ICA General Assembly meets to approve the Strategic Plan, Durban 2003.

The pursuit of ICA's mission statement to ‘ensure that geospatial information is employed to maximum effect for the benefit of science and society through promotion and representation of the discipline and profession of Cartography and GIScience internationally' is directed by common goals and aspirations agreed at governing-body level, the General Assembly. The mission statement is included in the Association's Strategic Plan 2003-2011, approved by the General Assembly in Durban, South Africa, in August 2003.

Focus and vision

This plan, available from the ICA website at 1, is a comprehensive document addressing a range of issues, including the early development of ICA, which determined our current context; the challenges of contemporary cartography, which define the main ‘operating environments' of science, society, education, professional practice and art within which cartography operates; a ‘SWOT‘ analysis exploring strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats to the Association; and ways of converting these ideas into action. The Strategic Plan 2003-2011 has guided the policy and management of ICA for a significant while and ICA has garnered many benefits from adopting the focus and vision of its authors and the input of those GA delegates who discussed and approved it.

New Strategic Plan
The time is right for a new Strategic Plan to cover 2011-2019. The ICA Executive Committee will table this at the 15th GA meeting at the International Cartographic Conference in Paris in July 2011. However, the intention is to give all ICA members and interested parties the opportunity to contribute, so that the new plan can be considered in advance of the meeting. The Executive Committee is therefore keen to receive suggestions from anyone interested in the progress of the Association, whether tabled by individuals or via delegation to the GA.

Statutes and Practice
The GA also offers an opportunity to modify the ICA Statutes, and a small working party has been set up to examine whether changes are needed. The statutes (also available from 2) dictate policy, and modification must be approved by the GA; again, the Executive Committee seeks your suggestions concerning possible changes. Finally, it is clear that the ongoing work of ICA from a practical, day-to-day perspective relies among other things on maintaining successful conferences, effective commission and working-group structures, a viable research agenda, a generous travel-awards scheme, authoritative cartographic competitions for children's and production cartography, and a dynamic web presence. Documents describing ICA practice in these areas are available from the website (3) and it is expected that many of these too will be revised over the coming year; all suggestions and contributions most welcome. Please make your views known to the secretary-general.