With stakeholders that include the Palestinian National Authority, the Roman Catholic Church, the Greek Orthodox Church, and the Armenian Apostolic Authorities, it’s hard to overestimate the religious and political importance of the International Project for Survey, Study, Assessment, and Conservation Plan for Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. Metadata? How about 20 centuries’ worth?

Yet Sorin Busuioc, president of Quebec-based SCDS, the firm that provided the laser scanning and 3-D modeling of the church said to rest over the birth place of Jesus Christ, says the job went very smoothly, with no difficulty getting permissions.

“All clergies were very responsive and supportive,” he says, speaking from his offices in Saint-Laurent, Quebec, Canada.

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