Supported by GITA and with media partners GIM International and MundoGEO, the eighth GEOBrasil conference and trade-fair was this year for the first time organised by Alcantara Machado and Reed Exhibitions. ESRI president Jack Dangermond opened the congress, emphasising the importance of GIS in social and economic development all over the world. He stated his belief in the future of GIS being related to integration of GIS and the web. He also discussed how Earth Viewers such as Google Earth and Microsoft Virtual Earth could sometimes be useful in the GIS market.

Mature Market
Director of the National Institute of Space Research (INPE) Gilberto Câmara told the meeting this year's Summit testified to the maturity of the geo-information market in Brazil and he guaranteed that 'companies acting today in the geo-information market for the public and private sector are extremely reliable'. During his opening address he further focused on global warming and its consequences. Brazil boasted no hurricanes, but Catarina, impacting the southern region last year, had proved the country was no longer shielded from hurricanes. Data he presented on the control of deforestation showed how big areas are still being affected, notwithstanding monitoring by INPE. Finally Câmara announced next steps to be taken by INPE, including new versions of the CBERS satellite and SSR-1, a 100% Brazilian satellite.

Data Acquisition
Representing ESRI and GSDI (Global Spatial Data Infrastructure), Bill Shepperd led the debate on Spatial Data Infrastructure, a subject that is starting to be put on the agenda in Brazil. Shepperd presented examples from other parts of the world and showed results from GSDI. Adriana Crem of Companhia Vale do Rio Doce discussed how the company standardised its data by adopting international rules. Technicians from Wild, Manfra and Alezi Teodolini showed how new geo-­information technology had eased the work of field crews over the years, and presented the resultant new types of activity for topographers, land surveyors and cartographers. Airborne sensors were also widely discussed. William Sharp of Fugro/EarthData demonstrated the opportunities of interferometric radar. Also on the agenda was Brazilian market demand for high-frequency airborne sensor applications. A workshop on Galileo included a demonstration of how the Galileo Information Center for Latin America works. This was given by José Marques from the Regional Center for Space Science and Technology Education for Latin America and the Caribbean (CRECTEALC), Eduardo Freitas Oliveira from MundoGEO, and Fernando Augusto Salla and Eno Siewerdt, both representing the Celeste Project.

The Summit
Since the first summit in 1999 'GEO­Brasil has been the showcase for new geo-information technologies that have fast become an integral part of Brazilian industry,' according to José Rafael Gauagliardi, president of Alcantara Machado. Director José Danghesi promised the 2008 event would show even more geo-information novelties. Emerson Zanon Granemann, co-ordinator of the event and publisher of MundoGEO, said the event should show the market strength not of Brazil alone but of the whole of Latin America. The plan was therefore for the organisers to change the name to "GEO Summit Latin America", the name under which the next event will take place from 15th to 17th July 2008 in São Paulo.