international hydrographic organization 2003 - IHO

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The ISO Technical Committee 211 (ISO/TC211) is developing a series of base standards that address
a broad field of geographic information requirements. Many of these standards, which are relevant to
the further development of the IHO S-57 standard, have been completed or are presently published as
Draft International Standards. The IHO is a liaison member of TC211, and was represented by Mr. A.
PHARAOH (IHB) and Mr. B. GREENSLADE (UKHO) at the plenary and working group meetings, that
took place in Thun (Switzerland) and Berlin (Germany) during 2003.
INTERNATIONAL CARTOGRAPHIC ASSOCIATION (ICA)
The International Cartographic Association (ICA) held its 2003 Congress at the International
Conference Centre in Durban, South Africa, on 10-16 August. International Cartographic
Conferences, which are held every two years, are major events of the ICA and attract many role
players in the cartographic world. More than 700 cartographers were registered at ICC 2003, which
mainly consisted of:
an ICA General Assembly on 10 and 16 August;
the Conference itself, where numerous papers were presented throughout the week in sessions
running in parallel, on cartography-related topics, e.g. Applied Cartography and GIS; Geo-
Spatial Database Development; Internet Cartography; Marine Cartography; Mobile
Cartography; Spatial Data Infrastructure; Spatial Data Standards; etc.;
a cartographic exhibition, where various maps and other cartographic products were presented
by ICA Member States; and
a commercial exhibition with participation of companies involved in cartography-related
activities.
A Strategic Plan was discussed and agreed at the ICA General Assembly, and several Vice-Presidents
were elected (or re-elected) and Professor Milán KONECNY (Czech Republic) was elected President of
the ICA for a 4-year mandate. Also the IHO representative, Mr. Michel HUET, had the opportunity to
address the Assembly and gave a presentation on the IHO including a review of recent activities and
achievements by, or of particular interest to, the IHO, e.g. the new IMO SOLAS Convention, the
GEBCO Centenary Conference, or the IHO-ICA-FIG cooperative venture to produce standards of
competence for nautical cartographers. He also mentioned a draft IHO-ICA Memorandum of
Understanding, prepared by the IHB to strengthen cooperation between the two organizations. This
draft MoU was examined and favourably received by the ICA Executive Committee during the week.
Papers presented at ICC 2003, some of which might be of interest to the IHO community, were placed
on CD-ROM and distributed to participants. Copies may be obtained by contacting the ICA Secretary-
General, Ferjan ORMELLING : F.Ormeling@geog.uu.nl.
Apart from the ICA Cartographic Exhibition, a special area was kindly allocated to the IHO by the
ICC 2003 organisers for an IHO Chart Exhibition, where 19 Hydrographic Offices and the IHB put on
a display. The IHO “marine” exhibition had great success with conference delegates. A jury made up
of several ICA personalities, including Prof. KONECNY, and chaired by the IHO representative was
formed to judge the IHO exhibition. After careful consideration of all displays the jury decided, in
accordance with a series of strict criteria, that the prize for best exhibitor should be given to two HOs
presenting a large diversity of chart products, including ENCs displayed on a computer simulating an
ECDIS, and permanently manned. The two winning HOs were: South Africa and Ukraine. The IHB
warmly congratulates the winners, who will receive their prize at the next important IHO event, e.g.
the Extraordinary International Hydrographic Conference (EIHC) in April 2005, in Monaco.
During ICC 2003, the Joint Board of Geospatial Information Societies (JB-GIS) held its annual
meeting, with representatives from ICA, IHO, FIG, IAG (International Association of Geodesy),
ISPRS (International Society of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing), ISCGM (International
Steering Committee for Global Mapping) and IMTA (International Map Trade Association). In
addition to the above organizations, JB-GIS also includes the International Geographical Union (IGU).
JB-GIS can be seen as a forum where areas of common interest to several GIS are discussed, and as a
coordinating mechanism for cooperation. The main objective of JB-GIS is to increase cooperation