Capacity Building for National Geo-Spatial Data Infrastructure: The ITC Strategy

Capacity Building for National Geo-Spatial Data Infrastructure: The ITC Strategy

Sjaak J. J. Beerens
Director External Affairs, ITC
beerens@itc.nl

Background

From data acquisition to information infrastructures
The past 50 years have shown the gradual development of earth observation to a stage where it has become an integral component of geo-spatial information handling. This has been the result of both supply- and demand-driven conditions. Originally largely supply-driven, scientific and technological developments in earth observation applications have rapidly accelerated, presenting the following general dimensions.

In terms of:

Data Acquisition: We are observing developments from mono-sensor to multipurpose satellites, which has eventually lead to multisensor platforms
Resolution: We observe a development from low to high resolution
Use: We see a shift from data to information, placing emphasis on the value-adding chain from earth observation data to information with value
Space Technologies: We observe the development from insular to synergetic technologies, integrating earth observation with communication and navigation
Users: We see a shift from scientific users of data to civil society as a user of information. The strengthening of civil society requires a shift from theme (as a toy of scientists) to infrastructure (as part of governance).

Governments have an obligation to facilitate access and promote the broadest possible application of fundamental geo-information. This includes an obligation to provide descriptions of data in order to enable all users, including the private sector and civil society organisations, to make a judgement about fitness for use. The mechanisms through which this obligation can be met are called Geospatial Data Infrastructures (GDIs), schematically presented by Groot and McLaughlin (2000) as follows:

As a result, earth observation has become an integral part of geo-informatics, which on the one hand deals with the process from data acquisition to dissemination and use, and on the other addresses the context in which these processes take place.

Expertise requirements
Scientific and technological developments, the proliferation of earth observation applications, and their integration into geo-spatial data infrastructure have resulted in a proliferation of expertise fields.

Moreover, looking at geo-informatics from the two angles a) structure of processes and b) context in which these processes take place, we realise that experts from one specific disciplinary background can seldom address both. Geo-informatics always concerns an interdisciplinary context.

Professionals operating in the field of geo-spatial data infrastructure have to take this requirement into account throughout their career. The fact that the application domains cover a wide variety of fields, such as land registration and administration, natural resources management, disaster mitigation, etc., implies that specialisation (although within an interdisciplinary context) will be required for professionals to keep up to date with the state of the art in their field of expertise.

Education and training
The importance of GDIs for governance also has implications for the national (public) organisations responsible for establishing and operating these GDIs. Hence, besides the education of individuals, capacity building of the entire organisation is required. The goal of education is to prepare (young) professionals for their tasks ahead, while the goal of capacity building is to simultaneously shake up the organisation that will employ them. The aim is to strengthen an organisation so that it can assume responsibility for designing, managing and sustaining development. This is also required in the field of marketing and public relations, since the national agencies associated to GDI’s atre generally not used to client- and market driven ways of doing business. For this, not only are thematic professionals required but also staff that can formulate, design, manage and negotiate with other organisations and central government in order to address organisational and institutional issues in support of the acceptance of technological solutions.

Hence capacity building comprises human resources development, organisational strengthening and institutional strengthening - of which education is part and parcel.

Challenges for educational organisations
The organisations involved with education and training in earth observation and geo-information face special requirements and challenges in successfully carrying out their tasks. Besides understanding and insight into the technological aspects of the processes, students/course participants should be provided with knowledge and insight into the context of the various problem fields.

Finally, the rapid technological developments, as well as developments in demand for information, imply the continuous upgrading of professionals as part of the “lifelong learning” principle observed throughout present-day society. This in turn challenges the education and training institutions themselves to keep up to date with scientific and technological developments while simultaneously dealing with the proliferating variety in demand.

PURPOSE	FOCUS
Human resources development	Supply of technical and professional personnel
Organisational strengthening	Strengthening the management capacity of organisations; embedding geo-information communication technology solutions (systems and processes) as well as strategic management principles
Marketing strengthening	Strengthening the capacity to market products and services including general Public Relations skills.
Institutional strengthening	Strengthening the capacity of an organisation to develop and negotiate appropriate mandates and modus operandi as well as appropriate (new) legal and regulatory frameworks

ITC

The founding framework
ITC was founded in 1950 in the Netherlands under the name International Training Centre for Aerial Survey. It was established by the Dutch government at the request of the United Nations, within the framework of development cooperation for the purpose of building capacity through educating and training mid-career professionals from the developing world in the specific knowledge field, aerial surveys.

