WPG S.A. Strategy
    It is difficult to explicitly foresee how the development of the Polish geodesy will be continued in the 21st century. Taking into account the world and national trends it may be assumed that the technological development of WPG S.A. will take place in the following directions:
  1. A new type of engineering constructions, utilised with increased frequency by the Polish building industry will require utilisation of more complicated and sophisticated surveying equipment, as well as more sophisticated, technical methods of services with consideration of theory and practice of the law of errors. It may be also assumed that the professions of surveyors and civil engineers will become interdiscplinary in the near future. The emerging market of construction of transportation routes and systems and, in particular, modern designing methods force works in 3-dimensional space, both, at the map making level and during field works.
  2. There is no doubt that technology of creation of digital base map system for Warsaw will be initialised. A question, whether it concerns the existing map in its present form and shape. Three independent scenarios are possible:
    1. Due to the common use of CAD systems for engineering works, utilisation of such systems will not require to create a large-scale, object map; as a result, each contracting unit will individually finance the map updating and creation of a digital map for design purposes, including 2D and 3D maps.
    2. The demand for fast development of a GIS-type, strategic city information system for general and detailed applications, will force the creation of a digital object map system in the form of an operational map, which will correspond to the large-scale interval 1:1000 or 1:2000, based on an orthophotomap. Besides cadastral information covering data on values of lands and buildings, that map will also contain data resulting from the technical facilities cadastre or from local spatial management plans. All geometric information will be related to descriptive data bases.
    3. An information system will be created, which will consist of individual or integrated data files concerning the city technical infrastructure, focused mainly on network management systems (finally this may be a system of the digital documentation approval centre; this was presented 10 years ago by WPG S.A.)
      Independently from a solution, which will result from the practical life, each of the above scenarios must be based on highly developed, data base information systems and the appropriately defined objects will be the basic elements in huge files, administered by geographical information systems.
  3. The same assumptions will concern particular mapping, GIS or topographic solutions. It is already well known that the Topographic Data Base, based on a digital terrain model, orthophotomaps and the systematic division of field objects defines the basic, national data base on GIS type objects; this Data Base will require new symbology only in selected cases.
  4. Thus, the process of permanent improvement and implementation of GIS type systems will be continued. However, the most important will be the systems abilities to describe the reality (and not the virtual world yet!) – mainly to the limited content of basic data.
  5. Involvement of the European Union members to the common geoinformation and environmental policy, at a country level, is an extremely important aspect of strategic development, continued by the EU. Thus, one of the most active works, performed in those areas, which determine the future for – among others – commercial companies, are related to the standardisation issues.

    The INSPIRE Directive and activities performed by the Surveyor General of Poland in the field of its implementation in Poland, including development of geoportal, the metadata catalogue, web services, development of standards in technical guidelines and instructions are the most important challenges for surveyor practitioners for the coming future, also for WPG S.A.