Welcome to the International Cartographic Association
Welcome to the website of the International Cartographic AssociationGet to know the new ICA Executive Committee for the term 2023-2027
Welcome to the website of the International Cartographic Association
Get to know the new ICA Executive Committee for the term 2023-2027

President’s Blog: Education

Cartography is a domain including technology, art and science. In order to be able to fully deploy the capacity of cartography education in all these areas is key. It happens to be that respective university programmes, professional trainings, and job trainings are more and more changing their scopes and names, leaving the unique competence combination of cartographers, being able to deal with big data, modern technologies and artistic design, vacant.

It is of this reason, that programmes dealing with dedicated cartographic education are of growing importance. Let me highlight here two programmes, which ICA is taking significant note of.

  • The International Course on Management and Applied Techniques in Cartography (IC_Cartotechnology), run by the Institut Cartografic i Geològic de Catalunya, has the aim to provide a wide range of geoinformation professionals with a capacity-building instrument that covers the basis of advanced and up-to-date techniques, tools and critical thinking in cartography. It therefore integrates all the disciplines, approaches and techniques used to acquire and exploit geospatial data. Several ICA collegues have contributed to the first successful edition by giving lectures. The second edition starts in September 2014 and enrolment is still possible.
  • Three central european universities, the Technical University Munich, the Vienna University of Technology and the Technical University Dresden, are offering a joint Master Programme on Cartography. This is a 4-semester programme and it leads into a joint master degree of all three universities. Currently four intakes have been accepted and are in different stages of their studies. The programme is competitive, as only a restricted number of students can be accepted and has so far proven to be most successful in achieving the aim of educating experts with capacity in technologies, data handling and design skills.

Second Symposium on Service-Oriented Mapping 2014

– Update: SOMAP 2014 is merged with the LBS 2014 symposium and will take place in Vienna, Austria, from 26–28 November 2014. Please find all details on the SOMAP website: somap.cartography.at –

The International Cartographic Association (ICA) is pleased to invite you to the Second International Symposium on Service-Oriented Mapping (SOMAP) in Potsdam from 6–8 October 2014 in Vienna, Austria from 26–28 November 2014.

Logo SOMAP2014

This symposium is coorganised by four ICA Commissions:

The call for papers is ongoing and registration has started at http://somap.cartography.at

Geospatial data and services are the main building blocks for geospatial infrastructures and fundamental to service-oriented mapping and realtime applications. Geospatial infrastructures make use of different paradigms: maintaining, sharing and use (instead of collect and own). Developments in these paradigms are leading to evolutions in availability and accessibility of geospatial data and services coupled with the added value of geospatial products and applications in the modern geospatial production environment.

Geospatial trends are constantly growing and developing such as sensor networks, realtime processing, volunteered geographic information, open governmental data, in-situ geospatial processing and striking visualization techniques creating many new possibilities but also new restrictions and problems based on massiveness, heterogeneity and contextual flexibility. Challenges like handling big data, aggregate different sources, standards for a homogenuous data, and disappearing sources/content are growing.

SOMAP2014 is a venue that brings together experts from research, government, non-governmental organisations, standardization bodies and industry to present, document and discuss trends in service-based mapping, which covers delivery, processing, integration, analysis, collaboration as well as visualization of geospatial data and services.

Markus Jobst
ICA Commission on Map Production and Geobusiness

Commissions at a glance

During ICC 2013 all commission chairs presented their commissions in a speed presentation. You can check out the presentation slides below (or via our ICC 2013 sub-page).

President’s Blog: ICC 2013 is only some weeks away!

logo_icc2013All of us in the north hemisphere are eventually enjoying the summer, holidays or working under summer conditions. If you are situated in the southern hemisphere this might be just the other way around, you are facing the winter.

However, for all of us our gathering at the International Cartographic Conference 2013 end of August in Dresden, Germany is only some weeks away.

