The secretary of State in the ministry of agriculture, hydraulic resources and fisheries charged with hydraulic resources Mr. Abdelaziz Mougou and the Advisor of Mr. the President Mr. Abdelkarim Aziz inaugurated the activities of the fifth session of the International Congress Geotunis 2010

“The use of GIS and remote sensing for sustainable development”

on Tuesday morning, November 30th 2010 and this in the presence of hundreds of experts, specialists, scientists, international dignitaries and heads of regional and international organizations and unions coming from more than 60 friendly and sisterly countries to participate in the greatest international scientific and investment gathering dealing with uses of digital geography and related sciences.

The opening ceremony started by the National Anthem of Tunisia before entering the main room “Hannibal room” where Prof. Mohamed Ayari the chairman of the congress and the president of the Tunisian Association of Digital Geographic Information delivered a welcome address and then gave the word to Dr. Lutfi Mumni the president of scientific council to present his address and announce the winner of the First Appreciation Prize for the Best Personality dealing with environment, water and desertification gained by his Royal Highness the Prince Khaled Bin Sultan Bin Abdulaziz; the deputy of the minister of Defense and Aviation and the General Inspector for military affairs in Saudi Arabia.

Mr. Abdelkarim Aziz and the Secretary of State in the ministry of agriculture, hydraulic resources and fisheries charged with hydraulic resources Mr. Abdelaziz Mougou awarded the prize “the Association Golden Shield” to his Excellency Dr. Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz Bin Mamer, the ambassador of the Custodian of the two Holy Mosques in Tunisia on behalf of his Royal Highness the Prince Khaled Bin Sultan Bin Abdulaziz who delivered an address through which he paid tribute to the Tunisian Association of Digital Geographic Information in recognition of its efforts and its continued work to promote scientific research as he expressed his happiness and his gratitude to the scientific council and to the prize general secretary for choosing his Royal Highness the Prince Khaled Bin Sultan Bin Abdulaziz to award him the prize.

On the other hand, the delegate of the Governorat expressed his congratulations to the winner of the prize delivering an address in which he highlighted Tunisia’s interest in the field of scientific research and its reliance on digital geography technology especially in agriculture, environment, hydraulic resources and other related fields as he represented his gratitude to the association for the annual organization of this international scientific gathering that can enrich experiences and develop research and scientific capacities and finally he gave the signal for the fifth session to begin and inaugurated the International Salon of digital geography technology organized within the activities of the congress where he visited a significant number of national and international stands, note that tens of establishments active in the GIS and remote sensing field participated in the exhibition that was visited daily during the days of the congress by thousands of concerned ones from various specialities.

Scientific Works

After the opening ceremony in which the First Appreciation Prize for the Best Personality dealing with environment, water and desertification had been awarded, the scientific works and the scientific sessions started.

The scientific sessions had been distributed according to speciality in 4 principal rooms:

Hannibal room in Elgazala Pole of communication technologies                           

Elissa room in Elgazala Pole of communication technologies                                                                                         

Uqba room in Elgazala Pole of communication technologies                                                             Meeting room in the research and studies telecommunications center

The scientific sessions were characterized by the organization at work, by the researches’ depth and by the discussions dealing with most important issues like GIS and remote sensing applications in fields of water, desertification, environmental fields, agriculture fields, climate changes, energy and renewable energies and regional and urban planning and in these sessions more than 200 researches selected in advance by the scientific council among more than 1300 work papers delivered to the organization committee of the International Congress Geotunis 2010  had been presented.

Many practical and field workshops were organized within the activities of the congress supervised by the biggest international establishments like:

• Mapping Solution (England)

• NASA World Wind Java Workshop
• Institute of Arid Areas and Development Research Center in Mednine
• 3G: German GeoConsultants Group

These scientific activities and discussions lasted for 3 days of the congress.

Closing ceremony and delivery of appreciation certificates

In the closing ceremony which was characterized by the participation of a great number of researchers, specialist and experts, the chairman of the congress and the president of the Tunisian Association of Digital Geographic Information, Prof. Mohamed Ayari expressed his appreciation for  the success of the fifth session and his gratitude to the participants for enriching the contents of scientific research and for the seriousness in the following of scientific sessions and then gave the word to Dr. Lutfi Mumni to read out the general recommendations issued by the congress and from there to Dr. Samir Ismaeel Simbaoui from sisterly Egypt.

