Distr. LIMITED
ECA/NRD/CART.9/EGYPT.3
October 1996
Original: ENGLISH
Ninth United Nations Regional
Cartographic Conference for Africa
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
11-15 November 1996
THE EGYPTIAN SURVEY AUTHORITY AND THE RIO DECLARATION
ON THE ENVIRONMENT AND DEVELOPMENT
THE EGYPTIAN SURVEY AUT1IOM I N
THE RIO DECLARATION ON I III
\M)
ENVIRONMENT AND DEVEI OI'Ml \ I
Engineer Mohamed Mosaad H*i .ihim.
Chairman,
Egyptian Survey Authonl*
THE EGYPTIAN SURVEY AUTHORITY AND
THE RIO DECLARATION ON THE ENVIRONMENT AND DEVELOPMENT
Engineer M. Mosaad Ibrahim, Chairman, Egyptian Survey Authority '
Background; At the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, the nations
of the world committed themselves to "cooperate in a spirit of global partnership to conserve, protect
and restore the health and integrity of the Earth's ecosystem." In so doing, knowingly or
unknowingly, they committed themselves to the eventual development of more comprehensive and
more accurate mapping systems then have been heretofore available in even the most technically
advanced nations.
By agreeing to see to it that "At the national level, each individual shall have appropriate access to
information concerning the environment that is held by public authorities, including hazardous
materials and activities in their communities, and the opportunity to participate in the decision-making
process..." the participants at the Conference virtually mandated the development of comprehensive
geographic information systems, the likes of which are still but a gleam in the eyes of the most ardent
proponents of this technology. *
While it is highly likely that the participants at the Rio Conference would be surprised by the
foregoing statements, the leaders of the world surveying and mapping community were quick to grasp
the implications of the Rio Declaration as evidenced by their approval of Resolution 6, "Role of
Surveying, Mapping and Charting in the Implementation of Agenda 21" at the 13th United Nations
Regional Cartographic Conference for Asia and the Pacific in May 1994.
To effectively "and conscientiously implement the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development,
the leaders of the world will need immense amounts of current and accurate data describing the Earth's
ecosystem. They will have to be able to access, manipulate and modify those data rapidly. They will
have to be able to collate seemingly unrelated data sets for delivery to and use in ever more
sophisticated analytical and predictive computer models, and finally, they will have to justify their
decisions to an increasingly skeptical world population in a way that will allow them to quickly and
unambiguously make their case for new developmental undertakings and the closing down of
ecologically harmful projects.
The Role of National Mapping Agencies: If the massive amounts of data that will be required to
manage the Earth's ecostructure are to be available when and where needed and in a form suitable for
use in computer models of the environment as well as for the presentation of the output of these
The author wishes to acknowledge the assistance of Dr. Francis L. Hanigan in the preparation of this
paper. Dr. Hanigan has been working with the Authority since February 1990, first as the leader of the
technical assistance team provided by USAID and currently as one of two organizational development
consultants provided by Die Gesellschaft fur Technische Zusammenarbeit.
Principle 7, Agenda Item 9, Adoption of Agreements on Environment and Development, The Rio
Declaration on Environment and Development The United Nations Conference on Environment and
Development, Rio de Janeiro, 3-14 June 1992.
3 Principle 10,-Agenda Item 9, Adoption of Agreements on Environment and Development, The Rid
Declaration on Environment and Development. The United Nations Conference on Environment and
Development, Rio de Janeiro, 3-14 June 1992.
4 Final, advanced version of Chapter 40.9, Agenda Hern 21, Information for Decision-Making, dated 15
May 1996 and adopted by the Plenary at The United Nations Conference on Environment and
Development, Rio de Janeiro, 3-14 June 1992.
s Resolution 6 "Role of Surveying, Mapping and Charting in the Implementation of Agenda 21." 13th
United Nations Regional Cartographic Conference for Asia and the Pacific, 9-18 May 1994, Beijing,
People's Republic of China.
models to a cynical press and a generally ill-informed public, these data will have to be in digital form
and must be geographically indexed. That is to say, they will have to be stored in what today we call a
geographic information system (GIS).
