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

First Australian Open Source Geospatial Laboratory to Support Smarter Cities will be built at the University of Melbourne

The University of Melbourne will be home to Australia’s first Open Source Geospatial Laboratory. The laboratory will support urban research and educational excellence through the use of location based (geospatial) data and tools.

The Laboratory will undertake research and provide training resources which utilises digital data and analytical and visualisation tools to up-skill a myriad of disciplines in evidenced based decision-making practices. Training will be delivered both into existing University curriculum and through a series of workshops and short-courses.

The laboratory is expected to attract considerable interest from urban geographers, spatial scientists, planners and policy-makers who are keen to contribute to and learn about the latest available data driven techniques to support evidenced based decision-making. The laboratory will utilise the Australian Urban Research Infrastructure Network (AURIN). AURIN is a $20 million open source e-infrastructure initiative which is unlocking datasets of relevance to Australia’s cities and providing an analytical toolkit to inform sustainable urban futures.

The software used to support activities of the laboratory is open source, meaning the source code can be modified and re-distributed royalty and fee free. This open source geospatial laboratory is a joint initiative of the International Cartographic Association (ICA) and the Open Source Geospatial Foundation (OSGeo).

The laboratory will see scientists and practitioners from the International Cartographic Association (ICA) and the Open Source Geospatial Foundation (OSGeo) collaborate closely with University colleagues. This Australian facility will be part of a global network of open geospatial research labs known as ICA-OSGeo labs. Currently there are 22 ICA-OSGeo labs operating globally.

Dr Christopher Pettit, Associate Professor at the University of Melbourne, Victorian Chair of the Surveying and Spatial Sciences Institute (SSSI) and Strategic Implementation Coordinator of AURIN will lead the initiative.

“The University of Melbourne is one of the top research universities in the world and has been a pioneer in Australian geospatial science research,” said Professor Tom Kvan, Dean of the Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning. “We are delighted to collaborate with the ICA and OSGeo to create this opportunity for our students and researchers, which will encourage open geospatial teaching and related research in other universities.”

The facility will open in September 2013.

Further Information

Dr Christopher Pettit
The University of Melbourne
Email: cpettit@unimelb.edu.au
Phone: +61 422 301 832

Dr Suchith Anand
University of Nottingham
Phone: +44 (0)115 84 32750
Email: suchith.anand@nottingham.ac.uk

OSGeo is a not-for-profit organisation founded in 2006 whose mission is to support and promote the collaborative development of open source geospatial technologies and data.

ICA is the world authoritative body for cartography, the discipline dealing with the conception, production, dissemination and study of maps.

Introducing the ICA-OSGeo Lab Network

After discussing with our lab members, I am pleased to inform that we now have the official name and also a short acronym for our network of Open Source geospatial laboratories: ICA-OSGeo Lab Network is the official title of the network and OSGL as the acronym to be used for the url, domain name, etc.

The official full title highlights and brings together two communities – the ICA and the OSGeo (Open Source Geospatial Foundation) – in our common aim to support the establishment of Open Source Geospatial Laboratories and Research Centers across the world for supporting development of open-source geospatial software technologies, training and expertise. We started establishing the network of labs globally with the ICA-OSGeo MoU initiative.

Individual labs (those already established and those in future) are free to select the names they wish. For example, the lab at UNMC is called Open-source Geospatial Research Lab, at NCSU it is OSGeo Research and Education Laboratory (OSGeoREL), it is Open Source Geospatial Lab in Newcastle University, etc. That will also give individual nodes the flexibility to select the name for their lab that they want under a joint lab network umbrella.

We are also working to create a dedicated website and mailing list. In the meantime, visit the OSGeo page on education intiatives for details.

We would like to thank the whole OSGeo and ICA community for the strong support and helping spreading the message of our education initiative.

Best wishes,
Dr Suchith Anand

CfP: LBS 2012 in Munich

We would like to inform you about the 9th International Symposium on Location-Based Services, which will take place in Munich, Germany, from October 16 to 18, 2012.
Given the fact, that a number of activities and industries in the domain of GNSS, LBS and geoinformation management are situated in and around Munich, this promises to be an excellent venue.

The call for paper is currently open, please consider the deadline of April 15, 2012.
Publication in either the Journal on LBS and/or a book within the series Lecture Notes on Geoinformation and Cartography is anticipated.

Detailed information can be found at http://www.lbs2012.tum.de.

ICA and OSGeo sign a Memorandum of Understanding

Nuremberg, Germany
September 27, 2011

Memorandum of Understanding between ICA and OSGeo

Professor Georg Gartner (left), President of ICA and Arnulf Christl, President of OSGeo shake hands after signing the Memorandum of Understanding between the two organizations

The Open Source Geospatial Foundation (OSGeo) and the International Cartographic Association (ICA) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the aim of developing on a global basis collaboration opportunities for academia, industry and government organizations in open source GIS software and data. The MoU aims to provide expertise and support for the establishment of Open Source Geospatial Laboratories and Research Centres across the world for supporting development of open-source geospatial software technologies, training and expertise. In the first phase five laboratories will be established, one each in Asia, Europe, Africa, the Americas and Australasia which will act as nodes for future expansion. It also aims to provide support for building-up and supporting development of open source GIS teaching and training materials, joint organization of open source GIS events, workshops through the ICA network for wider participation globally etc.

Professor Georg Gartner, President of the ICA, said “The International Cartographic Association (ICA) is committed to supporting society and governments by collaboratively facilitating initiatives and programmes that establish and grow the capacity to deliver timely, comprehensive and useful geospatial information. This MoU responds to the challenges and issues related to the use of open source cartographic and GI software and data. In considering this response, it is pertinent to note that ICA is interested in contributing to this initiative, and will champion the advancement of the initiative through their various individual and collaborative efforts.”

Arnulf Christl, President of OSGeo, said “The Open Source Geospatial Foundation (OSGeo) is committed to support and build the highest level Open Source geospatial technology. It is our pleasure to be able to serve as a platform and multiplier for the cartographic domain, an area which needs creativity beyond pure technology. This MoU intends to bridge the gap between technology and cartographic requirements and we very much look forward to work with members of the International Cartographic Association to improve this. A very much hands-on objective of this MoU is to jointly organize walk-in events where cartographic professionals can access and use a set of software unencumbered by proprietary restrictions and vendor lock-in.Both organizations are also interested in supporting young academics by lowering the barrier to good cartography through collaborative efforts on both sides.”

Dr Suchith Anand, Chair of ICA Commission on Open Source Geospatial Technologies welcomed this excellent initiative and said “this will be landmark opportunity for both OSGeo and ICA in building up synergies and bringing opportunities for lots of people worldwide to learn and benefit from geospatial technologies especially in developing countries. This will build upon the Open Source Geospatial Lab UK initiative started at the University of Nottingham. We are also pleased to announce that Open Source Geospatial Lab Malaysia is now being established by Dr. Tuong Thuy Vu. We are pleased to see many Universities are rapidly following this example (such as University of Girona in Spain). Over the next few months we will be building collaborations with key Universities and research organisations worldwide for the establishment of Open Source Geospatial Research Laboratories and Research Centres for development of open-source geospatial software technologies, training, expertise and building up momentum in Open Source GIS education and research worldwide.”

OSGeo is a not-for-profit organization founded in 2006 whose mission is to support and promote the collaborative development of open source geospatial technologies and data.

ICA is the world authoritative body for cartography, the discipline dealing with the conception, production, dissemination and study of maps.

See details about the ICA/OSGeo memorandum of understanding or see a list of all ICA MOUs.

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