Initially this knowledge field covered photogrammetry and cartography. In the 1960’s, activities were complemented by applications of remote sensing in earth sciences, followed by the introduction of aerospace survey in the 1970’s, when satellite imagery gradually took over from airborne surveys. Geographical information systems followed suit in the curriculum during the 1980’s. Acknowledging by the end of the 1990’s that geo-information science had “come of age”, the scope and the name of the Institute were accordingly adjusted to International Institute for Geo-information Science and Earth Observation on 1 January this year.

Aim
The aim of ITC is to provide international education through knowledge exchange directed at capacity building and institutional development for and in countries that are economically and technologically less developed (LCDs). Mid-career professionals from both professional and educational organisations are our main target. We provide education in English and almost exclusively at post-graduate level. ITC operates as an internationally recognised centre of excellence and as a node in an international knowledge network, an approach implying a two-directional gateway between developed and developing countries for knowledge and experience.

Status
ITC is an independent foundation operating under the aegis of, and funded by the Dutch Ministry of Education, Cultural Affairs and Science (core subsidy) and the Dutch Ministry for Development Cooperation (scholarships) as part of the Netherlands’ 0.8% of GDP commitment to ODA. ITC has an international staff of about 300 (full-time equivalent), of whom some 175 with a scientific background. At any one time, between 400 and 500 participants from about 75 countries are enrolled in its post-graduate programmes, including about 50 PhD researchers.

Knowledge field
ITC’s activities concern the knowledge field centred on a core identified as “geo-information science and earth observation”. This can be operationally defined as follows.

Geo-information science and earth observation consist of a combination of tools and methods for the collection, storage and processing of geo-spatial data, and for the dissemination and use of these data and of services based on these data.

This implies the development and application of concepts for spatial data modelling, for information extraction from measuring and image data, and for the processing, analysis, dissemination, presentation and use of geo-spatial data.
It also implies the development and implementation of concepts for the structuring, organisation and management of geo-spatial production processes in an institutional setting. We mention earth observation explicitly to emphasise that, in the context of our knowledge field, data collection is predominantly based on aerospace survey techniques. The expertise of our Institute focuses on issues related to this theme, and our research, educational programmes and project services deal with two types of problem areas:
problem areas where geo-information science and earth observation play an essential role in finding solutions, and
problem areas that need solutions to guarantee relevant, economic, timely and reliable information provision.

The first type deals with the use of geo-spatial data for the management of space and resources. The second deals with organisations and the processes to provide geo-spatial data for the user community. Here problems might refer to conceptual, technical, management and policy issues related to data provision for which there is an increasing interest worldwide.

Knowledge development
Development of knowledge and expertise at ITC in geo-information science and earth observation has thus far been through in-house applied research, collaboration with course participants in MSc research and the execution of research and advisory services - some in collaboration with other scientific and knowledge institutes in the Netherlands, both universities and research and professional organisations. Development activities have been carried out using a core subsidy from the Ministry of Education, Cultural Affairs and Science, supplemented by project funding from both Dutch and European R&D funding sources. Throughout the past 50 years, this has turned out to be adequate to fulfil the demand from the client organisations.

At the end of the 1980’s, the knowledge development activities at ITC were complemented by a PhD programme. Since then a total of 72 PhD candidates have graduated through this programme. At this moment, a total of 54 PhD candidates are carrying out research at ITC in geo-information science and earth observation.

Knowledge transfer
Transfer of knowledge by ITC has been undertaken mainly by providing mid-career professionals between 30 and 40 years of age with post-graduate education and training (in English) through an academic degree programme exclusively in the Netherlands. Initially, education consisted of post-graduate training of short to medium duration. To address the requirements resulting from technological developments (processes) and the incorporation as well as application of geo-spatial information management principles (context), education has developed over the years into the current set of six separate programmes covering a range of 25 specialisations.

These programmes are:

Geoinformatics
Geoinformation Management
Urban Planning and Land Administration
Natural Resources Management
Earth Resources and Environmental Geosciences
Water Resources and Environmental Management

In addition to adjusting the content, we have also accommodated changes in demand for the type of training. Our educational programmes currently comprise:

An 18-month Master of Science programme that provides a scientific basis. Graduates are assumed to be able to develop, and assess the performance of new methods and techniques. These new methods and techniques are directed towards improving existing processes and enhancing/expanding applications. Successful completion of the MSc programme affords access to ITC’s PhD research programme.
A 12-month Professional Master programme. Graduates are assumed to be able to operationalise new technologies and methods within their organisations. This may require certain adjustments in information needs and processes within these organisations.
Besides academic degree programmes, ITC also caters for the needs of individual organisations through short tailor-made courses. These are carried out at ITC or on site at the organisation, or at both locations, i.e. partly at ITC and partly on site.
ITC annually organises some six refresher courses for alumni, employers and colleagues. These courses deal with new developments in geo-information science and earth observation, take about two weeks and are carried out in the home countries of our alumni in collaboration with local partner organisations, i.e. universities or professional organisations.

