7th International Conference on Global Spatial Data Infrastructure

Bangalore, India, 2-6 February 2004


President Ian Masser, GSDI, Preetha Pulusani, Intergraph, Jack Dangermond, ESRI and Mark Reichardt, OGC at the opening session of GSDI-7.

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Opening Plenary.

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Jack Dangermond, President of ESRI.

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Preetha Pulusani, President of Intergraph Mapping and Geospatial Solutions.

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Dr Ian Masser, Past President of GSDI and Dr. Mukund Rao, new President of GSDI.

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Prof. Fraser Taylor, President of ISCGM and Dr. Hiromichi Maruyama, Secretary General of ISCGM.

The 7th International Conference on Global Spatial Data Infrastructure (GSDI-7) “SDI for Sustainable Future” was held in Bangalore, India February 2-6, 2004. In conjunction to GSDI-7 also the 11th Meeting of the International Steering Committee of Global Mapping took place February 7, 2004. Further the Permanent Committee on GIS Infrastructure for Asia and the Pacific (PCGIAP) had its 10th Annual Meeting in Bangalore. In the GSDI programme there were also two days reserved for pre-conference tutorials. Finally some participants visited Map India 2004 in New Delhi on their way to Bangalore, so the sample of events offered an excellent opportunity for overseas visitors to learn about the progress in SDI business in India during the last years. GSDI-7 was organized by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India and it was co-hosted by the Survey of India.

For GSDI the meetings in Bangalore were the first administrative meetings after GSDI was formally established and registered in USA in 2003. At the moment GSDI has more than 35 institutional members, in addition it has individual members and sustaining members. The new Board of GSDI consists of 19 members representing different regions and actors within GSDI. The new president following Dr. Ian Masser is Dr. Mukund Rao from India, who will be the president until the next GSDI conference in 2005. The President-Elect is Harlan Onsrud from USA. GSDI is also considering moving its permanent secretariat from the United States to Bangalore, India.

Markku Villikka, Director, FIG office attended the Board Meeting of GSDI and the Board Meeting of the ISCGM. The main purpose of his visit was to get familiar with the arrangements of the GSDI conferences and to discuss future co-operation with international associations within the SDI. The actual reason for the visit was to agree on the arrangements for the joint FIG Working Week and GSDI-8 that will be held in Cairo, Egypt April 16-21, 2005. The GSDI conference confirmed that the next GSDI would be held together with FIG. This will also be the first time for FIG to organise its Annual Conference together with another international organization. ISCGM is also considering having its annual meeting in Cairo.

At the GSDI-7 there were totally 375 delegates from almost 40 countries, which is an all time record – number of international delegates exceeded 150. The commercial exhibition was larger than at the FIG working weeks. Platinum sponsors of the conference were Intergraph, ESRI and Space Image. In the technical programme there were, in addition to the opening session, 8 plenary sessions and panels and 9 parallel sessions. Further an exhibition for posters was organised. Totally more than 120 papers are included in the proceedings. The main themes included: international SDI initiatives, national SDI programmes, SDI for sustainable future, societal relevance of SDI, economic, financial and legal issues of SDI, education and curricula and images, GIS and GPS.

At the opening plenary session keynote presentations were given by Jack Dangermond, President of ESRI, Preetha Pulusani, President of Intergraph Mapping and Geospatial Solutions (she originally comes from Bangalore) and Mark Reichardt, Open GIS Consortium.

More about the GSDI-7: http://www.gsdi7.org.in/ 

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Exhibition at the GSDI-7 attracted both international and national visitors and companies.

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Board Meeting of GSDI in which the programme for GSDI-8 in Cairo was discussed.

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Dr. Mukund Rao, President of GSDI and Dr Alan Stevens, Secretary General of GSDI after the successful event.

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