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The research task is being undertaken by an international Working Group 
consisting of 51 invited members representing many national mapping 
organizations and major survey companies. The research is being 
directed and coordinated by the ITC, who is responsible for developing 
the research system under the guidance of the WG. The ITC inputs a fair 
proportion of the general knowledge with the WG checking, confirming 
and modifying the ITC thinking as necessary and inputting specialized 
knowledge in specific areas. 
OBJECTIVES 
The prime objective, as stated earlier, is to contribute towards 
answering the fundamental question of 'how the increasing variety of 
techniques and instrumentation can be applied in the most rational and 
economic way'. in answering this fundamental question we will, of 
course, be satisfying one of the present basic needs of the surveying 
and mapping profession. 
More generally the objective is to create a cost modelling system 
capable of receiving statistical cost information from a wide variety 
of sources in the international mapping community, from both public and 
private sectors and from large and small organizations. After 
collecting and processing this statistical cost data, the models should 
be suitable for use by many different organizations on a number of 
different applications. We are very conscious that the necessity for 
combining information from different organizations and from different 
production processes may result in more detailed cost modelling than 
might be seen necessary for individual organizations. 
It is therefore the intention that the final cost data should be 
capable of being regrouped and aggregated quite simply to be of maximum 
use in many different mapping organizations. 
It is proposed to develop the cost models as a function of, on one hand 
Cost Standards and on the other hand production Rates (Jerie, 1976). 
The OEEPE cost model is being designed to link data from many different 
organizations. The relative values in terms of production rates will 
be of more importance to decision makers than the absolute values in 
monetary terms. 
APPROACH 
The research method being used for the OEEPE cost modelling project is 
based to a large extent on a well tried and proven method familiar to 
participants of ITC Post Congress Seminars. An ITC group, which is in 
essence an inner circle of active participants, formulates and agrees 
the research methodology and initial thinking. Key problem areas are 
identified, the elements are synthesized and open questions raised on 
questionnaires, which are then circulated to the larger international 
WG. This means that the inner group does a fair proportion of the 
basic theoretical work with the WG inputting the specialised production 
and costing information. 
The responses to questionnaires are analyzed by the inner group and the 
findings recirculated to the WG for further comments. This is basically 
a modified delphi approach being used for information gathering. 
The WG will shortly be asked to supply statistical data from production 
tasks which will be processed, analysed and presented with commercial 
security guaranteed throughout.