eM UNES 
MSC DEGREE COURSE IN GEOINFORMATICS 
AN ITC PERSPECTIVE 
T. Bouloucos, G.C. Huurneman 
ITC, Department of Earth Observation Science- (bouloucos, huurneman) G itc.nl 
Corresponding author: T. Bouloucos (bouloucos € itc.nl) 
Commission VI, WG VI/1 
KEY WORDS: Education, Cooperation, Learning, Teaching, Training, GIS 
ABSTRACT: 
The International Institute for Geo-information Science and earth Observation established in 1950 under the name International 
Training Centre for Aerial Survey (hence ITC), is an autonomous organisation operating under the aegis of the Ministry of 
Education, Culture and Science and the Minister for Development Cooperation of the Netherlands and linked to the Technical 
University of Twente. It is the oldest and largest international higher education institute in the Netherlands, and seeks to promote the 
sound application of gco-information technology through programmes of research, education and project services. ITC's principal 
mission is aiming at capacity building and institutional development specifically in developing countries. 
In order to achieve its mission, the ITC has established six educational programmes with different specialisations, each run by a small 
group of scientific departments. These educational programmes offer different specialisation courses at the Professional Master (PM) 
and Master of Science (MSc) levels. 
The Master of Science (MSc) degree course in Geoinformatics, of 18 months duration, is thoroughly reported in this paper. Its 
objectives, structure, and curriculum are explained. 
Furthermore the paper, elaborates on the accreditation and decentralisation of education strategy of ITC particularly on the MSc 
degree level, and describes some successful implementations of decentralisation of education at the MSc level in Geoinformatics. It 
also emphasise the point, that the option of full-time study in ITC's headquarters in the Netherlands is fully maintained. 
1. INTRODUCTION 
ITC is an internationally recognized centre of excellence in 
international education. It aims at capacity building and 
institutional development of professional and academic 
organizations and individuals specifically in countries that are 
economically and/or technologically less developed. 
Six educational programmes have been established at ITC, each 
run by a small group of scientific departments, leading to 
Diplomas that their duration varies in the different educational 
programmes, to Professional Master (PM) of a duration of one 
year and to the Master of Science (MSc) of a duration of 18 
months degrees: 
* Geoinformatics (GFM ) 
* Geoinformation Management (GIM) 
© Earth Resources and Environmental Geosciences (EREG) 
© Natural Resources Management (NRM) 
e Urban Planning and Land Administration (UPLA) 
* Water Resources and Environmental Management 
(WREM) 
2. MSC. DEGREE COURSE IN GEOINFORMATICS 
Critical understanding of and competence in the development of 
systems and tools for the acquisition, processing, 
transformation, analysis, storage, presentation and use of 
geoinformation are the major aims of the MSc degree course in 
Geoinformatics. Next to these is the development of skill so that 
participants are able to design and undertake research and 
development projects in various fields of geoinformatics and to 
participate in multi-disciplinary research and development 
projects. 
2.1 Course objectives 
It is expected that on completion of the course, participants 
should be able to: 
* analyse a problem encountered in professional 
geoinformatics practice and develop an appropriate 
method to study and/or solve the problem; 
* select and possibly develop appropriate methods for 
geospatial framework data collection and processing; 
e use GI science and earth observation technology to 
generate, integrate, analyse and visualize spatial data; 
e understand the principles of databases and data 
models and to use database query languages; 
e apply research skills to formulate and carry out 
independent research in the general field of 
geoinformatics, possibly as part of a multi- 
disciplinary research and development project; 
® communicate and defend findings of research work. 
2.2 Duration and structure 
AN ITC courses begin simultaneously in early September each 
year. The MSc course, is of 18 months duration (12 months