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of much needed industrial and commercial activities even in urban 
areas must wait over five years to obtain title to the property 
needed by their enterprise! What prospects, then, have these 
countries to embark on a planned, rational program of 
deve1opment? 
As another illustration of a critical situation in the field 
of our concern, I may mention that in rural areas of Africa there 
is a strong trend toward the "individualization” of land 
ownership. This consists of a transition from collective tribal 
land use to individual use. This is due not only to the socio 
economic evolution slowly taking place but also to the fact that 
modern land cultivation requires a long term investment which can 
best be safeguarded if a person or family is given the ownership 
of the land. This trend is strongly supported by the national 
governments concerned, but again, our antiquated profession, with 
its long obsolete operational procedures, is not able to 
implement this healthy socio-economic trend. If we as "experts" 
are not able to agree on < an efficient:, simple and economic 
solution, how can we expect the politicians in these troubled 
lands to break this impass? 
There is another regrettable aspect of the 
internationally sponsored projects in our field. Often they are 
not properly concluded. As a result the initial enthusiasm and- 
momentum that has been generated by the project are irrevocably 
lost. Disappointment and frustration inevitably sets in among 
the local supporters. This was the situation evident during my 
recent project in the African countries. My report with detailed 
operational recommendations was very well received and praised, 
but I have heard not a word since. My impression is that the 
whole exciting project, like many others, has faded into 
oblivion. Sic transit gloria mundi! The sparse public resources 
spent (in a great part my own!) have passed like the glory of 
this world. 
Equally disquieting signs should be seriously considered by 
concerned persons such as the members of Commission VI of ISPR5. 
I have noticed that despite the dismal world situation in all 
fields of surveying and mapping, there are fewer and fewer 
meaningful photogrammetric articles in our journals. At the 
same time there are more and more on remote sensing techniques. 
These last describe marvelous techniques which, however, can not 
provide solutions to the basic and most pressing needs of present 
day society. At the same time there is a real "epidemic", of all 
kinds of meetings and symposia on "Land Information Systems", 
which are simply data banks with date handling, storing and 
display capabilities. At these meetings there is seldom any 
mention of the real issue: the gathering of land information in 
a meaningful and unambiguous form, and a dynamic and automated 
method for updating this information. It must be pointed out,