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Proceedings of the 18
th
International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, Paris 2013
b) See the location of all upcoming geotechnical engineering
events;
c) See the location of all case histories published in the ISSMGE
International Journal of Geoengineering Case Histories;
d) See the location of recent geotechnical news, as announced by
the Geoengineer.org news center.
A print screen of GeoMap is shown in Fig. 5.
Figure. 5: Print screen of GeoMap showing all members, news, events and case histories.
In addition, in July 2013, forums were developed in GW. The
forums facilitate the exchange of technical discussions. Members can
ask technical questions and receive responses from other members of
GeoWorld. This feature was one of the requests of the SYMPG that is
now supported by GeoWorld.
The IT opportunities created by GeoWorld are endless. Currently
GeoWorld is being expanded to include a job opportunities section.
Additional IT tools can be created and incorporated to GeoWorld to
make a valuable contribution to the Profession.
4.6
Task 6: Integrate ISSMGE – International Journal of
Geoengineering Case Histories
The IDC was charged with supporting the International Journal of
Geoengineering Case Histories (terms of reference f). To that end, the
IDC initiated efforts to interwove the journal with the ISSMGE
activities. The journal has now a presence on the ISSMGE website and
the ISSMGE Bulletin. Also, the IDC contacted each TC and requested
to identify a representative who will operate as the tie between the
journal and the TC and will support the journal. The "TC appointed
representative" may help also support special issues on case histories
related to the interests of the TCs. Currently about half of the Technical
Committees have appointed representatives, although this list will need
to be updated and expanded. These efforts need to be continued and
expanded.
5
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FUTURE WORK
The work by the IDC is anything but complete. With continuous
technological advances, IDC has to play a key role in pushing-forward a
technologically forward-looking agenda for the International Society.
An example list of initiatives that the IDC can take is provided below:
The Electronic Lexicon can and should be upgraded.
Additional terms need to be added and more language
translations can be incorporated. In addition, at this stage, the
IDC did not focus on incorporating the translations of the
various symbols and notation, that was included in the 1981
Lexicon. These can be incorporated also. The Electronic
Lexicon can play a key role in establishing official translations
of technical terms among various languages and, in that
manner, support international collaborations in geotechnical
engineering.
GeoWorld can be expanded with even more members and
incorporate new features. Needs of the professional related to
networking and online collaborations can be supported by this
platform.
A new ISSMGE website may be designed. As discussed
earlier, per the ISSMGE Board’s instruction, the focus of the
IDC was on improving the capabilities of the ISSMGE website
without significantly affecting the ISSMGE website layout and
design. As more content is continuously being added on the
ISSMGE website, a re-design of the ISSMGE website may be
warranted. Geoengineer.org staff will be available to assist in
such re-design.
Volume 6 - Page 289