Paris, 14 June 2010
EFITA newsletter / 465 / European Federation for Information Technology in
Agriculture, Food and the Environment
Progis
17-18 June 2010 - VIENNA
> PROGIS recently became Microsoft Certified Partner.
> The Microsoft map technology “Bing Maps” is fully integrated into our
WinGIS software and all PROGIS applications and also combined with the developer
component AXWinGIS. With it, existing or new database applications can easily
be upgraded with GIS functionalities and visualization possibilities.
> The new WinGIS 2010 release which fulfils the Microsoft certification
and compatibility requirements.
See: http://www.progis.com/wingis/2010/doc/en/WinGIS_2010_Info_en.pdf
> The Austrian civil-engineers is celebrating the 150th anniversary of
managing natural resources Vienna,17.-18. June 2010. The section natural resources
will highlight amongst other topics, that precise planning of natural resources
is essential and in a country like Austria with its diverse and difficult
topology, indispensable to life. Errors may lead to hazards, like avalanches,
mudflows, torrents etc. The main topics, experts are concerned with are food
and wood, locale climate, climate change, water quality, - storage and –supply,
CO2 –reduction and -sequestration, resources for bioenergy, recreation and
protection against natural disasters.
PROGIS, with Mr. Mayer as member of the Austrian civil-engineers gives a presentation
on "IT-solutions for integrated rural agrea management" on June
17th.
P.S.: Did you know that Austria is the first country worldwide that for torrents
and avalanches installed a country wide risk assessment?
Contact: Karin STROBL
E-mail: strobl(a)progis.com
Early Registration to the 10th ICPA Conference
I. Early Bird Registration: Only ten days left for the early bird registration
deadline of June 18th, 2010. Authors/Co-authors and Presenters, please register
for the Conference by or before June 18th to ensure your paper is included
in the Conference Proceedings. The registration fees will increase after the
early registration deadline. I encourage you to please take advantage of the
early bird registration fees and register today for the conference at our
website
See: http://www.icpaonline.org/registrationpage/.
> Conference registration fees are as follows:
$550 Full Conference Registration ($650 after June 18, 2010)
$350 One-Day Registration ($400 after June 18, 2010)
$500 Speaker Registration ($600 after June 18, 2010)
$300 Student Registration
II. Conference Program Now Available Online: A tentative program displaying
papers and respective technical sessions is available online
See: http://www.icpaonline.org/conferenceprogram/icpa2010/.
III. International Society of Precision Agriculture (ISPA): At the last ICPA
conference in Denver, we discussed the feasibility of creating an International
Society of Precision Agriculture. The conference survey collected on the final
day of the conference showed an overwhelming response in favor of creating
the new international society. I am happy to share with you that we are in
the process of establishing the new society. As with any new society, it will
evolve and grow over time. For now, as you register for the conference, you
will have a choice to become a founding member by selecting the dialogue box
to receive a complimentary
membership to ISPA 2010-2011.
The new ISPA will require leadership as officers, division chairs for various
divisions, country representatives, and members. If you have ideas for the
new society and/or are interested in serving the new international society
in any capacity, please send us an email at info@internationalsocietyofprecisionagriculture.org
outlining your ideas and interest for the society. We will be creating a short
web-page of the ISPA that will provide further details about ISPA and its'
intended organizational structure.
We look forward to hearing from you.
IV. Make Room Reservations Early (Deadline June 26, 2010): The conference
will be held at the Hyatt Regency Denver Tech Center, Denver, Colorado, USA.
Please make your reservations early to secure a room at the discounted conference
rate. The cutoff date for the conference room block and special rate is June
26, 2010, but rooms may sell out sooner. Visit the conference website http://www.icpaonline.org/Venue/ for
more details.
V. Tours (Deadline June 26, 2010): There will be two tours offered for conference
attendees, spouses, and guests.
Tuesday, July 20 Rocky Mountain and Narrow Gauge Railway Adventure
Wednesday, July 21 Rocky Mountain Park and Bear Lake Adventure
More details about the tours are available at the conference website
VI. ICPA FORUM: We recently created an ICPA online Forum, public chat room,
or message board. You are welcome to post messages, connect with friends who
are coming to the conference, set up meetings, etc., online. You may visit
the ICPA Forum at www.icpaonline.org/icpaforum/.
VII. Instructions for Oral and Paper presenters: Instructions are now available
online at the conference website www.icpaonline.org/authorinstructions/.
Contact : Raj KHOSLA
E-mail: newsletters(a)icpaonline.org
Job vacancy at ICROFS
The International Centre for Research in Organic Food Systems, ICROFS,
is looking for an academic employee to coordinate and further develop the
open access archive Organic Eprints and participate in information and research
communication activities.
