Cartography and LB Technology

International activities have increased over recent years concerning applying cartographic presentations on mobile devices (TeleCartography) and developing innovative services wherein the location of a mobile device becomes a 'variable' of an information system (Location Based Services: LBS). From the beginning, the Department of Geoinformation and Cartography of Vienna University of Technology has been interested in these developments, leading to various research projects, students’ activities, multidisciplinary co-operations and the organisation of two symposiums on TeleCartography and LBS in Vienna, Austria.

In modern cartography the main focus is on understanding the processes and methods of 'how to communicate spatial information efficiently'. In this respect, the assignment of cartography exceeds the creation of cartographic presentation forms, focusing also on understanding relations within the 'whole system' of communicating spatial information, including user, models and transmission processes. The engagement of modern cartography in fields like LBS and TeleCartography and the various multidisciplinary approaches that include cartographers, have to be seen in this context.

As the body for co-ordinated international activities in cartography, the International Cartographic Association (ICA) tries generally to convey cartographic developments. The ICA Commission on Maps and the Internet was founded in 1999. Each year its activities culminate in Commission Meetings at which its intentions are pursued of bringing together international specialists in the field of Internet Mapping and disseminating to a broader public information on new developments and major areas of research. Such meetings have been held in Ottawa (Canada 1999), Knoxville (USA 2000), Guangzhou (China 2001), Karlsruhe (Germany 2002), and Stellenbosch (South Africa 2003).

As activities in the field of LBS and TeleCartography may be considered an expansion of Internet Mapping methods and techniques for the mobile internet, it has been of common interest to also hold meetings in Vienna dedicated to issues in this field. As a result of ongoing interest in the topics of TeleCarto-graphy, cartographic LBS and ubiquitious cartography, a 3rd Symposium on TeleCartography and LBS will take place in Vienna from 28th to 30th November 2005 (http://cartography. tuwien.ac.at/symposium2005).