The more forwarding looking and technologically advanced national mapping agencies have long
recognized this fact. Several began the transition from an analog to a digital production environment
more than two decades ago. Today, it is probably safe to say that even the most conservative national
mapping agencies recognize that the time has come for them to automate. For if they do not, they will
not be ready to respond to the call of their national leaders for current, complete and accurate
geographically index information when it comes. And, come it will, if not next month or next year,
certainly within the next decade.
If the worldwide surveying and mapping community is going to be ready to respond to the challenge
which the Rio Declaration represents, it must soon do a better job of convincing national leaders of the
importance of geographic information products to sustainable development and environmental
protection for the production and maintenance of these data are going to be expensive and will take
considerable time. It is also going to have to get its collective house in order so that those national
mapping agencies that are late to the digital mapping and GIS tables can quickly catch up with their
more fortunate colleagues who have had the advantage of an early introduction to these rapidly
maturing technologies. National mapping agencies that have already begun this transformation must be
prepared to share their successes and, more importantly, their failures with agencies that are just now
beginning this transition.
The balance of this paper discuss the sometimes successful, and frequently unsuccessful efforts, of the
Egyptian Survey Authority to move from a fully analog production environment to one better suited to
the demands of the 21st century. Although this transition began in January 1990 with the receipt of a
large Grant from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), it is far from
complete. This transition has been far more challenging than ever anticipated, and has frequently placed
demands on a staff ill-prepared by previous training and education to handle them. In spite of this,
progress has been made, and the modernization process continues with all deliberate speed.
The Egyptian Experience: As the Egyptian Survey Authority (ESA) approaches the 100th
anniversary of its founding in 1898, the demand for accurate and current geographic information
describing the local environment is growing exponentially. Government agencies throughout the
country have discovered the power and potential of GIS technology. Most ministries are either
contemplating the development of a GIS or have already begun work on such a system. All are in dire
need of geographic data describing the Egyptian landmass—data that the Authority has long been
chartered to produce.
In the late 1980s, thanks to Grants from USAID and the Finish and German Governments, ESA began
an ambitious plan of technical modernization intended to revitalize its production elements. As this
technical modernization progressed, it became painfully obvious that an even more ambitious
modernization program—one aimed at every organizational activity within the Authority—would be
needed, if the Authority was going to be able to satisfy the demand for the digital geographic
information that will one day form the backbone of Egypt's Information Infrastructure.
Another factor propelling the Authority's drive for modernization was the increasing pressure being
brought to bear on the Authority to complete the national agricultural cadaster. The Authority's
cadastral maps and related "Dqfters" documenting land subdivision and ownership are the very basis for
the modern land registration system mandated by the legislature in 1923. Unfortunately, to date (mid1996) less than 60 percent of the agricultural land has been incorporated into that system.
Early completion of the cadaster is required to improve Egypt's information infrastructure relative to
the nation's most limited resource—agricultural land, to secure property rights and to ensure a less
fraudulent, more orderly and more vigorous real estate market. Completion of the cadaster will also
make possible more efficient land titling, more equitable real property taxation, more informed land use
planning and more effective and enforceable monitoring of citizen compliance with laws designed to
protect the quality of Egypt's natural resources and environment.
Strategic Planning: Once the Authority's senior management recognized and accepted the need for a
more all encompassing modernization program, ESA embarked upon a planning process intended to
produce a comprehensive but flexible plan for modernization. The Authority adopted the well-known
-2-
SWOT (Strengths-Weaknesses-Obstacles-Threats) strategic planning method for this purpose. Work
on the strategic plan began in November 1993, and after 19 months of incredibly intense effort, ihe
Authority published its first Strategic Plan in June 1995. The following basic principles served as
guideposts for the development of the plan.
