First I am chairman of UNIGIS and one of our main areas of development
is in interoperability. We are planning new modules and a professional
development programme in interoperability in GIS. Also we are involved
in a new PHARE project with EU and east European partners in OpenGIS education
for
professionals.
In addition, I am the leader of a major Rand D programme in the UK,
the KINDS Project, which deals with data support for academics by providing
on-line access to large national data sets. For us interoperabilitiy is
major issue both in terms of delivery of the service and in terms of the
evental use of the data we support. We have undertaken major reviews of
user needs and of technology and these have important implications which
need to be aired.
Additionally, I am a member of the Technology Appliations Committee (TASC) of the Joint Information Systems Committee of the Higher Education Funding Councils in the UK. This is the main UK funding and policy body concerned with IT in education. We fund and manage over eighty projects in IT concerned at present mainly with web support of education and reseach and the development of delivery technologies. About six of these are concerned with GIS but most deal with generic issues. The committee also deals with policy and technology watch and with other issues related to support such as security and standards.
Currently I am participating in the Virtual Univeristy Conference on New Models of the Virtual University and writing and contributing to this over an extended period. The conference, which includes academics from a variety of disciplines is raising several areas of discusssion from which the workshop might benefit and I would like to bring the lessons of this conference to the meeting.
I hope that I can make a contribution to the workshop not only from the perspective of UNIGIS but also from the perspective of a member of TASC whose job is to assess developments across the academic sector and consider the policy implications of IT in higher education. In addition as an active developer of OpenGIS eduation materials and of open education as a mode of delivery I have a lot of experiecne of the problems to be discussed. As you will see from my biref CV , I have written and published in this area on many of the issues and lessons of this area of eduaction.
1997-
Application of Mathematical and Statistical Models of Complex Systems
to the Analysis of Spatial Structure of Remotely Sensed Images
1997-
Development of 3D Metaphors for accessing data over the World Wide
Web. Joint Project with the University of Manchester for the development
of a Virtual Graduate School.
1996- Effective Sustainable Use of Network Accessible Datasets.
With Universities of Manchester and Salford .
1995 -
Catchment modelling of Hydrological Parameters. North West Water
1994 -
Knowledge Based Interface for National Datasets. JISC funded project
with University of Manchester and University of Salford.
1993 -
Satellite remote sensing for catchment hydrological parameters.
1991 - 1994
Knowledge based systems for Environmental Management
1975 - present
Epistemological Aspects of Physical Geography and Philosophical and
Methodological underpinnings of science. Joint scholarship with Dr Haines-Young
of Nottingham University. Object: exploring philosophical issues
of physical geography and improving the traditions of enquiry in the discipline.
Role: researcher
Publications
A recent selection of over twenty published and non published papers related to GIS and other areas of eduaction
Heywood D.I. and Petch J. 1992 GIS Professional Development Educating the Executive: Cartographica, 23,124-135.
Petch J.R., Cornelius S., Heywood D.I., Briggs D and Reeve D.E., 1993, Postgraduate Distance Learning, in Green D., Rix D. and Cadoux-Hudson J., Geographic Information, Yearbook of the AGI, Taylor and Francis, 364-369.
Reeve D., Briggs D., Cornelius S., Heywood I. and Petch J., 1993, Distance Learning:- a viable alternative to traditional GIS courses, EGIS '93 Conference, Genoa, 843-851.
Petch J and Wilson J., 1996, Distance Learning, Technology and user needs. NCGIA Conference on Higher Education, Washington DC. April 1996.
Petch J.R., 1997 Dissemination and Project Management: Paper presented to the JISC Workshop on Dissemination, Manchester, October 1997.