Message from the Honorary President

The 1st International Symposium on Digital Earth was held in Beijing in November 1999 and marked the humble beginnings of the series of International Symposia on Digital Earth one year after the advent of the Digital Earth concept.

In 2006, the International Society for Digital Earth (ISDE) was officially established in Beijing. Over the years, the ISDE has successfully hosted eleven International Symposia on Digital Earth and eight Digital Earth Summits in 13 countries. The ISDE’s two journals – International Journal of Digital Earth and Big Earth Data, launched in 2008 and 2017 respectively – have gained international recognition. The ISDE became a participating member of the Group on Earth Observations in 2009 and an affiliate member of the International Science Council in 2017. In August 2019, the ISDE also joined the UNGGIM Geospatial Societies. The publication of the Manual of Digital Earth, which has more than 100 contributors from 18 countries worldwide, was another milestone in furthering the development of Digital Earth. All of these achievements have helped to provide a foundation for Digital Earth by developing numerous data platforms and research programmes. They have also supported academic meetings, papers and monographs that have not only benefited our society but also improved our understanding of the world and its Earth-shaping processes.

Science and technology are continually developing and innovating, and Digital Earth is becoming ever more relevant as the world undergoes a profound digital revolution. Within the three United Nations frameworks of Sustainable Development Goals, Climate Change and Disaster Risk Reduction, as well as in the development of digital economies, Digital Earth technologies are indispensable.

Frontier technologies such as the Internet of Things, big data, artificial intelligence, blockchain and 5G are creating opportunities for the next stage in the development of Digital Earth. Digital Earth will continue to help bridge the information gap for the general public by integrating data and information from multiple sources, including from space platforms, social networks and economic data sets. By developing intelligent models and data-intensive computing algorithms, Digital Earth will generate useful information and scientific knowledge that supports social-service functions and potentially drive new scientific discoveries.

I look forward to the continuing vigorous development of Digital Earth and to your continued support.

Huadong Guo

Honorary President, International Society for Digital Earth