Accurate and current maps as well as a complete and well maintained national cadaster are essential
for sound national development
The potential number of customers for the Authority's products and services is large, growing
rapidly and highly diversified.
Map production and service delivery should be decentralized and to the maximum extent practical
placed as close to the potential user as possible.
AH activities undertaken by the Authority in implementing the Strategic Plan should have as their
objectives:
«*
Creating a more businesslike work environment.
■»
Improving product quality and service delivery.
oo
Improving productivity and minimizing operating costs.
«>
Making more efficient use of available resources.
°°
Reducing government subsidies.
°o
Reducing the cycle lime of all activities.
The finished plan sets forth a,broad, long-term program for organizational and technical modernization.
It specifies the goals and strategies that the Authority will pursue as it moves into the 21st century. It
continues the Authority's traditional role in providing surveying, mapping and land information
services in support of national development, and positions the Authority to play a key role in the
development of the nation's budding information infrastructure. It consist of 32 separate program
elements grouped under seven broad headings. Each program element includes:
A Guiding Principle - establishing "why" the element is important to mission accomplishment.
A Goal - indicating "where" the Authority wants to be in the future.
Strategies - "what" the Authority will have to do to achieve the goal.
Each of the individual strategies contributes directly to the overall strategy—transformation of the
Authority into an efficient and productive National Mapping Agency prepared to satisfy the country's
growing demand for the digital geographic information that will someday be the backbone of Egypt's
Information Infrastructure.
Brief summaries of each of the Plan's seven Sections follow:
Raising The Authority's Stature: Section One recognizes the Authority's need, as a specialized
technical production agency, for greater organizational autonomy and management flexibility,
particularly with regard to personnel management and financial administration. These changes are
needed to enable the Authority to perform its production mission more effectively and efficiently.
This Section also identifies the need for a new Mission and Functions Statement and a new name,
one more in keeping with the Authority's role as the manufacturer and distributor of digital land
information for the Government of Egypt.
•
Responding To Customer Demand: Section Two addresses the fact that to succeeded in today's
competitive environment, the Authority must become a market-driven rather than a technologydriven organization. It recognizes that the Authority's current approach to product and service
3 -
marketing, pricing and distribution must be completely rethought and reorganized more along the
lines of a commercial mapping organization than those of a typical government agency.
Fostering Quality Management: Section Three acknowledges that people are the Authority's most
important resource and addresses the need for the implementation of an enlightened Human
Resources Development and Management Program. It also acknowledges that its a well trained,
highly technical staff must be properly led if the Authority is to succeed and, therefore, calls for the
implementation of a comprehensive management development program. Finally, this section
addresses quality and production management—areas in which the Authority requires currently
significant improvement
•
Developing and Managing Technology: Section Four points out that the automation of the
Authority's production and service delivery capabilities is a long-range undertaking the realization
of which will extend far beyond the period of this Strategic Plan (10 years). It calls for the
immediate creation of carefully crafted production programs for the completion of the urban and
agricultural cadaster as well as for the publication of a national series of topographic maps. This
Section acknowledges the Authority's responsibility for maintaining accurate horizontal, vertical
and gravity control networks spanning the nation. Finally, it address the requirement for a
significant strengthening of the Authority's printing plant as well as a need to reduce the
substantial subsidies on which that plant now depends.
•
Organizing for Excellence: Section Five speaks to changes needed in the organizational structure of
the Authority to accommodate the technological modernization program that has already begun. It
suggests changes in the composition of the Board of Directors, the formation of an Executive
Management Team, the creation of a commercially oriented marketing, map sales and distribution
division capable of substantially increasing the Authority's annual revenues from the sale of maps
and other digital geographic information as well as a top to bottom modernization of the
Authority's support departments—finance, administration, maintenance and information systems.
