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ICA Research Agenda on Cartography and GIScience

Maps and geographic information (GI) have special power through their ability to connect and integrate data sets by the inherent geographical location, and present the information contents in a user-friendly and understandable visual and tactual way. Such ability has long been recognized as an intrinsic property of the map artefact, as well as contemporary geodatabases. The power of maps and geographic data handling has been recently recognized in many real world applications and strategic decision making situations related to current topics like crisis management, early warning systems, efforts for supporting sustainability and decreasing global poverty. The international cartographic association (ICA), as a globally well represented and internationally visible organization, has a special position and role as a promoter of the development of cartography and GI science. Research and development in ICA aim in general to create theory and methods for cartography and GI handling. By applying theories and methods in various fields, new tools can be created for cartographic and GI practice. Such topics are addressed at the main work-forums of ICA, its Commissions. These organizations are formally established by vote at the quadrennial ICA General Assemblies, although interim Working Groups can also be established between General Assemblies by the ICA Executive Committee (EC) to address specific short-term issues. The idea of the ICA Research Agenda on Cartography and GI Science was initially considered at ICA Executive Committee meetings during the 1990s but the specific decision to work on a structured Research Agenda was taken at the London EC meeting in 2001, with a plan to organize a session on the issue at the International Cartographic Conference in Beijing in 2001. This session included several valuable presentations (including those from Professors Gruenreich, Meng, Mullen and Ormeling). The work plan for the Research Agenda development was made during the Mexico City EC meeting in 2005. It was realized that several ICA Commissions had overlapping research concerns while some new challenging topics were outside of any Commission’s field. A formal Research Agenda would have a significant role in informing Commission members, General Assembly Delegates and ICC attendees, of the integrated nature of research activity in Cartography and GI Science, the expanding scope of research and the role of ICA in promoting such activity. It should be realized that the content of the agenda represents a snapshot in time. Agenda like these should anyhow be considered to be living documents adapting to new technological and methodological developments over time. This paper consists of two major parts, the content of the research agenda and the current ‘implementation’ by the ICA’s Commissions and Working groups.