Work Plan

INTRODUCTION

• This Work Plan provides direction for the Bureau in the management of Federation, for the FIG office in the administration of the Federation and for the technical commissions in the development and execution of their work plans. As the managing board of Federation, the Bureau has the authority and responsibility for fulfilling this plan.
• The financial security of FIG is directly related to member organizations' (and potential new member organizations) members perceptions of FIG's responsiveness to their individual goals. Thus, the Bureau has as its primary objective the improving of FIG's responsiveness to the needs of member organizations' members. The Bureau recognizes that the commissions are the implementers of FIG policies and programs. The Bureau plans to achieve its goal by
  • Increasing the effectiveness and responsiveness of the commission work plans through Bureau oversight (ensuring that commission work plans reflect the FIG approved overall plan, ensuring coordination between commissions, tracking of work plan schedules, etc.)
  • Developing, through the commissions, products, training and services which have practical application to member organizations and their individual members;
  • Communicating the commissions' accomplishments to the member organizations and others;
  • Developing of contacts with UN agencies and other international organizations in the context of the commission work plans;
• The member organizations are FIG; thus, FIG management (officers, commissions, committees, and offices) will focus on providing member organizations’ members the tools to influence social, economic, technological and environmental change in the 21st century. More specifically FIG will
  •  Recognize the significant role of surveying in the betterment of humanity and its environs;
  • Recognize its responsibilities to all surveyors including those not represented by member organizations and will ensure that its activities will benefit the profession as a whole;
  • Implement mechanisms for increasing participation by member organizations in FIG activities and informing member organizations of FIG and other international surveying activities;
  • Emphasize the strengthening professional institutions, the promoting professional development, the participating in the development of international standards, and the working with international organizations;
  • Increase the effectiveness and responsiveness of the commission work plans through Bureau oversight (ensuring that commission work plans reflect the FIG approved overall plan, ensuring coordination between commissions, tracking of work plan schedules, etc.)
  • Seek to promote international standards of professional competence; Encourage the development and proper use of appropriate technology, and Encourage research in all disciplines of surveying and to disseminate the results.

THE MANAGEMENT OF FIG

Strategic Planning
The Bureau will

• Ensure that FIG's strategic plan enables it to respond rapidly to changing circumstances - for example, through the creation of commissions with finite life spans;
• Undertake such forward planning as is needed for the development of short-, medium- and long-term strategies for FIG, to accommodate the objectives of successive Bureau and ensure continuity of work;
• to accommodate FIG's fast-changing and fast-growing membership profile; to provide the means for harnessing individual energies and initiatives;
• and to generate a feeling of involvement throughout FIG's membership;
• Seek contributions to the evolution of FIG and to its planning processes, inter alia, from the advisory committee of commission officers, the membership, and break-out sessions of the General Assembly, and
• Monitor the work of the commissions for adherence to FIG’s Strategic Plan.

The Commissions will ensure that their work plans reflect the strategies contained in FIG’s Strategic Plan. The FIG office

• will Maintain a current copy of the Strategic Plan on the web-site, and
• Notify member organizations, commissions and permanent institutions of changes to the Strategic Plan.

Member Organization Relationships
The Bureau will

• Help surveyor associations to gain governmental recognition as government-regulated or self-regulating professional associations;
• Act as the focal point for FIG initiatives in developing countries;
• Facilitate, between member associations, agreements for professional development, technology and personnel exchange, and general support;
• Encourage member associations to make continuing professional development a mandatory requirement on all their members;
• Promote high standards of education and training for surveyors and to facilitate continuing professional development, and Promote the FIG Education Foundation and the substantial contribution which its support will make to the realization of FIG's objectives.

The commissions will

• Aggressively seek, develop and support working relationships with committees and organizational units within the member organizations. (This activity must be done only with the concurrence of the member organization);
• Develop products, training and services which have practical application to member organizations and their individual members;
• Prepare technical publications;
• Participate in the development of international standards and
• Provide opportunities for continuing professional development by organizing seminars and workshops.

Membership
The Bureau will

• Extend membership
  • Within under-represented regions and
  • To other professional associations within countries currently having a member organization;
• Make contact with those who can form the nuclei of new professional associations;
• Assist in the establishment and the development of professional associations for surveyors who are not nationally or regionally represented by
  • Providing expertise to assist in establishing an association,
  • Making contact with government departments for the establishment and effective functioning of professional associations,
  • Encouraging the growth of regional groupings of surveyors addressing the specific problems of their area, and
• Expand its academic membership by encouraging university departments around the world to belong to and to contribute to FIG.

External Relationships
The Bureau will

• Develop contacts with international agencies and non-governmental organizations;
• Maintain active communication with United Nations’ organizations, World Trade Organizations, aid agencies and other non-governmental organizations, and governmental organizations;
• Co-operate with other associations with interests in developing countries; encourage the development of networks between commissions and within specific geographical zones, to enable good educational practice to be communicated and for the establishment of mutual support systems;
• Co-operate with the World Trade Organization in the promotion of global markets for surveying services, and
• Produce marketing literature setting out clearly why clients should use the services of surveyors including a major campaign on the internet to make the world more aware of FIG’s work.