Safeguarding The Investment: Section Six calls for the creation of innovative programs for halting
the loss of skilled personnel to the wealthy nations bordering the Arabian Gulf. It address the need
for protecting the Authority's exclusive right to profit from the sale of the products which it
manufactures. Finally, it calls for the creation and implementation of effective programs for the
continuous upgrading of the technical and administrative skills of its personnel and the
maintenance of its facilities and expensive automated production equipment
Building Partnerships For The Public Good: Section Seven acknowledges that the Authority
cannot and should not go it alone. It calls for the building of bridges between the Authority and
such diverse groups as the international donor community and the Military Survey Department It
points out the need for modernizing the way in which land records are now maintained and accepts
the Authority's responsibility for helping to develop the nation's still immature commercial
surveying and mapping sector.
The strategic planning team recommended that the Authority be renamed The National Authority for
Surveying and Land Information and that its legal status be elevated from that of a General Authority to
that of a National Authority. The team also recommended the Authority be totally reorganized in
accordance with a Reorganization Plan developed during the strategic planning process. Finally it
recommended that the following Vision Statement and Mission and Functions Statement be adopted as
part of the reorganization process.
Vision Statement
Our dedicated and professional staff is committed to manufacturing high quality
geographic information products and delivering professional surveying and mapping
services to government and private sector end-users at a reasonable cost and with
minimal government subsidy.
_ 4 _
Mission Statement
As a specialized technical Authority, the National Surveying and Land Information
Authority produces, maintains and distributes current and accurate geographic data in
support of national needs. These data describe the Egyptian landmass, its cultural
features and the ownership of the land. They are delivered in the form of surveys,
digital databases, maps, and related products and services.
Geodetic Surveying & Base Mapping Functions
Establish and maintain the national horizontal, vertical and gravity networks, compute the national
geodetic datum and disseminate data pertaining to these networks.
Produce, maintain and distribute a national atlas, and small, medium and large scale basemaps
depicting the physical and cultural features of the Egyptian landmass.
Provide base geographic data in a digital format describing the physical and cultural features of the
Egyptian landmass to all government ministries and agencies for use in their geographic
information systems.
Land Information Functions
Produce and distribute cadastral maps and related land records describing the ownership of the
agricultural and urban lands within Egypt
Maintain the national cadaster and its related maps and records in support of the Real Estate
Department, Ministry of Justice and the Real Estate Tax Department, Ministry of Finance.
Plan, manage and carry out all aspects of land valuation and expropriation projects for the
government.
Other Functions
Organize and chair the National Committee for the Implementation of GIS technology within the
government.
Serve as .he surveying, mapping and GI* consultant to all government ministries and agencies.
Serve as the. primary surveying, mapping and GIS contractor to all .government ministries and
agencies.
•
Conduct periodic crop inventories for tnc government.
•
Publish and distribute the annual Islamic almanac and calendar.
•
Publish and distribute the National Atlas and any other geographic information product for which
there is sufficient national demand.
Strategic Plan Implementation; In March 1996 the Authority's Board of Directors approved
implementation of the Strategic Plan. Since then all of the legal documentation required to implement
the strategies in Section One of the plan have been prepared, approved by the Minister of Public Works
and Water Resources to whom ESA reports and forwarded to the legislative council for review and
approval. At the current time (June 1996), it is anticipated that the Authority's new name and changed
legal status will be approved by year's end^ if not before. Once that has been done, the Authority's
Reorganization Plan will be submitted to the Central Authority for Administration (CAOA) for review
and approval.
Organizational Development: As previously indicated ESA undertook the strategic planning
process when it realized that the technical assistance efforts underwritten by USAID and the Finnish and
German Governments were not as effective as it was hoped that they might have been and that the
likelihood of institutionalizing many of the changes being introduced by the technical assistance teams
5 -
was slight because the staff had not been properly prepared for the massive infusion of technology that
the USAID and German Government programs involved. The strategic planning process pointed out,
quite clearly, the need for an extended organizational development program, one that would reach deep
into the organization and begin the process of opening minds and hearts to change through the
development of a cadre of change agents—both official and unofficial.