The basic costs of the MSc and PM programmes, i.e. staff costs, infrastructure and basic operational expenditure, are covered by the core subsidy from the Dutch government. Tuition and student-related operational expenses such as international transportation, board and lodging are covered by the course participants themselves, their employers or a range of fellowship sources.

ITC further supports its programmes by providing its own image processing and gis software (ILWIS), plus educational materials at nominal cost.

A major step forward has been the introduction of a modular system, with each programme/specialisation consisting of three-week modules, all starting at the same time. This system includes elective modules, thus allowing course participants to select a subject/topic that best fits their own professional requirements. This modular system also allows participation in individual modules without the obligation to follow the entire course.

Institutional development
In addition to education and training conducted in the Netherlands, ITC has been involved since the 1960’s in strengthening entire institutions and organisations - professional organisations such as surveying and mapping agencies as well as educational organisations. Institutional development comprises a series of activities including organisational and procedural adjustments, curriculum development, and capacity and capability enhancement through overseas and local education and training. Interventions generally cover a time span of between four and 10 years.

With respect to professional organisations, a typical example is the ongoing project to strengthen the technical management capabilities of the Egypt Survey Authority (ESA). This five-year project started in 1998 and comprises:

the training of trainers at ITC: regular PM courses, series of modules, special technical management course
developing a course programme and curriculum at ITC and in Egypt
training programmes in Egypt: raising awareness of senior managers, technical/managerial upgrading
transfer and initiation of training programmes to and in Egypt.

In the case of educational organisations, two types can be distinguished, universities and training agencies of professional organisations. We have two ongoing projects right now in India , one with the Indian Institute of Remote Sensing (IIRS) in Dehra Dun and one with the Geological Survey of India Training Institute (GSI-TI) in Hyderabad.

Accomplishments and experiences 1950 - 2000
Education and training: Over the first 50 years of its existence, almost 15,000 mid-career professionals from over 160 countries studied at ITC in the Netherlands, the large majority coming from Asia, followed by Africa, Europe and Latin America. At this very moment, the number of participants from Africa increases proportionally, mainly the result of the Dutch government’s current policy in assigning its scholarships.

Looking back at our educational and training activities, particularly in India, we can conclude that:

ITC has been able to educate/train almost 500 professionals from India. ITC alumni can be found - some in high places - in a wide variety of educational and professional organisations throughout the country. Continuous contacts with these alumni reveal that many of them have been able to improve the operations of their organisations, particularly in the field of education and training.
The “aftercare” provided by ITC by means of refresher courses, scientific information in a scientific journal, and extremely cheap (US$ 120) user-friendly software for image processing and geographical information handling has been welcomed but suffers from a lack of funding.
The initial practice of selecting individual mid-career professionals for our fellowship programmes has resulted in expertise being spread rather thinly over different organisations, not concentrated and resulting in a critical mass required for capacity building within a single organisation. Eventually, in the 1980’s, this stimulated ITC to use its own fellowship sources to enrol candidates more within the framework of long-term agreements for capacity building with national educational and professional organisations.
Education and training activities at ITC in the Netherlands have generally been successful in terms of performance, reaching an average 95% success rate (i.e. 95% of those enrolled for post-graduate training successfully completed their studies). Besides being the result of careful screening and selection, this can be ascribed in particular to the very intensive support and guidance enjoyed by individual course participants (only possible due to the financial support of the Dutch government).
We have observed very little brain-drain among ITC course participants from India, at least among those participating in MSc and PM programmes.

Institutional development: Through institutional development projects that catered for the capacity building requirements of entire organisations, ITC has been successful in strengthening the capacity and capability of such organisations to fulfil their tasks. In addition to the five sister institutes, this has resulted in a worldwide network of organisations with which ITC intensively collaborates.

