invited Paper 
KEY WORDS: Population growth, Global networking, Career, Market, Tools, Products 
ABSTRACT 
The subject must be kept as much as possible free from speculations. Having this in mind, technical as well as non-technical 
elements are brought together which will determine the future of our profession. The extreme width of components of 
our profession will be shown together with indicators, which characterise a profession. The indicators are then assigned to 
" Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing”, referring both to the past and the future. Finally, conclusions of the analysis are 
given in form of theses and questions as well as some proposals to master the "future of our profession". 
KURZFASSUNG 
Das Thema muß so weit wie möglich von Spekulationen frei gehalten werden. Dazu werden zunàchst technische und nicht- 
technische Elemente zusammengestellt, welche unsere Zukunft bestimmen werden. AnschlieBend wird gezeigt, daB unser Beruf 
eine extreme Breite von Komponenten aufweist, daB es aber Indikatoren gibt, welche einen Beruf grundsätzlich charakterisieren. 
Diese Indikatoren werden nun subsumiert auf "Photogrammetrie und Fernerkundung”, und zwar sowohl in Bezug auf die 
Vergangenheit als auch mit Blick auf die Zukunft. SchlieBlich erfolgen Bewertung der Analysen in Form von Thesen und 
Fragen sowie einige Vorschläge, die ” Zukunft unseres Berufes” zu meistern. 
1 WARNING: DO NOT EXPECT PRECISE There will be a growing demand for data of our environment 
ANSWERS due to dynamically developing key features. 
In the title there are two concepts which show a significantly This applies primarily to the growing population: after 4 bil- 
high level of fuzziness: lion in 1975 and 5.8 billion in 1995, ten billion are expected 
in the year 2010 (Linkwitz 1995). Even if growth rates are 
"future" and slowed down there will necessarily be growth. 
"our profession" . uds 
Problems and challenges produced under these conditions 
Prediction, if not applied in statistics, is sheer speculation. To were tackled in the past, at least partly, by "technology". 
make this clear, let us go ten years back and consider which ~~ The so-called "technical revolution” is still under way as we 
(technical, personal, political ...) event was really predictable ~~ do not observe in principle a difference between the introduc- 
then.l dare say that order of magnitude of the changes in the tion of the steam engine, television or the digital computer. 
next ten years will be similar to those encountered in the past — In all cases, "paradigmatic" shifts (Ackermann 1995) were 
ten years - if not more. produced resulting in even faster growing technical possibili- 
ties. Analyzing the present status and trend of technology no 
"Our profession", on the other hand, shows no consistency "iisnits to growth may bel expected during thei nest years 
at all. We are going to analyze this field in more detail in 
paragraph 3. Consequently, the following constraints should In the field of technology, the key elements which will drive 
be kept in mind: the question in the title, combining two fuzzy our profession are in Sensor Development, Computer Science 
elements (" future" and "our profession") can not be expected and Communication Science. It is not the purpose of this 
to be answered significantly and to our full satisfaction. It is paper to analyze the individual trends in detail but to draw 
basically an "ill-posed" question. The well known procedures conclusions from the obvious overall change. In this respect 
of "error propagation" illuminate this limitation very clearly. we have to accept that technical innovation is coming from 
outside of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing. In the long 
We are all responsible for analyzing the present status and the n diede 
run, this might be a "killing factor". 
changing role of our profession in order to plan and prepare 
for the future: On the other hand, Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing 
provide data about our environment based on numerical 
" Temos, todos nos, imaging techniques, including data processing, visualization 
Por acáo ou omissáo, of the results and quality control. There is a growing demand 
Estimulo ou incompreensäo, for " our products" for the reasons given above. Consequently, 
Responsabilidade dos fatos da historia" the future of our profession in the field of application can be 
(Teotonio  Villela, | Osorio Square Cu- seen far more optimistically than in the domain of technology. 
ritiba/Brazil) However, what does "our products" mean in the future? 
2 KEY ELEMENTS WHICH WILL DRIVE THE Changing technology will change the products: data of the 
FUTURE environment will be required and asked for in 4-D, i.e., includ- 
ing a fully 3rd. dimension and temporal change. Data access 
Which elements are significant for the future of our profession will be needed "on-line" and nicely visualized in many cases. 
and will they be predictable? Finally, there is a strong trend away from "just data" towards 
13 
International Archives of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing. Vol. XXXI, Part B6. Vienna 1996