وعلى إثرها وقع تقديم شهائد التقدير العلمي ورمز المؤتمر لثلة من المؤسسات والباحثين المشاركين وحضر حفل الاختتام السيد علي المبروك الرئيس المدير العام لديوان قيس الأراضي والمسح العقاري والسيد زهير الجيد رئيس اللجنة التنظيمية والدكتور لطفي المومني رئيس المجلس العلمي والدكتور فيليب دي بوا رئيس الفدرالية الأورومتوسطية للبحث العلمي والتجديد التكنولوجي وثلة من الإطارات الوطنية ومئات الخبراء والعلماء من زهاء 60 دولة.

After that the certificates of scientific merit and the congress shields were given to some establishments and researchers among the participants in the presence of Mr. Ali Mabrouk President & General Director of the Topography and Cadastral Office Mr. Zouhair El Jid President of the organization committee, Dr. Lutfi Mumni President of the scientific council, Dr. Philippe Dubois President of the Euro-Mediterranean Federation of Education and Research and a group of national cadres and hundreds of experts and scientists from more than 60 countries.

Scientific field trip

Many researchers and international dignitaries participated in the program of the scientific field trip, they had been transferred by plane to Djerba and then to the Institute of Arid Areas after crossing the sea from Djerba to Zarzis where they were warmly received by the general director of the institute Mr. Hassine Khatelli and by the institute researchers and they were given an explanation about the achievements of the institute and about the researches supervised by it, they also went on a tour round the different departments of the institute appreciating the advance in the field of the use of modern technology in the study of desert environment and of dry soil.

The institute held a luncheon in the honor of the participants before they left to the island of dreams Djerba where they made a tour and then came back to the capital Tunisia. 

Miscellaneous

1.   A dinner was held by his Excellency, the minister of agriculture, hydraulic resources and fisheries in the honor of the considerable guests of the congress such as the secretary of state in the ministry of agriculture, hydraulic resources and fisheries charged with hydraulic resources, the president of the congress, the president of the scientific council, the president of the Euro-Mediterranean Federation of Education and Research, the president Arab Union of Surveyors, the president of the International Water Institute, the president of  the Mediterranean Union for the deans of surveying engineering, the delegate of the American government and a group of researchers and Dignitaries.

2.   The chairman of the congress and the president of the Tunisian Association of Digital Geographic Information, Mr. Mohamed Ayari was awarded the shield of Kuwait Geographical Society in the closing ceremony by Mr. Hamed Mahmud Ibrahim.

3.   A great number of diplomatic corps members accredited in Tunisia attended the events of the opening of the congress such as his Excellency the ambassador of the Custodian the two Holy Mosques in Tunisia, his Excellency the ambassador of Morocco, his Excellency charge d’affairs of Iran Embassy, his Excellency first secretary of Palestine Embassy and representatives of US Embassy and many other Embassies accredited in Tunisia.

1.    A number of participants visited historical and tourist cities in Tunisia.

2.   The association organized free trips to Kairouan, Sousse and Sidi Bou Said.

3.   Elgazala Pole of communication technologies provided all facilities for the organization of the congress.

4.   Elgazala Pole of communication technologies was keen to help the association in the field.

5.   Many establishments and ministries contributed to the success of the session like:

·       Prime Ministry

·      Ministry of communication technologies

·         Ministry of agriculture, hydraulic resources and fisheries

·         Ministry of the environment and sustainable development

·         Ministry of public health

·         Ministry of state properties and land affairs

·         Ministry of equipment, housing and land planning

·         Ministry of the interior and local development

·         Ministry of development and international cooperation

As well as many offices and establishments active and concerned with GIS and remote sensing that participated effectively in the activities of the fifth session of the congress.

6.   The participants came daily until 2 December.

7.   Most Arabic countries participated in the congress.

8.   A consulting session for the deans of surveying engineering in the Arabic and Mediterranean and Francophone space was held on the sidelines of the congress in one of the hosting hotels.

9.   Tens of national and international media covered the events of the congress.

10.  Tunisian External Communication Agency had an effective role in supporting the congress in the term of media.

11.  Many Arabic and International News Agency participated in covering the event.

12.         Many agreements of partnership were signed during the congress.