Looking back at our institutional development activities particularly in India, we can conclude that:

Institutional development requires long-term commitment from both sides, i.e. generally at least eight to 10 years - and even then we have experienced difficulties in achieving institutional, scientific and financial sustainability.
In general, the support provided to academic institutions to strengthen education and training capabilities has been more sustainable than that provided to the training sections of professional organisations. It appears that this can be ascribed to the fact that academic organisations generally receive continued support from their governments in providing education, whereas the training components of professional organisations receive little continuous support and funding appears to be more ad hoc (through externally funded projects).
The poor results in terms of sustainability of those institutional development projects that were initially heavily dependent on massive expatriate long-term and short-term staff input eventually led to a different approach. This approach involved the creation of a critical mass of local expertise by means of participation in ITC academic programmes and special training sessions, combined with the joint development of course programmes and curricula and the subsequent transfer and joint implementation of educational programmes. In this way, the development and implementation of programmes have been built on own strength and capacity, thus creating “ownership” and a basis for sustainability.

General conclusions: In general we feel that our programmes have thus been able to address:

both technology (geo-informatics) and context (geo-information management) and education and training
differences in application domains (four programmes with 18 specialisations)
different requirements for both scientifically (MSc) and professionally (PM) trained personnel
upgrading (lifelong learning) through modules and short tailor-made programmes
capacity building by means of institutional development projects.

The implications of a changing world

Changes and prospects:
In the next five to 10 years, ITC faces changes that will have implications far greater than all those of the first 50 years put together.

In spite of all the criticism on traditional forms of development cooperation, impressive achievements can be observed in economic and technological developments. This also applies to national capacity and capability for education and training in earth observation and geo-information handling, as confirmed by the increasing number of education and training programmes offered throughout India. This does not even mention the skills and experience India has in earth observation applications themselves.
Support is waning for development cooperation, at least in the form implemented over the last 30 years. There is a shift from development cooperation to international cooperation, or from donor ship to partnership. We are gradually realising that the points of gravity both in terms of delivery and in terms of decision making over content and implementation of development support are edging away from the Western world.
This waning support is also being felt by international education organisations in the Netherlands, including ITC, in terms of financial support. Although a core subsidy has been secured for the next five years, the Dutch policy of providing untied aid rather than limiting aid to implementation by Dutch consultants and organisations implies that ITC is being increasingly confronted with competition in securing fellowships.
Moreover, whereas ITC has operated as an independent institute throughout the first 50 years of its existence, it now has to gradually integrate into the Dutch university system. This will provide opportunities for the exchange of knowledge gained through fundamental research at universities and applied research at ITC.
Most important are the changes in demand for our services. These call for a greater flexibility, particularly in our education, with respect to duration (preference for short training programmes), location (preference for on site rather than in the Netherlands), method (e-learning) and themes (expertise and experience in solving problems observed and dealt with in current Western civil society).

These changes in demand require further elaboration. The institutional and financial frameworks prevailing during ITC’s first 50 years have allowed us to accommodate those changes in the demand for capacity building that have resulted from general economic, political and technological developments. This has led to a shift from short/medium-duration technical and practical training to full-time intensive academic degree programmes (PM, MSc and PhD) at ITC for periods of one (PM) to four (PhD) years. In addition, on-site institutional development support has met the needs of entire educational and professional organisations through capacity building. Technological and economic developments have opened up new application fields for which demand from our clients/students has increased. Consequently, the demand-oriented (or client-oriented) attitude at ITC has resulted in the development of a rather diverse set of expertise, products and services (including software).

Changes in world society rapidly result in changes in the demand for our products and services. Nevertheless, the large number of applications confirms that demand for academic degree programmes is still substantial. Consultations with client organisations, however, indicate that mid-career professionals in important decision-making positions, or with the potential to grow into such positions, have difficulty in sparing the time to be away from home for extended periods.

In addition, we can observe an increased demand for the science and technology being currently developed and applied in the Western world. Since the introduction of “applications” at ITC, we have been engaged in developing those applications that specifically cater for the varied requirements in the home countries of our course participants. We can now observe an increased demand for Western expertise and practical experience. This applies particularly to the management of geographical information for strengthening civil society (GDIs) and for applications that have global dimensions, such as the effects of climate change and environmental security.

It seems that compared with Dutch universities, which have been actively involved in scientific developments catering for the needs of the Western world, and compared with other scientific and professional organisations we are at a certain disadvantage in this respect. This requires a reconsideration of our strategic goal and approach.

Strategic goal and approach: Within the framework of our mission, the long-term strategic goal is to create a sustainable scientific and market-oriented position from an institutional, financial and organisational point of view. More specifically, this implies that the following external conditions should eventually be met:

Scientific position: Strong and recognised position as a scientific centre of excellence in the field of geo-information science and earth observation, in both our traditional market (LDCs) and the Western world.
Market-orientation: Demand- and client-oriented approach to delivering our research, education and project services, an approach that is realised in a “dialogue-driven” rather than “supply-driven” or “demand-driven” way.

