[IGSMAIL-5235]: AFREF - Call for Participation Available!

["Ruth E. Neilan" <ruth.neilan @ jpl.nasa.gov>]

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IGS Electronic Mail      20 Oct 20:13:15 PDT 2005      Message Number 5235
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Author: Ruth Neilan on behalf of Dozie Ezigbalike  & the AFREF 
Steering Committee

The Committee on Development Information (CODI) of the United Nations 
Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) supports AFREF as the unified 
geodetic reference frame for Africa and as the fundamental basis for 
the national and regional 3D reference networks fully consistent and 
homogeneous with the International Terrestrial Reference Frame (ITRF) 
Standards.


Dear colleagues,

The Call for Participation in the Unification of African Reference Frames -
'Project AFREF' - is available at this website:
	http://geoinfo.uneca.org/afref/
The text of the cover letter is included below.

AFREF is endorsed by the International Association of Geodesy (IAG), 
and its key services, the UN Office of Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA), 
and the International Federation of  Surveyors (FIG). The IAG letter 
of endorsement is also attached to this message. The project will be 
run primarily under the auspices of the Committee for Development 
Information - Geo- Information, (CODI-GEO) of the United Nations 
Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA).

All interested organizations are encouraged to respond to this Call 
for Participation (CFP) as this is indeed an important project that 
has been discussed and the subject of a number of organizational 
meetings within the geodetic community for the past few years.   For 
AFREF to succeed, organizations, agencies, partners - private, public 
and commercial - need to consider what they can contribute and pledge 
support as outlined in this CFP.

Note that the initial time for expression of interest is October 21, 
however are welcome at anytime. The AFREF Steering Committee plans to 
meet the week of Nov 1, if any responses could be prepared by October 
28, I suggest to send a message as requested in the CFP to Dr. Dozie 
Ezigbalike:
	ezigbalike.uneca @ un.org
with a copy to:
	afref_sc @ igscb.jpl.nasa.gov
   === Please place "AFREF CFP" in the message Subject! ===
This secondary email is established in the interim to support the 
Steering Committee planning. As the project evolves, both this and 
AFREFMail will be relocated to a center within Africa.
	http://igscb.jpl.nasa.gov/mail/afref/afref.html

Congratulations are due the Steering Committee for the coordinated 
and concerted effort to prepare this CFP.  Best wishes for success!

kind regards - Ruth


> AFREF: Call for Participation
> Dear Colleague,
>
>
> This call for participation is in support of the establishment of an 
> African Geodetic Reference Frame (AFREF). AFREF is important for the 
> sustainable development of Africa because it will provide a common 
> reference system for mapping and production of geographic 
> information on the continent.
>
> Participation is open to national mapping organizations, government 
> agencies, education and research institutions and other 
> organizations whose financial and technical resources allow support 
> for AFREF activities. The enclosed documents provide information on 
> AFREF, outlining the roles, responsibilities and functional areas in 
> which participation is sought. Participants may take part in any of 
> aspects of AFREF activities for which they have the capacity to 
> undertake.
>
> Organizations interested in participating in AFREF activities should 
> submit a letter of intent to the undersigned by 21st October 2005 
> expressing their interests. Details of the standards and other 
> protocols to be followed will be communicated to all organizations 
> who respond to this call.
>
> We are aware of already existing and operating permanent GPS 
> stations, data holding and analysis centres in Africa. For this 
> reason, participants already undertaking these activities are highly 
> encouraged to respond to this call.
>
> I look forward to hearing from you soon.
>
> Yours Faithfully,
> Dozie Ezigbalike
> Team Leader, DISD/Geoinformation
> P.O. Box 3001, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
> Tel: (251-1) 44 45 69
> Fax: (251-1) 51 05 12
> Email: ezigbalike.uneca @ un.org





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