With the support of the German Government the Authority has recently begun an organizational
development program intended to develop the change agents that will be needed to carry out its
Reorganization Plan and to successfully implement the many ambitious and occasionally revolutionary
strategies called for in the Strategic Plan.
One of the innovations within our Reorganization Plan is the establishment of a Modernization
Program Office (MPO). This office will be responsible for the coordination of all activities and projects
intended to modernize the Authority. In anticipation of approval of our Reorganization Plan, we have
already activated the MPO and staffed it with some of the best young talent in the Authority. As its
first assignment, it is working closely with our organizational development (OD) consultants to grow
the many change agents that we shall need to make our "Vision Statement" a reality.
The schematic at Figure 1 depicts the working of our organizational development process. Its essence
is the development of change agents through the formation of small project teams. Each team is
responsible for the implementation of one of the close to 200 strategic tasks listed in the Strategic
Plan. We select project managers as much or more for their enthusiasm and potential for development
as for their technical knowledge. Our project managers work closely with our OD consultants and the.,
staff of the MPO who are responsible for training the project managers in Action Planning, project
implementation and follow through and assisting them when their lack of seniority or inexperience
causes them to bog down.
The process is admittedly slow, but already shows potential. In three months we have launched four
modernization projects and completed the initial planning for about six more. We have initially chosen
relatively simple projects to give our project managers a taste of success right from the start. As they
gain experience they will be assigned more difficult projects and the most promising members of their
project teams will be assigned projects of their own. In this way we hope to seed the organization with
apostles for change while developing our younger staff and advancing the Authority towards its goal of
full modernization.
Technical Modernization: As already indicated, in late 1980's the Authority began an ambitious
and comprehensive program of technical modernization. This program was undertaken with the support
of USAID and the German Government. In both cases the focus of each project was the modernization
of ESA's technical capabilities and production procedures. Neither project contained a formal
organizational development activity, something which the Authority's senior management and its
American and German consultants soon realized was an oversight that had to be corrected, if the efforts
at technical modernization were to stick following the departure of the American and German technical
assistance teams.
In retrospect the strategic planning process should probably have been undertaken before the technical
modernization program began for while eager and willing to learn, the vast majority of the Authority*s
staff was just not ready for the giant personal and organizational leap required to benefit fully from the
technical assistance being provided. As a result, the sustainability of the many of the advances
introduced and implemented by the technical assistance teams are at risk today. Our current
organizational development program is somewhat of an attempt to lock the bam door before all of the
horses have fled.
On the other hand, it was the almost three years of technical assistance preceding the strategic planning
process that made that ambitious undertaking possible and as successful as it was. By November 1993,
when the strategic planning process began, the ESA staff was comfortable enough with the members
of the technical assistance (earn to share its concerns and ideas for the future with them, and sufficiently
familiar with digital mapping and GIS technologies to understand their application to ESA's mission.
6-
I
.
(OofC)
of the Chairman
Office
(PPM&R)O
■ Monitors program effectiveness
• Develops training programs
- Assesses training needs
Relations
Public
Cooperation
International
Services
Board & EMC
Management
Office
Support
Administrative
Review Office
Management &
Program Planning,
Authorizes projects
Reviews proposals
Sets priorities
Figure 1 - ESA's Organizational Development Process
Training Program Development Office (TPDO)
Prepares Action Plans
Implements Action Plans
Project Teams
Project Managers &
Agents
Change
Support
Administrative
• Monitors projects
• Implements projects
• Designs and plans projects
Action Officers,
Program Office (MPO)
Modernization
ESA's Future
Executive Management Committee (EMC)
Chairman
Activities
Line Sectors and
Monitors projects
Elements
Operating
Existing
Implements projects
• Designs and plans projects
ESA's Present
A somewhat unanticipated benefit of the strategic planning process was the great impact that it had on
the ESA staff assigned to the technical modernization effort Once into the process, as a group the staff
became far more receptive to the technical innovations being introduced by the technical assistance
teams. In many cases individuals worked more diligently to master the new technology. This reaction
probably occurred because the strategic planning process significantly raised the staffs level of the
consciousness as to the technical innovations that were taking place elsewhere in Egypt and to the
opportunities and threats that these innovations held for the Authority and themselves.