Financial
The Bureau will

• prepare an annual budget based upon FIG priorities for approval by the General Assembly.
• The Bureau will monitor and control FIG finances including those of the FIG office, the commissions and the permanent institutions.
• The Bureau will and with the cooperation of the FIG office review the impacts of the subscription structure adopted by the 21st General Assembly, and if required
  • Implement procedures which are within the intent of the adopted structure or
  • Recommend changes to the General Assembly for those which are not.
• The Bureau will develop a long-term financial strategy for FIG which will, inter alia, examine the present strategy for structuring annual subscriptions and the existing plateau applying to member associations.

Communications
The Bureau will

• Improve communication between the Bureau and member associations and, through them, to their individual members;
• Establish effective methods of notifying and reminding associations and members of FIG services and products e.g. academic membership and the educational data base;
• Oversee the FIG publication series, reviewing and up-dating existing publications and adding new ones as appropriate;
• Arrange for its members and other FIG representatives to visit member associations and will encourage visits to the Bureau offices by individuals or delegations from member associations;
• Develop guidelines for the allocation of FIG office resources in support of internal and external requests for support, and
•  Develop recommendations on the publication of a FIG journal containing selected papers presented at FIG or FIG sponsored events.

The FIG office will

• Provide information technology assistance to FIG management organizations and individuals;
• Maximum use of information technology for internal and external communications, and
• Ensure that the FIG web-page provides timely information on future and current FIG activities and access to pertinent historic documents.

Operating Structures

• The Bureau will implement General Assembly approved changes to the FIG organizational structure.
• The Bureau will develop, with the approval of the General Assembly, a list of authorities, responsibilities and duties resulting from the establishment of the FIG office.
• FIG Education Foundation
  • The Bureau will work closely with the trustees of the FIG Education Foundation and in particular will
    • Assist in canvassing for deposits to the capital fund;
    • Identify projects which qualify for Foundation support and apply for funding, and
    • Ensure that future work plans (commission and Bureau) take full account of the support which the Foundation is able to give to FIG's work.
  • The FIG office will be organized in such a fashion as to be responsive to the requirements and needs of the Federation, member organizations, governmental and non-governmental bodies and the public.

Meetings
Bureau

• All Bureau members will meet at least twice a year, once during each FIG working week and alternately in the U.S. and the FIG office. Additional meetings may be convened if required
  • 2000: U.S.
  • 2001: FIG office
  • 2002: U.S.
  • 2003: FIG office
• The U.S. Bureau members will meet in the U.S. on an as needed basis

Working weeks

• 2000: Prague, Czech Republic, 22 - 27 May
• 2001: Seoul, Korea, May
• 2002: Washington, D.C., USA, XXII Congress 21 - 26 April
• 2003: Eilat, Israel
• XXII Congress 2002

The Bureau will progress arrangements for the XXII congress in Washington DC, in 2002. IV    

ADMINISTRATION OF FIG

Personnel

• The Bureau will perform annual reviews of the Director of the FIG office

Finance

• The FIG office will collect subscriptions, sponsorship fees and other income.
• The FIG office will provide support to the Bureau in the preparation of annual budgets, and will prepare cash flow statements and publish accounts.
• The FIG office will pay the bills of the organization as approved by the Bureau.
• The FIG office will maintain (keep current) a proper set of books detailing the financial activity of FIG.

Membership

• The FIG office will develop and maintain a list of contacts in all countries.

Information Services

Publications

• The FIG office will prepare and publish the Bulletin quarterly.
  • The commission Chairpersons will provide quarterly reports on their commission activities to the FIG office for inclusion in the Bulletin.
  • The FIG President will provide quarterly reports on the Bureau’s activities to the FIG office for inclusion in the Bulletin.
  • The permanent institutions will provide quarterly reports on their activities to the FIG office for inclusion in the Bulletin.
  • The FIG office will encourage member associations, sponsors and publishers of all other appropriate journals to make complementary copies available to the FIG office so that the FIG Office can, as appropriate, prepare abstracts to be included in the Bulletin.
• The FIG office will publish an Annual Review which will serve as FIG's main medium of external communication and its principal marketing tool.
• The FIG office will ensure that all FIG publications, whether these are published by the Bureau, the member associations or the commissions, are properly recorded within international standard classification systems.
• The FIG office will promote FIG publications to other outlets - for example, reference and university libraries - that are able to hold, advertise, abstract and disseminate their contents.
• The FIG office will develop and implement a system for holding FIG publications in computer format and for Internet accessibility.

Data Base Services

• The following identified data bases do not have to reside within FIG. All or portions of the data base can be comprised of web links to other data bases. The intent is to provide a service to FIG organizations, member organizations, and member organization members.
• The FIG office will build a database of agencies which fund or sponsor projects in which surveyors should be involved.
• The FIG office will build a data base identifying surveying consultants.
• The FIG office will build and maintain a data base of opportunities for assisting aid agencies.
• The FIG office will build a database of international, regional, and national organizations whose activities relate to those of surveyors.
• The FIG office will build and maintain a data base of member organizations organizational structure and key names.

Home page

• Will reside on a FIG website address and
• Will contain two way ‘hot links’ to all key land and property organization