Scientific position: Our mission aims at the international exchange of knowledge centred on geo-information science and earth observation. Our exceptional in-house critical mass of scientific expertise relating to this core is our Institute’s key “capital”. Maintaining and developing this expertise - or human resources development - therefore demand special attention. Sustaining our reputation as a scientific centre of excellence in the field of geo-information science and earth observation depends on our ability to maintain this expertise. Research is considered one of ITC’s three core activities, alongside education and project services, and has a clear coherent linkage (represented schematically below).

Our capital, expertise, will be maintained and developed within the framework of, on the one hand, our mission and, on the other, the market (demand), as translated/interpreted through our educational programmes and project services. Expertise will be upheld and developed through research (projects, PhDs) in clearly defined themes (research spearheads), and through close collaboration with other scientific organisations, especially the four Dutch partner universities in Twente, Utrecht, Wageningen and Delft and knowledge institutes, thus developing a network in the Netherlands as well as with our partners in the developing world. This will enable post-doctoral fellows and visiting scientists to participate in our programme, while ITC will benefit from the opportunities of synergy. Mainly market- and dialogue-driven, education and project services will be supported by the results of the research programme. Research may result in so-called “derived outputs”, such as publications and software. These will be used in support of education and project services as well as in general marketing and public relations. Commercial handling of any such products will be outsourced to private enterprise, not undertaken by ITC itself.

Market orientation: To address the challenges of a larger but at the same time more competitive funding environment, we will adopt a market-oriented approach focusing on our clients. We face changing market conditions - the result of political, economic and technological changes - and it is difficult for us to influence these conditions. We will have to address client demand for our services, as well as our way of providing and indeed promoting these services.

While adopting a market-oriented approach, we do appreciate that a scientific organisation such as ITC is not, in principle, a commercial organisation that reacts purely to market demand. The mission and knowledge field as mandated by our principal sponsors have to be taken into account as well. We therefore prefer to provide our services in consultation or “in dialogue” with our clients.

Redefining our clients: With the client playing an essential role in a market-oriented approach, we have to define this client properly. In the first 50 years of our existence, our clients have been predominantly individuals from the developing world. Focus on the developing world (LDCs) will remain our policy under the present mandate from the Dutch government, which funds our Institute. However, priority will be given to organisations as clients rather than, as has been the case in the past, to individuals. These may be public sector or private sector entities, with special attention to organisations with responsibility for establishing and maintaining GDIs.

In addition, we will vigorously pursue the participation of countries not considered LDCs under current government policy, including the Netherlands and other Western (European) countries. The reasons are as follows:

to increase the efficiency of our operations and reduce the costs per student by increased enrolment
to enhance and support the exchange of knowledge, which is achieved to a considerable extent by exchange of experience and information between course participants (from different backgrounds)
to maintain our network with organisations in countries that no longer qualify for ODA
to fulfil the desire of OC&W to integrate the activities of international education institutes with those of scientific education institutes (universities)
to prepare the Institute for a situation where, in contrast to prevailing policies, a fixed core subsidy is no longer automatically available
to ensure a better position to compete with other educational institutions.

Redefining our product-market combinations: services and location

Traditionally, the set of instruments to carry out our mission has been dominated by educational degree programmes delivered on a full-time basis, under ITC-predefined conditions, at ITC in the Netherlands. These programmes generally catered for the needs of individuals rather than their organisations.

In redefining our products and services, a key adjustment is the distinction between mission-driven research and market-driven education and project services. Furthermore, it is clear that the traditional mechanisms for delivering our services no longer completely meet the changing requirements of our clients. Hence, these need to be adjusted. The ITC strategy for the period 2001-2004 foresees the diversification and tailoring of our products and services. To some extent, the first steps have been taken in this direction and valuable experience has been gained to support further elaboration and development.

Our strategy for 2001-2004 envisages further specification of these services (in particular the educational services, with respect to regional and sectoral differentiation, type (degree/non-degree), duration and location) on the basis of continuous market studies. This is eventually to result in targeted marketing in specific regions/countries for specific organisations/clients and subjects/topics.

From education to capacity building: Within the framework of our mission, our eventual goal is to build capacity through knowledge development, exchange and transfer. Capacity building is defined here as: “improvement in the ability of public and private sector organisations to perform appropriate tasks, either singly or in cooperation with other organisations”.

