FIG Working Week 2005 in Cairo, Egypt
April 16-21, 2005

From Pharaohs to Geoinformatics

Picture Gallery 4 - Technical Conference and Exhibition

Links to

• Report of the Conference

• Picture Gallery 1 - Opening Ceremony

• Picture Gallery 2 - Administrative Meetings I  (General Assembly I)

• Picture Gallery 3 - Administrative Meetings II  (General Assembly II, President's meeting, Council and ACCO meetings)

• Picture Gallery 4 - Technical Conference and Exhibition and Venue

• Picture Gallery 5 - Member Associations, Sister Organisations and Geospatial Information Societies

• Picture Gallery 6 - Closing Ceremony

• Picture Gallery 7 - Social Events (Egyptian Evening and Gala Dinner)

• Opening Address of Prof. Holger Magel, President of FIG
• Summary of the Conference at the Closing Ceremony by Prof. Holger Magel, President of FIG
• Conference Proceedings
• List of participants

Technical Sessions
The entrance to the plenary halls and exhibition areas was really nicely decorated with the Egyptian motives and items.	President Holger Magel was chairing the first plenary session with keynote speakers Dr. Ismail Serageldin, CEO of the Alexandria Library and Preetha Pulusani from Intergraph and Jack Dangermond from ESRI (not in the picture).
Speakers at one of the 51 technical sessions in which almost 400 papers and posters were presented.	Vice President Ken Allred chairing a session on hydrography with a presentation from Vice Admiral Alexandros Marathos, President of the IHB.
Round table on surveying and GIS education in Africa - chaired by President Magel and Vice President Stig Enemark as a rapporteur.	The round table was attended by representatives from many African universities and also international organisations (ISPRS, ISCGM, IHO and IAG).
Round table on the future governance and commission structure of FIG also attracted an almost full room of active participants.
Eng. Hisham Nasr, Chairman of the Egyptian Survey Authority, Mr. Muhammed Salim Sulaiman from Tanzania and Jan de Graeve at the at the unveiling ceremony of the plaque of the 30th Arc.	The plaque to recognize the northern end of the 30th Arc in Cairo.
Exhibition
The technical exhibition was opened by Dr. Ahmed El-Sheikh, Dr. Ismail Serageldin, Eng. Hisham Nasr and Dr. Dalal Alnaggar.	VIP guests at the booth of the Egyptian Survey Authority.
There were more than 40 booths at the technical exhibition which was very well attended.	Among the exhibitors were also GSDI and the next GSDI conference to be held in Santiago de Chile in November 2006.
President Holger Magel visiting the booth of Cairo Engineering and also discussing the co-operation with TOPCON, which is the latest FIG corporate member at the platinum level.	The exhibitors covered well both international, regional and Egyptian companies in surveying and SDI business.
President Magel in discussion with Eng. Sohir M. Hussein from the Conference Office and ESA at the stand of ESA.	Jack Dangermond was also at the ESRI booth where he met with the delegates. ESRI was one of the two gold sponsors of this first joint FIG/GSDI Conference.
The Australian koala inviting delegates to vote for Australia for the FIG Congress and visit Sydney in 2010 - after the winning bid.
Venue
Semiramis Intercontinental offered good facilities for the conference that occupied all meeting rooms and accommodation rooms for the whole week.	Participants gathered to the hotel lobby before the Egyptian evening.
Semiramis hotel got special thanks for the hospitality of the staff and the excellent lunches that were included in the registration fee.	Three travel agencies were involved in the conference arrangements - here discussions with the organising committee at the Triad desk during the conference.
Semiramis Intercontinental is located on the banks of the River Nile offering great views to the river and easy access to the main attractions.