International Programs

Middle East Initiatives. The Center has worked to develop increasingly close ties with a range of international partners over the past several years. This includes work in Europe, Australia, South America, Japan and other areas. We have developed particularly close ties with a number of entities in the Middle East as a result of Fulbright College's focus on this region and the efforts of the Middle Eastern Studies Program. CAST’s Middle Eastern Initative (MEST) webpage can be found at www.cast.uark.edu.edu/local/mest.

EDNET2K. A high-tech collaboration among CAST and two of the nation’s largest producers of computer software and hardware will extend the reach of the University of Arkansas by enabling faculty and students to communicate much more easily with colleagues around the world. Oracle Corporation has donated operating systems worth $580,335 and Sun Microsystems has given a four-processor server worth $237,930 to the University of Arkansas. With these resources, CAST will identify campuses in the Middle East that will become Strategic Centers in partnership with the University of Arkansas. This network will allow CAST to create an infrastructure based on the transfer of technology and research to partner campuses. Other components of EDNET2K include faculty-student exchange, professional development, technology transfer and faculty research projects that are both collaborative and multidisciplinary.

This EDNET Education Network webpage can be accessed via CAST’s webpage at www.cast.uark.edu.

King Faisal University Officials Visit CAST. In June, CAST hosted the proposal development team from King Faisal University of Hofuf, Saudia Arabia, to begin work on the proposed multi-year research project. The project will focus on the development of a water resource decision support system for the Al-Hasa oasis located in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. Brian Culpepper traveled with the group to Stuttgart, Arkansas, to visit the University of Arkansas Rice Experiment Station and to tour several farming operations within the Arkansas Delta. Several other regional sites were visited including Blanchard Springs Caverns and Beaver Lake Watershed.

Dr. Yahya Nabulsi

King Faisal University's proposal development team visited CAST in June.

Fall 1999 Visit to King Faisal University. In October of 1999, Jim Farley traveled to Hofuf, Saudi Arabia, to evaluate and revise the workplan between the University of Arkansas and King Faisal University (KFU). Farley participated in discussions with KFU President Gindan, Vice President Hareky and Abdullah Saeedi to finalize the workplan for a collaborative project between KFU and the University of Arkansas. The project will identify best-practice management regime for failing aquifer underlying the Al-Hassa oasis resulting in a proposal to either King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology or the Islamic Bank to fund additional research. Additional discussion participants included President Gindan, Vice President Al-Hareky and Deans from Agriculture and Computing Services.

Spring 2000 Visit to King Faisal University. Brian Culpepper of CAST traveled to Hofuf, Saudi Arabia in the Spring of 2000 with Dr. Ralph Davis of the University of Arkansas, Department of Geosciences, to begin the development of a research proposal between the University of Arkansas and King Faisal University. The proposed multi-year research project will focus upon the development of a Water Resource Decision Support System for the Al-Hasa oasis located in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia.

Other International Events. CAST’s Technical Director Jim Farley travels and participates in workshops, gives talks, and meets with officials from all over the world to further various international programs. Sample events from this year’s itinerary follow.

• In August, the Open GIS Technical committee meetings and the OGC Management Committee meeting were held. Farley co-chaired the Disaster Management SIG where invited speakers included David Ovadia, Director of Business Development British Geologic Survey, Cambridge Positioning Systems, Aide for Aide, and Elaine Padovani of USGS. Meetings were hosted by the British Ordinance Survey in Southampton, United Kingdom.

• In November, meetings were held with representatives from the Pacific Disaster Center to discuss possible collaboration. He also met with Gerald Hane, Associate Director of Policy at the White House office of Science and Technology Policy to discuss policy issues related to GDIN and the use of geospatial technology. Meetings were also held with University Consortium members at George Washington University to schedule and define a one-day workshop to be offered at the Annual GDIN meetings in Ankara, Turkey.

• OpenGIS Technical Committee meetings and the OGC Management Committee meeting in Vancouver BC, Canada, in February. Farley co-chaired the Disaster Management SIG.

• Presentations were made in February to American University of Cairo, MISR University for Science and Technology, 6 October University, and MISR International University detailing EDNET2K and the University of Arkansas-King Fahd Program’s interest in developing close collaborations with universities in Egypt.

• A series of presentations were made in February and March at American University of Beirut (AUB) and Lebanese American University (LAU) to senior administrators and senior academics. Meetings were held with Provost Peter Heath and with the campus Environmental Science committee at AUB. Meetings with the Vice President for Academic Affairs for LAU led to an agreement in principle to pursue EDNET2K relations. Follow-on discussions and a program for continued discussion leading to the development of formal relations were also held. Both AUB and LAU indicated a strong interest in developing some level of formal relationship.

• In April, very preliminary discussions were held with the Vice Rector and several Deans at one of Turkey's foremost Universities, Bogzazci University of Istanbul.

• OGC Technical committee meeting were held in June in Munich, Germany, and chaired the Disaster Management and Public Safety SIG. Invited speakers included representatives from USGS, DFNK, and Anglia Polytechnic University School of Health Care Practice. Meetings included Web Mapping Working groups, semantics SIG, and position dependent mobile systems SIG.

• OpenGIS Technical committee meetings and the OGC Management Committee meetings were held in April in Redlands, California. Farley co-chaired the Disaster Management SIG. Invited speakers included Frank Lochter (DNFK), John Rowley (Geobase), USGS Emergency response specialists and representatives of the Earthquake Response Center.