Improvements will be pursued in the capacity of national surveys, mapping agencies, municipalities, forest surveys, environmental agencies, geological surveys, etc. to perform appropriate tasks within the broad set of principles of a GDI. ITC will lay particular emphasis on support to those organisations that have been assigned national responsibility for establishing and maintaining GDIs and which should be strengthened in their capability to lead in the development and maintenance of foundation data within the broad set of principles of a national GDI.

“Leading” implies that such an organisation will be able to:

guarantee the completeness, consistency and accuracy of foundation data (terrestrial reference frame, digital orthoimagery, digital elevation data, vector data, geographical names)
negotiate, collaborate and canalise in partnerships with other data providers on integrity, harmonisation and standardisation, administration and operation, and policy implementation.

Partnership arrangements
Acknowledging the fact that we will not be able to continue our work isolated from developments and the expertise available elsewhere, foremost in the implementation of our new approach with respect to knowledge development, exchange and transfer are partnerships with academic and professional organisations. These will enable us to accommodate the proliferation in demand for knowledge in geo-information science and earth observation applications.

First of all, ITC has enhanced its collaboration with universities and knowledge institutes in the Netherlands. Foremost among these partners are the four Dutch partner universities and most relevant Dutch professional and technological institutes, for example Netherlands Kadaster and Public Registers Agency, the Netherlands Institute for Technical Geosciences (NITG) and Delft Hydraulics. Research partnerships will not be limited to the Netherlands but will include recognised knowledge and research institutes in Europe and the LDCs. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is an example of an esteemed research institute in our knowledge field, which has expressed interest in collaboration with ITC. At this very moment, consultations are taking place between ISRO and ITC to enhance scientific collaboration.

Partnerships entail joint research programmes, staff exchange and dual assignments. Already, a considerable number of ITC scientific staff members have dual assignments with Dutch universities and professional organisations. Hence, we envisage that ITC will become a centre for the exchange of expertise rather than merely an institution for education and training. This may be highly beneficial for partner organisations that lack ITC’s international network. In this respect, ITC may become a kind of gateway for knowledge, expertise and even geo-spatial data-carriers and information.

Knowledge development and exchange
To provide the scientific framework and basis for realising the strategic goal, a solid new research programme has recently been developed that meets the following criteria/conditions:

fit within the context of ITC’s knowledge field
problem-oriented
problem areas where geo-information science and earth observation play an essential role in finding solutions
problem areas that need solutions to guarantee relevant, economic, timely and reliable information provision
inter- or multi-disciplinary character
improved marketability of ITC’s products and services
embedded in the national and European scientific network
output-oriented
governed by scientific quality, publications and PhD awards.

Programme formulation was embarked on by the end of 2000 and, in the course of 2001, resulted in a research programme that meets the above criteria and comprises five, partly overlapping spearheads with the shared overall aim of strengthening civil society

geo-information provision for strengthening civil society
geo-information provision for the multifunctional use of space
geo-information provision for natural disasters and environment
geo-information provision for food and water security
geo-information provision for global change monitoring

This programme is being implemented as an integrated set of programmes/projects in which ITC scientists (ITC staff and PhD researchers), post-doctoral fellows and visiting scientists collaborate. Experiences and results are incorporated in the educational programme and project services. The results of this research programme are published as PhD dissertations and as scientific articles in a selected group of international peer-reviewed journals. They are further publicised in scientific events organised at ITC and through participation and presentations at international conferences, congresses, etc. Furthermore, information is made available in particular to our alumni via the ITC library internet page as a gateway to knowledge.

Knowledge transfer
In spite of what has been said about ITC’s reorientation regarding knowledge development and exchange, transfer of knowledge will remain the key component of ITC’s activities. In view of the changing demand for our educational services, however, we intend to transfer (part of) our educational programmes to the home countries of our clients under the title “decentralisation”. We intend to do that through establishing joint educational programmes with scientific institutions, implemented in collaboration with and by staff of partner organisations in the home countries or regions of our clients. They may be implemented entirely nationally or partly so with a component at ITC in the Netherlands. For example, 12 months of an 18-month MSc programme may be conducted in the home country and on successful completion of the examinations the six-month thesis writing may subsequently be conducted at ITC. Both the national institution and ITC will accredit academic degrees and certificates, preferably under a double logo. This decentralisation effort will be supported by distance education, in which ITC scientific staff members will collaborate with staff of national institutions in providing student-centred support in an e-learning environment. The incorporation of student-centred e-learning will also provide the required flexibility for part-time education, spreading programmes over a longer period.

Decentralisation: At this moment, ITC is in the process of consulting various organisations with a view to establishing such partnerships for joint educational and training programmes. These organisations comprise academic institutions, professional organisations and private sector enterprises, each catering for different client categories and demand.

