Press Release from Grimaldi Forum
Monaco - Under the patronage of H.S.H. the Sovereign Prince Albert II, representatives from public bodies, educational groups, professional associations and private businesses signed a code of ethics governing the use of three-dimensional images and data. They all pledged to use only good-quality, recent, reliable, official information in any territorial representations produced by public authorities. The signing ceremony brought together a number of partners, founder members of the Ethics Charter, and new groups who chose to commit to it (see list on page two).
The ceremony took place at the opening of the imagina conference at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco, an international three-day event for the 3D virtual imaging industry.
Why is a 3D Ethics Charter needed?
The ability to represent an area in three dimensions is a supremely valuable technical and analytical tool enabling information to be understood and communicated easily. It serves to strengthen any public policy with a link to a given area, a local environment or territory and infrastructure management. This technological innovation allows public bodies to make projects more readily comprehensible through a higher level of dialogue between the public and elected officials, notably helping to avoid legal proceedings. It also allows decision-making across different projects to be improved.
Users from institutional groups need reliable data that is sufficiently precise to be convincingly used in 3D territory imaging that 'mirrors' reality as closely as possible, without any bias. However, there may be a great temptation to want to present reality in a 'too good to be true' manner in order to make a project seem more appealing or to prevent the appearance of certain problems connected to the way in which an area is laid out, or alleviate the presence of drawbacks that could jeopardise the project itself.
A framework is now in place for any individual or group to sign a good faith contract - the 3D Ethics Charter - that currently stands as a reference point and common denominator for anyone using 3D in territorial representations.
The 3D Ethics Charter covers public authorities, research groups and professional and private associations (businesses and individuals). The charter can be signed by anyone who wishes to produce and use 3D images that conform to it - new signatories would notably rank alongside representatives from Switzerland, France, Quebec and the Principality of Monaco.
SIGNATORIES OF THE ETHICS CHARTER:
The following signed the 3D Ethics Charter in Monaco on 4th February 2010, under the patronage of H.S.H. the Sovereign Prince Albert II: The Principality of Monaco, the Republic and Canton of Geneva, the Commune of Melun, the French National Geographic Institute (l'Institut géographique national), the French National Geographic School (l'Ecole nationale des sciences géographiques), swisstopo, the Federal Geo-information centre, the Lyon Public Agency for Urban Planning (l'Agence d'urbanisme pour le développement de l'agglomération lyonnaise), the Swiss Society of Engineers and Architects - Geneva branch (la Société des ingénieurs et architectes - Genève), the Association of Surveyors - Geneva (l'Association des géomètres et géomaticiens genevois), the Quebec Order of Surveyors (l'Ordre des arpenteurs géomètres du Québec), SPSPEM - City of Montreal, Géo-Vision Avenir, Halbout Consultants, IGO, The City of Paris Engineering School (l'Ecole d'Ingénieurs de la Ville de Paris), the French Association of Public Park Directors (l'Association française des Directeurs de Jardins et d'Espaces verts publics), the French Landscape Federation (la Fédération française du paysage) and the French National Union of Landscape Professionals (l'Union nationale des entrepreneurs du paysage).