The 23rd International Cartographic Conference took place in Moscow in August this year with a full programme of activities, presentations, exhibitions, social events and technical visits, all related to the subjects of cartography, mapping and geographic-information handling.

14th General Assembly
In addition to the conference, of which a report will appear in the next issue of GIM, the fourteenth ICA General Assembly (GA) also took place. Formally, ICA members are the representatives of those nations embracing ICA ideals and governing its work and management. A total of 83 nations form the ICA “family” and the majority were represented in Moscow, coming together to reflect on the past term of ICA activity (2003-2007) and set the course for the next, 2007 to 2011. A new Executive Committee (EC) was elected, their names being listed in the textbox on this page. The EC is charged with leading ICA, liasing with the wider international scientific community and ensuring that progress in the discipline of cartography is maintained at a high level. The EC is assisted in these tasks by a wide range of Commissions and Working Groups that undertake much of the day-to-day work of advancing cartographic know­ledge. Commissions are appointed by the GA and are expected to present (and eventually to produce over the four year period) a programme of activity which is subject-specific and driven by realistic terms of reference.

Working Groups
In addition to voting for the establishment or continuation of commissions, the GA elects the chair of each. A list of Commissions and Chairs also appears in the textbox. They cover almost all areas of cartography and geographic-information handling. Any topic of contempor­ary or urgent interest not addressed by the commissions may be examined by ICA Working Groups (WGs) established by the EC. These are not necessarily fixed for the full four-year period. At the Moscow EC meeting the following WGs were initiated: Art & Cartography, Early Warning & Crisis Management, and Mapping Africa for Africa. It is expected that further WGs be approved at the next EC meeting.

Join Us
Individuals interested in cartographic development are invited to become a member of commissions and WGs and thus feel themselves active participants in ICA. You may contact the commission chairs using the contact details provided on the website. In Moscow the GA also fulfilled its responsibility to:
-receive reports from officers and commission chairs for 2003-2007
-approve ICA financial management
-vote on modifications to ICA Statutes
-accept national reports on carto-graphic activity from member nations
-confirm ICA Awards bestowed by the Awards Committee
-decide on the location of the 15th ICA GA (to convene in Paris, France, in 2011).

One further duty of the GA was to approve and welcome new nation members to ICA. We are pleased to officially recognise Botswana, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), Kazakhstan, Montenegro, and Serbia asmembers: welcome to the ICA family!