August 2015
This month in Rio de Janerio Australia’s own, Dr David Fraser was recognised on the international stage with the ICA awarding him the Diploma for Outstanding Services to the ICA. David has served for many years with the Commission on Education and Training, including time as Chair from 2007 to 2012. He is also the editor of the richly informative eCarto publication.
In David’s acceptance speech he spoke of the personal reward he experience by working with the ICA. He thanked the ICA Executive for their support of the commission and their enthusiasm for introducing new initiatives. One of the key projects from the Education and Training commission ‘s 4 strategy was organising seminars on cartography and cartographic education in developing nations. David was particularly proud of his involvement in workshops run in Iran, Indonesia and Vietnam, involvement that continues with workshops being organised in Tonga and Fiji for 2016.
A key point made by David was that most of the work done by the ICA is based on individuals volunteering their time, a point reiterated in the ICA President Georg Gartner’s report to the General Assembly. Organisations like, ICA and MSIA survive and proposer due to the generous acts of members, volunteering their time and energy to help others, and in our case, fellow mapping science professionals. David encouraged young cartographers to get involved, “you will make friends from many countries and be swept up by the passion that many cartographers have for working in the international level.” Whether it on the international or local level, this is a wonderful sentiment. Volunteering also provides opportunities to extend and develop your skills in areas that you may not get exposure to in the workplace and that's a great outcome for both the organisation and the individual.
Congratulations again to our national council member, Dr David Fraser on all of his achievements with the ICA and thank you also for your inspiring work done on the national and local level as well !
Trisha Moriarty
