International Cartographic Association

The International Cartographic Association (ICA) is the prime international body for Cartography and Geographic Information (see www.icaci.org for more information). The mission of the Association is to promote the discipline and profession of Cartography and Geographic Information in an international context. Its core activity to progress the professional, academic and scientific status of all working in the geospatial professions.

Commissions and Working Groups carry out the general operations of the ICA. There are twenty-two Commissions and Working Groups. These are listed below, with associated URL to the Commission Web site:

• Commission on Cartography and Children (http://lazarus.elte.hu/ccc/ccc.htm)
• Commission on Education and Training (http://lazarus.elte.hu/cet/)
• Commission on Gender and Cartography (http://www.geo.ar.wroc.pl/GC/)
• Commission on Generalisation and Multiple Representation (http://ica.ign.fr/)
• Commission on the History of Cartography (http://www.stub.unibe.ch/ica-chc/)
• Commission on Incremental Updating and Versioning (http://geo.haifa.ac.il/%7eicaupdt/)
• Commission on Management and Economics of Map Production (http://www.geocities.com/icacmp/)
• Commission on Mapping from Satellite Imagery (http://sfbay.wr.usgs.gov/%7egaydos/ica/ica_sat.html)
• Commission on Map Projections (new commission – no web site yet)
• Commission on Maps and Graphics for the Blind and the Partially Sighted (http://www.surrey.ac.uk/~pss1su/intact/)
• Commission on Maps and the Internet (http://maps.unomaha.edu/ica/)
• Commission on Marine Cartography (http://www.abdn.ac.uk/geospatial/ica/)
• Commission on Mountain Cartography (http://www.mountaincartography.org/)
• Commission on National and Regional Atlases (http://kartoweb.itc.nl/cnra/index.html)
• Commission on Planetary Cartography (http://www.nasm.edu/ceps/ica/)
• Commission on Spatial Data Standards (http://ncl.sbs.ohio-state.edu/ica/)
• Commission on Theoretical Cartography (http://rcswww.urz.tu-dresden.de/%7ewolodt/tc-com/)
• Commission on Ubiquitous Mapping (http://ubimap.net/)
• Commission on Visualization and Virtual Environments (http://www.geovista.psu.edu/sites/icavis/)
• Working Group on Mapping Africa for Africa (new working group – no web site yet)
• Working Group on the History of Colonial Cartography in the 19th and early 20th Centuries (new working group – no web site yet)
• Working Group on Spatial Data Uncertainty and Map Quality (new working group – no web site yet)

Regional input into the activities is encouraged. If readers are interested in becoming involved in ICA Commission / Working Group activities the way to do this is to contact the Commission / Working Group chair directly.

The last conference of the ICA took place in A Coruña, Spain, 9 – 16 July 2005. See www.icc2005.org/html-eng/english.html for more information. The next international conference will be in Moscow in 2007.

Comments

[Steve Chilton]

In the UK there is the Society of Cartographers, whose aim is "to support the practising cartographer and encourage and maintain a high standard of cartographic illustration by providing information and opportunities to meet and exchange views and techniques with fellow practising cartographers".
The SoC Summer School takes place 5-8 Sept at Cambridge University. For details see: http://www.mdx.ac.uk/www/gem/soc2005/