>>> Organic Eprints coordinator and communication assistant
Based on the flexible Eprints repository software, Organic Eprints (www.orgprints.org) is an open-access on-line
archive for research in organic agriculture with more than 8,000 publications
– and growing rapidly – with around 10,000 registered users and more than
150,000 visitors each month. The archive was established in 2002 and is now
recognized as a key source of organic research communication in Europe – and
it is used worldwide (find more information about Organic Eprints at www.icrofs.org/orgprints).
Organic Eprints is used for research dissemination by several national research
programmes and by the ERA-net CORE Organic II with 22 countries. Today, three
partners are responsible for running the archive: the Research Institute of
Organic Agriculture (FiBL), the Federal Organic Farming Scheme (BÖL), and
ICROFS. The digital archive is physically located at the Faculty of Agricultural
Science, Aarhus University.
The position also includes development of other forms of dissemination of
organic research at an international level.
The coordinator will work closely with – and receive direction from – the
head of ICROFS.
Main tasks will include but not be limited to: Maintaining, managing and further
developing the open access archive Liasing with partners of Organic Eprints
and strengthening the international network of editors Contacting new potential
country editors Working with IT specialists (programmers) to further develop
software and usability of Organic Eprints Participating in international projects
involving development and use of Organic Eprints and integration of meta-data
from Organic Eprints to other open-access platforms. Assisting in developing
international communication of organic research results through information
material, newsletters and the Internet (websites) Planning and organising
meetings, preparing material and minutes Following up on strategy and decisions
taken by partners and editors Assisting the ICROFS director and Information
coordinator in preparing technical material for stakeholders Some international
travels must be expected
>>> Preferable qualifications
Experience with administration, management and development of databases or
digital archives Interest in/ability to communicate with IT specialists as
well as archive users Inclination/desire to directly and openly contacting
people in order to enhance network of editors Experience with – and interest
in – web-based communication and open-access archives Experience with research
and research communication, preferably research in organic food systems
Experience with – and interest in – transforming scientific text into “layman”
English Experience from working outside country of origin Experience from
– and good personal qualifications for – liaising with a large group of persons
Knowledge of a Scandinavian language or willingness to learn
>>> Employment conditions and salary
The chosen candidate will be offered a full time job starting 1 September
2010 or as soon as possible. The first term of the position is limited to
3 years of employment. The position is covered by the terms of the collective
agreements for academic staff in state institutions depending on qualifications
and experience, plus pension scheme.
The secretariat of ICROFS is located on the premises of the Faculty of Agricultural
Sciences, University of Aarhus, DK-8830 Tjele, Denmark. Place of employment
is Blichers Allé 20, 8830 Tjele, Denmark.
For more information, contact head of ICROFS, Niels Halberg by phone (+45
8999 1206) or by E-mail (niels.halberg(a)icrofs.org).
>>> Application
The application must include a one-page description of how the applicant’s
qualifications match the demands and main tasks. Please submit application
in English by E-mail, including CV and contact details of two reference persons,
to secretary Grethe.Hansen(a)icrofs.org.
Interviews are expected to be carried out in Denmark between 11 and 13 August,
alternatively by phone conference.
Deadline for application: Monday 19 July 2010 at noon.
Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.
The Faculty of Agricultural Sciences encourages all, irrespective of personal
background, to apply
Micro Mapper (from ICT Update)
Micro Mapper is an application for rural communities to plot village information
and use for planning. Village level activities, facilities can be viewed and
monitored. It can help with water budget calculations. A local language interface
is also available.
See: http://www.micromict.net/jidnyasa/micromapper.html
Open Geospatial Consortium (from ICT Update)
The Open Geospatial Consortium, Inc. is a non-profit, international, voluntary
consensus standards organization that is leading the development of standards
for geospatial and location based services.
See: http://www.opengeospatial.org
Arrangements for funeral
A woman goes into a discount funeral home to make arrangements for her
husband's funeral. She tells the director that she wants her husband to be
buried in a dark blue suit. He asks, "Wouldn't it just be easier to bury
him in the black suit that he's wearing?"
But she insists that it must be a blue suit and gives him a blank check to
buy one. When she comes back for the wake, she sees her husband in the coffin
and he is wearing a beautiful blue suit. She tells the director how much she
loves the suit and asks how much it cost.
He says, "Actually, it didn't cost anything. The funniest thing happened.
As soon as you left, another corpse was brought in, this one wearing a blue
suit. I noticed that they were about the same size, and asked the other widow
if she would mind if her husband were buried in a black suit. She said that
was fine with her. So... I switched their heads."
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