IMS-S&M: The scope of the technical modernization undertaken under the US AID umbrella has been
well documented elsewhere *,7, "and need not be repeated here in any detail. Sufficient to the purposes
of this paper is a brief abstract from the project's (IMS-S&M) final report. *
The primary goals of the Survey and Mapping (S&M) Component of the Irrigation Management
Systems Project (IMS-S&M) were the improvement of the technical capabilities within the Egyptian
Survey Authority (ESA) and the production of accurate topographic and cadastral maps. To accomplish
these goals, the project was divided into three distinct, but continuous and overlapping phases—each
with its own objective.
Phase I - Modernization of the Authority's Production Facilities and Equipment. This phase treated
largely the renovation and equipping of ESA's production plant in Giza, the setting up and outfitting of
project cadastral offices in Beheira and Isma'ilyia Governorates and a main project office at the
authority's headquarters building in Orman. Much, if not most, of the first two years of the project
were devoted to this phase. Thereafter, equipment was purchased as bottlenecks appeared in the
production processes or as new technology appeared on the market that could simplify the work process
or speed up production. By any standard of measure this phase of the project was an unqualified success.
ESA's Geodetic Department is equipped with GPS receivers and is using them to develop a new
national geodetic network. The Aerial Survey Department has used it new digital orthophoto system to
complete a 1:10,000 scale digital orthophoto series covering "Green Egypt," and its new digital
mapping system (16 photogram metric and 12 cartographic work stations, all operating on a local area
network) to produce digital planimetric and topographic maps at scales of 1:1,000, l;2,500 and
1:5,000. Cadastral survey crews are equipped with total stations, and all cadastral surveys are now being
tied to control points established with GPS receivers and located in the new national geodetic network.
Cadastral maps are produced digitally as are the "Dafters" which can be digitally linked to the cadastral
maps and document land ownership.
Phase II - Training of the Authority's Personnel. Although this phase began soon after the arrival of
the technical assistance team, intensive training for large numbers of personnel could not and did not
begin until after the acquisition of new equipment Once sufficient equipment was on hand for any one
activity, on-the-job training (O3T). began in earnest and continued virtually unabated until the departure
of the TA team members assigned to that activity. By any standard of measure, this phase of the project
was enormously successful—even though there is still much work to be done in this area. With few
exceptions, the young engineers and technicians assigned to the new equipment applied themselves
diligently and successfully to the task of learning how to operate that new equipment Unfortunately,
many of the Authority's first line managers and supervisors did not display such diligence. As a result
many have still not mastered the technology and are clearly not ready to assume the supervisory
responsibilities thrust upon them with the departure of the technical assistance team. It is his group
that suffered most from the absence of an organizational development component in IMS-S&M.
6 Mona El-Kady and Francis L. Hanigan, Preparing the Egyptian Survey Authority for the 21st Century,
Annual ASPRS/ACSM Meeting, March 1991, Washington, DC, USA.
7 Mona El-Kady and Francis L, Hanigan, Modernizing Egypt's Land Information System, URISA
Annual Meeting, August 1993, Atlanta, GA, USA.
8 M. Mosaad Ibrahim and Frances L, Hanigan, Digital Mapping for National Development in Egypt,
Annual ASPRS/ACSM Meeting, February 1995, Charlotte, NC, USA.
9 Irrigation Management Systems, Surveying and Mapping Component. Final Report, November 1995,
Cairo, Egypt.
-8-
Phase III - Production. Although much usefully production work was and is still being accomplished,
this phase of the project was not as successful as it might have been. The reasons are many and
complex as can be understood from the following representative list of obstacles to production that the
project team encountered.
