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ISPRS 
2000 
  
health and utility management. Defense, intelligence and 
enforcement agencies use imagery to enhance security 
measures, be they for monitoring border activities or to 
identify, record and track criminal acts. And now, commer- 
cial companies are expanding their markets to provide 
information from imagery for supporting industries in 
transportation routing, inventory monitoring, real estate 
assessment, precision agriculture, tourism, entertainment, 
trends analyses, insurance, and for a myriad of other serv- 
ices, many of which have yet to be realized. 
Developing The Vision 
It is in the context of this rapidly changing world that | 
asked the leadership of ISPRS to review its mission, roles 
and activities with an aim to define a vision for its future, a 
future which would ensure that ISPRS serves a public 
function of value. Fortuitously, in 1996, the ISPRS General 
Assembly elected, for the first time in Society history, its 
Council members from the six major continents of the 
world. This provided a unique opportunity to develop a 
vision balanced with the benefit of inputs from broad cul- 
tural and regional perspectives. On 1st - 3rd May 1998 the 
ISPRS Council convened a Strategic Planning Meeting in 
Bethesda, USA. The meeting was preceded by solicitation 
and circulation of ideas and recommendations from past 
and present Society officials for enhancing the role of the 
ISPRS for the future. At the meeting the Mission and Activ- 
ities of the Society were reviewed and modified. Goals 
were then identified and prioritized, Objectives were set for 
each goal, followed by the specification of Actions and 
Responsibilities needed to achieve the goals. 
There are many questions which arise in the development 
of plans for the future. They stimulate reflections of *why' 
and ‘how’ and ‘to what good’ should changes be made. 
That is: 
- Whatis the ISPRS Mission? Is it adequate? 
- What is its constituency? Should we reach further? 
- What is its leadership role? Its S&T niche? 
- Does ISPRS recognition have value? 
- What services can/should ISPRS provide? What are 
their priorities? 
- What are the needs of ISPRS Members? 
- How best can we motivate ISPRS Members? ISPRS 
groups/committees/officers? 
- What 'global good' activities should ISPRS pursue? 
Advocate? 
- What is the optimal structure to fulfil its role? 
- What revenue sources are available/sustainable to 
operate ISPRS? 
The long-range strategy for the ISPRS to pursue was developed 
in the light of these questions. A summary of the Society's stra- 
tegic planning follows: 
The Council agreed that the mission of ISPRS should be 
"devoted to the development of international cooperation 
for the advancement of knowledge, research, develop- 
ment and education in the photogrammetry and remote 
sensing and spatial information sciences, their integra- 
tion and applications, to contribute to the well-being of 
humanity and the sustainability of the environment." 
(bold indicates new wording) It is strongly felt that for an 
international society to serve its constituents it must 
  
118—— 
  
advance more than just the disciplines and their applica- 
tions. It must also help advance general knowledge of, 
and education in, these fields and, very importantly, state 
to what the Society can contribute. The scope is broad- 
ened to include spatial information as it is an inherent 
activity which is integral to, and cannot be reasonably 
divorced from, photogrammetry and remote sensing. 
Rather, we find that the integrated sciences and tech- 
nologies we represent are the photogrammetric, remote 
sensing and spatial information sciences. GIS and close- 
range measurements are both part of the spatial informa- 
tion sciences and thus our rationale for not using the less 
inclusive term 'geospatial.' 
The activities of the Society were enhanced (indicated by bold) 
and reordered. It was decided that to achieve its aims, the 
Society shall: 
(a) facilitate excellence in research and development and 
the use of proper and appropriate technology in the pho- 
togrammetry and remote sensing and spatial informa- 
tion sciences, including the development of standards; 
(b) initiate and co-ordinate research in the fields of the 
photogrammetry and remote sensing and spatial infor- 
mation sciences by creating Technical Commissions 
and Working Groups concerned with pertinent aspects 
of the photogrammetry and remote sensing and spatial 
information sciences; 
(c) convene international Congresses, symposia and other 
meetings at regular intervals, with lectures, communi- 
cations, discussions and, as appropriate, tutorials, 
exhibitions, technical visits and social events; 
(d) ensure wide international circulation of the results of 
research and the records of discussion by the 
publication of The International Archives of the Pho- 
togrammetry and Remote Sensing and Spatial Infor- 
mation Sciences, which shall form the record of Con- 
gresses and Symposia and other scientific meetings of 
the Society; 
(e) publish and circulate an international journal and other 
communications relevant to the interests of the Society 
and the community at large; 
(f) stimulate the formation of national and regional soci- 
eties of the photogrammetry and remote sensing and 
spatial information sciences, and promote exchanges 
between such societies; 
(g) encourage interaction of the Society and its members 
with the community at large, including the publication 
and exchange of scientific papers and journals by, and 
among, its national and regional Societies; 
(h) encourage recognition and administer a variety of 
awards to honor the achievements of individuals or 
groups; 
() seek representation of the photogrammetry and 
remote sensing and spatial information sciences in rel- 
evant international forums; 
( promote and facilitate education, training, and technol- 
ogy transfer of the photogrammetry and remote sens- 
ing and spatial information sciences; 
(K) promote other appropriate actions to enhance the 
Society's mission. 
In addition to strengthening the scientific and publication 
activities, the Council felt strongly that the ISPRS must be a 
voice for, and of, its disciplines to those external communi- 
International Archives of Photogrammerty and Remote Sensing. Vol. XXXIII, Part A. Amsterdam 2000.