I am excited by the fact, that we will have the chance to listen to the newest developments of modern cartography, appreciate the latest scientific results, learn to know about new methods and applications. I am looking forward to admire the newest maps being submitted from countries all over the world being displayed at the International Map Exhibition. I am eagerly waiting to see the maps being drawn by children all over the world at the Barbara Petchenik Children Maps Competition. I am especially looking forward to simply meet you, to discuss with you and to feel comfortable in the big family of cartography and ICA!

Dresden is only some weeks away. I see you there!

Finalist entries to the Barbara Petchenik Competition 2013

Peter and René van der Krogt photographing the finalist entries

Peter van der Krogt and his brother René photographing the finalist entries.

Entries to the Barbara Petchenik Competition 2013, which were selected for the international level of the competition, can now be accessed here: http://www.explokart.eu/petchenik/ Many thanks to Peter and René van der Krogt for digitizing 155 submissions from 30 countries!

The finalist entries will be on display at the ICC in Dresden, where the winners of the international competition will be selected.

The ICA congratulates all winners on the national level!

Update:

 

Programme of joint symposium “Sharing Knowledge”

Pre-Conference Symposium to ICC2013
23 August 2013 @ the Dresden University of Technology, Germany

The ICA Commissions on Cartography and Children, Education and Training, Maps and Graphics for Blind and Partially Sighted People and Planetary Cartography have the pleasure to invite you to a one day joint symposium on August 23.

The aim of the symposium – as expressed by the title – is to give an opportunity to the members of the four commissions (and participants in general) to share and learn about the research in the topics covered by the commissions during the last years. This will be a one-day programme divided into four sessions, each of them dedicated to one of the participating commissions.

Please find the final programme on the symposium website: http://lazarus.elte.hu/jointsymposium2013/

If you have any question in relation to the event, please contact José Jesús Reyes Nunez.

[ More pre-conference events and activities can be found at https://icaci.org/icc2013/ ]

Invitation to ICC Workshop “Mapping in a Digital World”

Pre-Conference Workshop to ICC2013
24 August 2013 in Dresden, Germany

Organized by the ICA Commissions on Map Design and Neocartography, this one-day workshop will explore practical themes relating to the design of effective online maps and information products; focusing on realtime, interactivity and design not only of the map but of the user interface and experience to support cartography.

Morning presentations by a range of acknowledged experts in the field will seek to provide an overview of the state-of-the-art as well as touch on some of the challenges we face. Participants are encouraged to contribute to the workshop in two ways; either through offering a 15 minute paper on their own work in this area; or through a lightning talk. We may also do some lightning talks on the day so please come prepared to contribute to the workshop! Finally, we will share ideas and seek to develop common threads to take work in this area forward as part of a panel discussion.

Call for papers

Short papers: We invite short papers (15 mins with 5mins for questions) on aspects of design as it relates to web mapping for inclusion.  Specifically of interest are conceptual and practical contributions exploring the design of maps in web and mobile environments, aesthetics, geovisualization, art in (and of) cartography and assessments of new and innovative methods.  We are particularly interested in the challenges facing cartography in web and mobile environments and how it responds by re-imagining traditional practice in new technological paradigms.

Lightning talks: We also invite 5 minute lightning talks that share an idea, open a debate or deal with a very specific issue. These aren’t the place for long expositions and discussions of detailed research…simple ideas, eloquently expressed and fast!

To submit a paper or lighting talk idea please email Kenneth Field no later than 30th June 2013.

Confirmed speakers for the morning sessions

  • Kenneth Field (Esri)
  • Steve Chilton (Middlesex University)
  • Gary Gale (Nokia)
  • Andrew Turner (GeoIQ & Esri)
  • Damien Demaj (Esri)
  • Alexander Kent (University of Canterbury)
  • Bernhard Jenny (Oregon State University)
  • more to be announced…

ICC2013 participants may register for the workshop (which is FREE to attend) at http://www.icc2013.org/?node=46

Details on the workshop will also appear on the websites of the ICA Commission on Map Design and the
ICA Commission on Neocartography.

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