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Report on the XXVII comments he said FIG normally does not take a position on
political affairs, but in protest of Vladimir Putin’s unjust war in
FIG Congress Ukraine, which is also profoundly affecting Poland, Russia was not
invited. Applause followed.

Technical Sessions
Prepared by John Wilusz, LS, PE
In September 2022 I attended the 27 Congress of the
th
International Federation of Surveyors (FIG) in Warsaw, Poland.
FIG is a UN-recognized non-government organization (NGO)
whose purpose is to support international collaboration among
surveyors in all fields and applications. It represents more than
120 countries. Its aim is to ensure that the various disciplines
of surveying, and all who practice them, meet the needs of the
markets and communities that they serve. The FIG Congress is
held every four years in different cities throughout the world. I
have been dreaming of attending ever since I first heard about it
over twenty years ago. This year, I finally made it and I’m glad I did.
FIG was founded in 1878 in Paris and was first known as the
Fédération Internationale des Géomètres. This eventually became
anglicized to International Federation of Surveyors, or FIG for
short. Members don’t pronounce the acronym as “fig” but instead
spell out the initials F-I-G. Today the FIG umbrella covers a lot
more than conventional surveying, and members come from many
backgrounds.

The theme was Volunteering for the Future –
Geospatial Excellence for a Better Living.
The part about volunteering speaks to involvement with
professional societies and the part about geospatial excellence
speaks for itself. I did not count all the technical sessions offered,
but I suppose there were several hundred over the 4-day
conference, and emerging technology was a common theme
throughout. Among the vendors I saw many familiar names –
Trimble, Leica, esri, Bentley, Carlson, Topcon, and FARO – but there
were also many I did not recognize. The definition of surveying
varies around the world, and there were vendors and products
for industrial and scientific applications that we don’t normally
consider to be “surveying” in the U.S.A. That said, it seems that
geospatial professionals all over the world are using the same
equipment and technologies to do their jobs. I got the impression
This year the Conference was held at Double Tree by Hilton Hotel that a GIS, CAD, or GNSS expert from Sacramento could go to
and Conference Center in Warsaw, Poland. In many ways I was work in Warsaw (or Nairobi or Buenos Aires) without missing a
reminded of conferences by the Nevada Association of Land beat. I did not, however, see any sessions on how land boundaries
Surveyors and the California Land Surveyors Association, except are established in different countries. As a surveyor who enjoys
FIG is bigger and international. Over 1,200 delegates attended surveying boundaries, that was disappointing, but there’s probably
from 90 countries. Members from over 200 countries attended a good reason for it. The way people establish boundaries is
online. Because of Covid concerns, FIG originally planned to hold rooted in historical precedents, cultural practices, and perspectives
the Conference entirely online. But in 2021, Poland offered to that are unique to individual regions. Even in the U.S.A., boundary
host the event in person and FIG accepted. That gave Poland one surveying varies from state to state. Regional peculiarities may
year to prepare. The short timeline made for a lot of work for not be that interesting to people who are not affected by them.
the Polish surveyors, but they were not about to miss another Not to worry; there were plenty of technical sessions on many
opportunity. The 7 FIG Congress was to be held in Warsaw in other topics.
th
1942, but Adolph Hitler and Joseph Stalin had other plans for
Poland. Keynote speaker, FIG President Dr. Rudolf Staiger from
Germany did not ignore the latest Russian invasion. In his opening

14 The Nevada Traverse Vol.49, No.4, 2022