ICA Working Group on Cartography on Early Warning
 and Crisis Management Workshop

The International Cartographic Association includes a number of commissions and working groups, one of which is the ICA Working Group on Cartography on Early Warning and Crisis Management. This working group is chaired by Milan Konecný of Masaryk University, Czech Republic, past-president of ICA. The priorities of this commission primarily focus on the development of ontologisation and standardization of early warning for risk and vulnerability mapping and cartographic modeling, and on various analysis techniques for early warning and crisis management. In conjunction with AutoCarto 2008, the commission will hold a four-hour workshop 10 September 2008 broadly covering the following topics:

• The state of cartographic modelling incorporating modern information and communication technologies (including the role of mobile and alternative mapping technologies) in Early Warning and Crises Management of natural disasters (tsunamies, fires, floods, etc.) and anthropogenic disasters (epidemics– avian flu, cholera, etc.)
• Current global, regional and local initiatives in early warning and crisis management: 
•  Paradigms of action;
•  Exchange of best practices for activities in the field (such as aid and disaster relief) (interoperability and standardization of approaches, using of Web, Internet, mobile tools);
• Avoidance of shortcuts in crises situations – methodology, experiences, perspectives);
• Sharing and standardizing of data on material reserves and potential human provisions (e.g., strenthening Spatial Data Infrastructures (SDI)), to meet users’ needs in crisis situations;
• Interconnection between current OGC/ISO activities and crisis management (catalogue services, effective data retrieval and management).
• WG business: membership in ICA, common activities in working group, information about next events of WG on Early Warning and Crisis Management (Prague, Czech Republic, January 19-22 2009; Kazan, Tatarstan, spring/summer of 2010).

Potential WG participants include: researchers, educators, students of all levels, representatives of  FEMA, USGS, DHS, security and safety agencies, fire and police departments, intelligence services, and other government agencies. All individuals interested in the workshop are invited.

ICA Commission on Map Projections Workshop

The International Cartographic Association includes a number of commissions, one of which is the ICA Commission on Map Projections chaired by Daniel Strebe of Mapthematics LTD, USA. The priorities of this commission primarily focus on the establishment of a repository of knowledge on map projections and the promotion of map projections within all disciplines. In conjunction with AutoCarto 2008, the commission will hold an eight-hour workshop 10-11 September 2008 broadly covering the following topics:

- Current projection problems
- Projecting raster data
- Available public and commercial software packages
- Rapid, web-based projection
- Projections and parallel/ grid computing
- Commission business

ICA Commission on Map Projections (http://www.csiss.org/map-projections/index.html)

3rd International Joint Workshop on Ubiquitous, 
Pervasive and Internet Mapping

The ICA Commissions on Ubiquitous Mapping and Maps and the Internet were formed in 2003 and 1999 respectively in response to the rapid growth in the use of electronic networks to make and distribute maps and spatial data, and the rapid diffusion of new mobile devices. In conjunction with AutoCarto 2008, the commissions will hold an eight-hour joint workshop 10-11 September 2008. The purpose of the workshop is to bring together international specialists in the field of Mobile Mapping, Location Based Services and Internet Mapping, and to disseminate information to a broader audience on new developments and major areas of research. This workshop will build on the commissions' efforts in workshops held at UPIMap2004 in Tokyo and UPIMap2006 in Seoul, and will include discussions about globalization and localization of ubiquitous and pervasive internet mapping and demonstrations of different applications.

ICA Commission on Ubiquitous Mapping (http://ubimap.net/)

ICA Commission on Maps and the Internet (http://maps.unomaha.edu/ica/)