Besides bringing the education to our clients, decentralisation is reckoned to be more cost-efficient and effective. We have recently started to implement this policy in Iran, Bolivia and Egypt, and our aim now is to expand this network by applying the following criteria and undertaking activities to engage in partnerships with organisations in other countries, i.e. the “local partner”.

Principle: The principle of equal partnership is one of the foremost criteria. If relationships in the past were generally based on the principle of aid (i.e. support or assistance by ITC), partnerships for the purpose of decentralisation will be based on the principle of equal footing (i.e. the joint and equal sharing of responsibilities in the development and implementation of these programmes). Potential partners should agree to this principle and not expect ITC to provide funding up front. In the initial stages of collaboration, ITC staff might still be heavily involved in actual lecturing. Eventually, on-site lecturing will be the responsibility of staff of the partner organisation, with ITC staff charged with coordinating module content and overall quality control. We will also consider the option of engaging/employing former ITC students (alumni) in the implementation of decentralisation. The modalities for engaging alumni (zero-appointments) will be elaborated.

Market: Partnerships for the decentralisation of education are only feasible if there is a market for the educational products. Hence a market assessment will be part of the process of establishing a partnership. Since the local partner will have a better insight into the market, market studies will be carried out jointly.

Legal aspects: Both partners should be entitled to undertake education and training and be granted the right to issue academic degrees such as Professional Master and/or Master of Science degrees. In principle this limits partners to academic institutions (universities), unless professional organisations enter into arrangements with universities. Since the aim is for a double logo, both partners should also allow the issuing of a degree with the logos of both the local partner and ITC - unless other solutions can be found, such as separate degrees.

Capacity and capability: Both partners should have the capacity and capability to assume responsibility for carrying out part of the educational programme. This applies to both staff well versed in the subject as well as in knowledge transfer and exchange, and the availability of facilities, space, equipment, student accommodation, etc. Part of the decentralisation process may well entail engaging ITC alumni and upgrading local staff in the latest scientific developments through their participation in the educational programme in Enschede.

Funding: Although the organisation of the educational programme will be a joint responsibility, both partners are in principle expected to fund (or have funded) their own share of the work, either through their own core (subsidy) funding and/or through fellowships. By offering programmes that are partly carried out locally (and as such assumed to be cheaper while still offering the internationally recognised degree and appeal), we expect that potential funding agencies may be interested in providing fellowship funding. Nevertheless, the starting point should be that partners are responsible for funding their own part of the programme, although engaging ITC alumni in the implementation may imply cross-subsidy modalities.

Accreditation and quality control: A very important aspect will be international accreditation and quality control. For this purpose, use will be made of the experience that other organisations, particularly those from Australia and the UK, have acquired in setting up similar systems.

Partners for decentralisation will be identified from among organisations with which experience has been gained during institutional development projects over the past 25 years. Ongoing and future institutional development projects will be geared towards supporting our decentralisation activities. Additional partners will preferably be well-established organisations that meet the above conditions without requiring much additional investment from the ITC side. Wherever possible, organisations with a regional exposure and service experience will be preferred.

To avoid becoming over-committed and unable to maintain quality control, regional networks will be established, composed of a limited number of pre-identified partners that meet the above conditions. A regional network for Asia was drafted during the course of 2001. It is expected that similar networks will be identified for Africa and Latin America during the course of 2002, and for Central and Eastern Europe during 2003.

Pilots with decentralisation have been undertaken since the early 1990’s in Iran, followed by Bolivia and Egypt in the second half of the 1990’s. Decentralised joint educational programmes are presently operational in:

Bolivia, Cochabamba: two specialisations; 40 course participants; PM part in Bolivia; MSc at ITC
Iran, Tehran: three specialisations; 46 course participants; PM in Iran; MSc 12 months Iran, 6 months ITC
Egypt, Cairo: one specialisation; 20 course participants; post-graduate entirely in Egypt
China, Wuhan: one specialisation; 20 course participants; 2.5 years in China, 6 months at ITC.

Within the framework of ITC’s ongoing long-term institutional development project with the Indian Institute of Remote Sensing in Dehra Dun, our sister institute, it is in the process of developing a joint Master of Science programme in geo-informatics. Initially directed at disaster management this programme is scheduled to accommodate for other application domain areas in the near future. Collaboration with universities and private sector enterprises are ongoing and will most likely result in joint programmes during the course of the next few years.

