resolution to be expected in the next few years, may dramat-
ically change the present situation.
The common factor in both Photogrammetry and Remote
Sensing is that the products are up to now primarily required
in the public domain or, even more important, financed by
the public sector.
Looking forward, the above listed seven items will continue
to be valid because they represent a general structure for the
development of a discipline or a profession. However we have
to check the elements against the new conditions coming
from outside like the mentioned dramatic social, economic
and technical changes.
The change clearly starts from item (a): the new tools, i.e.
sensors, computers, software packages and " global" networks
necessarily lead to absolutely new procedures and products.
Leberl (1992) points out that the process "from analytical to
digital" is " revolutionary" , whereas the step "from analogue
to analytic" was just evolutionary".
What are the new procedures and products? What is the fi-
nal consequence of " going digital" and " global networking" ?
We are far from being able to answer these questions to our
satisfaction as mentioned earlier. But we have to recognize
that we shall lose "traditionally well established fields" to-
gether with operational procedures (b), specific education (e)
and established careers (f). Changing tools are key elements
which drive a profession and which have a "domino effect"
on all the other elements listed above.
6 CONCLUSIONS
6.1 Some theses upon which most of us will agree
(1) Political developments
The expanding population of our world leads, globally spoken,
to shortage of food, housing and decreasing quality of life.
This goes together with increased environmental pollution
and international ethnic conflicts.
This scenery develops a growing demand for geo-referenced
data. Therefore, the use of all kind of imagery as a medium
for data capture and data storage of the environment will
dramatically expand.
However, there is no guarantee at all that it will be Pho-
togrammetrists and Remote Sensing experts who will provide
the data.
(2) Technical developments
Technical developments and their consequences cannot be
anticipated with certainty. Global networking, dissimination
of knowledge and manipulation of opinions will enter all fields
of life.
Introduction of new sensors, like commercial EOS, and de-
velopment of new methods in Photogrammetry and Remote
Sensing will continue. However, real innovations will come
from outside of our profession.
The trend to shift from specialized " photogrammetric" equip-
ment to widely used general software packages will continue.
Geo-data will be in 4-D in the future
Automation is a principal issue in image processing and will
increasingly include "intelligent" components providing pro-
posals for decision making (like " railway time tables").
16
(3) Conclusions from (1) and (2):
Facts we have to accept
The former separation of data acquisition and data use will
disappear; real-time systems provide new fields of application.
As a consequence of development in Computer Science and
the tendency towards the design and use of simpler sys-
tems, photogrammetrists will have to compete with "non-
professionals": vanishing artificial protection will give way to
"natural selection”.
International electronic networking and technologically fast
developing countries like China, Brazil and India will lead
to a new distribution and new centres of photogrammetric
activities, no matter what it will be called.
6.2 Some big questions
(1) The structure of our profession
Which are the prevailing elements that make a profession " big
and strong" ? Which are those elements in Photogrammetry?
Which will they be in the future?
Will there be an "image" of a photogrammetric engineer that
characterizes the professionalist unmistakably?
(2) Our profession in relation to others
Which are the main future interactions with other disciplines?
Specifically, how will relations to GIS and Computer Science
develop? Will Photogrammetry merge into Computer Science
(see Leberl 1992)?
(3) Conclusions from (1) and (2):
Rules we might follow to proceede
A change of names is no solution unless it goes together with
a new concept.
In the past Photogrammetry was mostly understood as a
"surveying technique". In the future our profession will (have
to) go far beyond surveying and cartography.
Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing have to prepare for
the big market of 4D environmental data and "intelligent"
products.
The "academic education" (i.e. all components of teaching
and research) has a particular responsibility for the future of
our profession. The academic environment has to develop
concepts for management of the rapidly growing volume of
knowledge. It has to establish and use global nets for dissim-
ination of information and interdisciplinary interaction.
6.3 Optimists and Pessimists
During the Commission VI Symposium in Beijing in 1994,
a panel discussion was held on future trends in our profes-
sion. Panel members were: L. Fritz, A. Grün, G. Konecny,
K. Kraus, S. Murai, D. Tait, J. Trinder, K. Torlegard and
Z. Wang. The group addressed the change and the chal-
lenges and there was no disagreement about the present sta-
tus and the future trends in Photogrammetry and Remote
Sensing. However, facing the facts, very different conclu-
sions were drawn and the panel was split into two controver-
sial groups: the" optimists" and the "pessimists". The op-
timists stressed the expanding GIS techniques and that 70%
of the costs involved were in data acquisition. This would
therefore guarantee excellent conditions for our profession in
the future. The pessimists just pointed out that many tech-
nological developments which could be of our own domain
International Archives of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing. Vol. XXXI, Part B6. Vienna 1996
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