Lengthy negotiations with both US AID and the Egyptian Air Force for the acquisition of aerial
photograph.
•
Extended and outdated security regulations which delayed the release of completed aerial
photography to ESA, slowed the sheet completion process by insisting on a comprehensive
security review of final negatives before printing, and, prohibited the export of GPS data to the
United States Defense Mapping Agency for more accurate processing, after more than nine months
of study and discussion with ihe Military Survey Department.
The general unavailability of vehicles and equipment for use on the project other than that which
was supplied by USAID, and the need to repair or recondition that which ESA was able to provide.
The unavailability of experienced technical staff to work on almost every phase of the project.
Few, if any, of the project activities could ever be allotted sufficient staff to accomplish all of the
production that ESA had requested.
A severe shortage of middle managers and first line supervisors with sufficient educational
background, technical experience and the time or inclination to simultaneously master the new
technology and direct the production effort.
An unnecessarily extended and frequently inconclusive process for reviewing and approving product
specifications.
A counter-productive tendency of the quality assurance staff to seek perfection in product
specifications while accepting far less than was specified during the actual quality control process.
Measured by the numerical outputs given in the original TA Contract or any of its amended versions,
the topographic mapping phase of the project was only marginally successful. However, given the lack
of experienced supervisors and managers, the difficulty of obtaining sufficient personnel to man, on
multiple shifts, all of the equipment purchased and the relatively low educational level of much of the
Authority's production staff, this phase of the project was remarkably successful.
On the other hand, the crop and soil mapping and the land ownership records production activities were
very successful. Both of these activities have continued to meet or exceeded their production schedules
even after the departure of their TA counterparts. The project cadastral offices met the majority of their
monthly production objectives during the last two years of the project, and the cadastral sector has
shown itself capable of implementing the methods and techniques introduced by the project's cadastral
surveying and mapping technical assistance staff by implementing these techniques in Assiut and
Sohag Govemorates, with minimal assistance from the technical assistance team. In the coming fiscal
year, the IMS-S&M cadastral procedures be introduced into Kafr-ash Shaykh without any technical
assistance whatsoever.
German Government Support: The German Government has been providing ESA with technical
assistance through Die Gesellschaft fur Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) since February 1989. While
the current program is only funded through December 1997, negotiations have already begun for its
extension until August 1998.
The Egyptian-German Cadastral Project (EGCP), as it is known within ESA, has as its focus the
establishment of a multipurpose cadastral system in a pilot area of 100 square kilometers in Aswan
Govemorate. Its main priorities have been the decentralization of cadastral responsibilities from the
national to the govemorate level, the development of procedures for the continuous updating of
cadastral maps and records and the introduction of innovative applications of digital surveying
technology to the Cadastral Sector. For example, field tests in May 1996 of a GPS-based cadastral
surveying system indicate that within several years, if not sooner, ESA should be able to triple or even
quadruple its annual cadastral surveying output using this application of GPS technology.
In keeping with the philosophy of the multipurpose cadaster, the EGCP has also been working with
ESA to convince potential users digital cadastral data of the value of sharing data and for the purpose of
helping ESA obtain their support for the implementation of a nationwide multipurpose cadaster. The
project has also paid significant attention to developing the organizational and managerial skills of the
cadastral staff in Aswan Governorate, to improving existing procedures for communicating with
landowners and to strengthening ESA's current procedures for work planning and reporting.
In the coming year, the project team will be looking at ways to get the private sector more deeply
involved in the cadastral surveying and mapping process and preparing a report on innovative ways to
accelerate cadastral surveying and mapping with the urban areas of Egypt. During the period of the
proposed extension, the project will be providing technical assistance in organizational development for
the purpose of helping ESA implement its Strategic Plan.