Distance education: Our involvement in non-traditional methods of education has thus far been ad hoc and haphazard. Some years ago, ITC took part in a European Commission-funded project for the development of internet-based education in RS/GIS for professionals. In addition, a number of tutorials have been compiled on CD-ROM for external clients. Considering the considerable drop-out rates experienced elsewhere as a result of social isolation, we have always been rather apprehensive regarding the full-fledged introduction of distance education.

The development of distance education as an integral part of ITC’s system of education has recently been taken up in earnest using “Blackboard” as the technological communication platform. Although at the moment most potential course participants in LDCs do not have access to the required hardware and (reliable) internet connection, this may well rapidly change. We will deal with such stumbling blocks and the problem of social isolation in the following ways:

by developing distance education modules as short open courses and/or as components of part-time programmes. It is expected that students from mainly non-LDCs will participate.
by developing a distance education format in which student groups in partner institutes for decentralised education are taught by a staff member at ITC and supervised by staff from the local partner organisation. In this way, distance education will also be an intermediate step in the decentralisation of education.

Outlook and provisional experiences
The experiences thus far with decentralisation (distance education is only in its infancy as yet) have proved very promising for various reasons.

Instead of approaching the issue of capacity in terms of shortage, we use the capacity and capability that are present. The policy is to build on education and training capacity developed over the past couple of decades through international education, staff exchange, etc. By doing so, ownership and self-confidence in capacity building are created in countries and with organisations - exactly where they belong.
By decentralising our education and training, we counter the restrictions faced by mid-career professionals, i.e. the inability to go abroad and leave their job and family behind for long periods. It seems that this approach attracts those mid-career professionals that are in a position or have the possibility to grow into a position to bring about change in their organisation. Wherever we meet with potential candidates, both individuals and national organisations, the principle is met with great approval.
Although ITC has been transferring educational and training programmes to the developing world for many decades within the framework of institutional development, this transfer has invariably been project-based. In other words, the building of local capacity to conduct education and training was based on temporary project funding. On completion of such projects, relations with ITC declined and became mainly of a personal nature.

ITC’s current decentralisation strategy is based on a totally different concept. Since joint educational programmes in a decentralisation venture are accredited by both partners - both attaching their logos, both responsible for implementation and quality control - both partners are also committed to continuing the collaboration, using their own core funding sources and scholarships/fellowships funded from external sources. Hence the relationship is not based on temporary project funding and hence is more likely to be sustained.
It seems that one of the reasons behind the brain-drain from which so many countries suffer is that their educated people have been uprooted too long, away from their home country and home environment. Although not observed in ITC’s MSc or PM programme, there is no denying that quite a few participants in the PhD programme, where absence from the home country occasionally reaches six years (combined MSc and PhD studies/research), do eventually end up in North America (albeit this does not apply to candidates from India).
Donor agencies have realised that involving too much expatriate expertise in development cooperation is not achieving the goal of sustainable development. Or as expressed by the Netherlands’ Minister for Development Cooperation: “Despite massive technical assistance, aid programmes have probably weakened capacity in the developing world. Technical assistance has displaced local expertise and drawn away civil servants to administer aid-funded programmes – precisely the opposite of the capacity building intentions of donors and recipients.”

Having realised that development cooperation overly dependent on the input of expatriate expertise has not proved sustainable, the governments of the Netherlands and the Scandinavian countries decided some years ago to change their policy, terminating project aid by expatriate consultants and favouring support to local organisations. The Dutch government has already indicated its preference for international education systems that involve a national component of education/training. We expect other countries to follow suit.
It should be clear that capacity building is not enough to bring about change in India. Local obstacles need to be removed, legislation needs to be streamlined, and coordination between government agencies within countries and between organisations in different countries needs to be improved.
For ITC, of course, this strategy has tremendous implications. At first sight, it appears as if ITC is making itself redundant by handing over its education and training tasks. If that were to be the case, ITC would have successfully completed its mission to build sustainable capacity and capability in the developing world. As a matter of fact, ITC has been transferring its education and training tasks to organisations in the developing world for many years. During this time, ITC has adjusted its role, providing higher-level academic education. Initially ITC was involved in graduate training, which over the years has been transferred to the developing world. The subsequent introduction of short graduate training has gradually been replaced by full-fledged academic degree programmes.

Decentralisation, however, provides the opportunity for ITC to properly prepare, screen and select those candidates who are capable of completing an MSc without that intensive support required for unscreened course participants. ITC’s role will become more related to formulating and developing educational programmes and curricula and to quality control. Finally, rather than continuing to be a provider of education and training ITC aims to become a gateway for the exchange of knowledge and expertise.