The International Cartographic Association (ICA) (, ''ACI'') is an organization formed of national member organizations, to provide a forum for issues and techniques in

cartography Cartography (; from , 'papyrus, sheet of paper, map'; and , 'write') is the study and practice of making and using maps. Combining science, aesthetics and technique, cartography builds on the premise that reality (or an imagined reality) can ...

and

geographic information science Geographic information science (GIScience, GISc) or geoinformation science is a scientific discipline at the crossroads of computational science, social science, and natural science that studies geographic information, including how it represe ...

(GIScience). ICA was founded on June 9, 1959, in Bern, Switzerland. The first General Assembly was held in Paris in 1961. The mission of the International Cartographic Association is to promote the disciplines and professions of cartography and GIScience in an international context. To achieve these aims, the ICA works with national and international governmental and commercial bodies, and with other international scientific societies.

Leadership

Presidents

The first president,

Eduard Imhof Eduard Imhof (25 January 1895 – 27 April 1986) was a professor of cartography at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zürich, from 1925 to 1965. His fame, which extends far beyond the Institute of Technology, stems from his relief shadi ...

of Switzerland was heavily involved in founding the association.

Secretaries-General and Treasurers

The Secretary-General and Treasurer is responsible for the administration and the general running of the Association.

Executive committee

On 20 July 2019 member nations elected the new Executive Committee (EC) of the ICA for the 2019–2023 term. New ICA president is Tim Trainor.

Commissions

To coordinate international cartographic work Commissions and Working Groups have been established. These are chaired by experts in a specific field of cartography and comprise members from the international Cartography and GIScience community. * Commission on Art and Cartography * Commission on Atlases * Commission on Cartographic Heritage into the Digital * Commission on Cartography and Children * Commission on Cartography and Sustainable Development * Commission on Cartography in Early Warning and Crisis Management * Commission on Cognitive Issues in Geographic Information Visualization * Commission on Digital Transformation of National Mapping Agencies * Commission on Education and Training * Commission on Ethics in Cartography * Commission on GeoAI * Commission on Geospatial Analysis and Modeling * Commission on Geospatial Data Analytics * Commission on Geospatial Semantics and Ontology * Commission on Geovisualization * Commission on High-Definition Maps * Commission on Integrated Geospatial Information for Cartography * Commission on Location Based Services * Commission on Map Design * Commission on Map Projections * Commission on Maps and the Internet * Commission on Marine Cartography * Commission on Mountain Cartography * Commission on Multi-scale Cartography * Commission on Topographic Mapping * Commission on Toponymy * Commission on Ubiquitous Mapping * Commission on User Experience

Members

ICA allows two types of memberships: *Affiliate members are organisations, institutions or companies wishing to support the mission and activities of ICA. *National members are national organizations dealing with cartography or geoinformation, such as

national mapping agencies A national mapping agency (NMA) is an organisation, usually publicly owned, that produces topographic maps and geographic information of a country. Some national mapping agencies also deal with cadastral matters. According to 2007/2/EC European ...

Conferences

International Cartographic Conferences (ICC) take place every second year in one of the member countries. At every second conference (every fourth year) it hosts the General Assembly of the ICA.

ICC Conferences

Awards

Carl Mannerfelt Gold Medal

The Carl Mannerfelt Gold Medal honours cartographers of outstanding merit who have made significant contributions of an original nature to the field of cartography. It is awarded only on rare occasions. The award is named after the Swedish cartographer, Carl Mannerfelt, who in 1981 won the prize named after him. ;Recipients

ICA Honorary Fellowship

The ICA Honorary Fellowship is for cartographers of international reputation who have made special contribution to the ICA. It includes a bronze medal.

ICA Map Awards at the International Map Exhibition

At the biennial International Map Exhibitions at the ICC an international jury selects the best entries.

Barbara Petchenik International Children Map Design Competition

This competition is organized every two years at the ICC. In a national round in all participating ICA member countries, the national winners are selected, which are exhibited during the International Cartographic Conference, where the international winners are selected.

Publications

ICA offers a number of publications. Its official journal is the ''International Journal of Cartography'' (print ; online ), published by Taylor & Francis on behalf of ICA. It also has three affiliated journals: *''

The Cartographic Journal ''The Cartographic Journal'' (first published June 1964) is an established peer-reviewed academic journal of record and comment that is published on behalf of the British Cartographic Society by Taylor & Francis. An official journal of the Intern ...

'' *''

Cartographica The ''Cartographica'' is the official publication of the Canadian Cartographic Association, in affiliation with the International Cartographic Association. ''Cartographica'' is published four times a year by the University of Toronto Press. The j ...

'' *'' Cartography and Geographic Information Science''

References

External links

ICA web site
{{Authority control Members of the International Council for Science Cartography organizations Intergovernmental organizations Organizations established in 1959 International geographic data and information organizations Members of the International Science Council