Like the IMS-S&M project, the EGCP has suffered from ESA's shortage of experienced and well
educated survey engineers and technicians. It has therefore had to mount an extensive training program
for the ESA staff assigned to the EGCP project team. The EGCP has also suffered from its relative
isolation from ESA headquarters. (The Kom Ombo District of Aswan District where the project team
is located is more than 700 kilometers from Cairo.) This relative isolation has complicated the staffing
of the project team and worked against its integration into the ESA mainstream. Hindsight suggests
that projects of this type should be located close to corporate headquarters so that their technical
achievements can be more widely observed and more quickly disseminated throughout the organization.
Finnish Government Support: The Finnish Government has been providing ESA with technical
assistance for the production of 1:50,000 and 1:250,000 scale mapping of the Eastern Desert since
1987. During this 10 year period, hundreds of 1:50,000 scale maps have been produced and published,
and scores of photogrammetric compilers and cartographic draftsmen have been trained. This project
also introduced the use of GPS survey techniques for photogrammetric control to ESA's Geodetic
Department
The Importance of Technical Assistance: Thanks to the boost provided by USAID and German
Government, the Egyptian Survey Authority is moving as quickly as it dare to get ready for
tomorrow's digital world. ESA shall soon reorganize from top to bottom so as to be able to respond to
an environment in which its customers expect maps to be delivered on a disk as well as in a map tube.
Even now, ESA is striving to change the mind set of its personnel from one focused on the technical
and aesthetic characteristics of its maps to one focused on the needs of its customers. With the help of
its organizational development consultants, ESA is seeking to change its very culture from that of an
old line, bureaucracy to that of a streamlined, cost effective production and service delivery agency.
ESA recognizes that it must increase its annual revenues substantially and reduce its government
subsidy significantly. To this end its proposed organizational structure calls for the formation of a
Marketing Department dedicated to identifying customer needs and developing new products to meet and
anticipate those needs. The Reorganization Plan also calls for a modernized map sales and distribution
activity to ensure that ESA's products are available when and where needed. Responsibility for new
cadastral mapping activities is being transferred from the national level to the Authority's offices in
each governorate. This change will provide better cadastral service to both the general public and other
government agencies closer to home.
ESA is seeking to take the leading role in the development of GIS technology within the government
sector and has called for the formation of a National GIS Council to be chaired by ESA. The Authority
is also pushing for the development of a single set of spatial data exchange standards for use by all
government agencies, and is prepared to take the lead in that effort
The long and intense strategic planning process through which ESA has passed has resulted in a solid
blueprint for modernization. That blueprint is far more complex than anyone in ESA had ever
envisioned at the outset of the process. ESA's work with its organizational development consultants is
showing the Authority just how difficult it will be to make the many changes called for in the Strategic
Plan.
Approval of ESA's request for "national" status will provide it with a new identity—The National
Authority for Surveying and Land Information, and with the financial and administrative tools needed
to bring about the many changes called for in the Strategic Plan. The transformation of ESA into a
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modern national mapping agency will take time, patience and hard work. Forty or more years of
neglect and atrophy are not easily set aside, but ESA's management team is committed to change for it
recognizes that if ES A does not modernize quickly, its very existence may be at stake.
To be successful ES A will need help in the form of technical assistance from the developed nations of
the world. The Strategic Plan identifies 26 areas where the Authority could benefit from outside
technical assistance and acknowledges that rapid modernization is not likely without outside help. The
acquisition of additional technical assistance is so essential to ESA's near term development that the
Reorganization Plan provides for the setting up of a department devoted exclusively to the seeking of
technical assistance and reporting directly to the chairman, (see Figure 1.)
The Strategic Plan, itself, suggests that complete modernization of the Authority will take 20 to 25
years—or the lime needed to raise, educate and train a new generation of Egyptian surveyors and
cartographers. ESA's senior management can see that the road to modernization will be long and
fraught with obstacles. It can also see that if the Egyptian Survey Authority is to provide the citizens
and leaders of the Egyptian nation with the data they will need to live up to the expectations of the Rio
Declaration, ESA must embark upon this road immediately and traverse it to its end—no matter how
long and how costly that journey may be.
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