NEWS
On June 1, the 20th Anniversary of the International Society for Digital Earth (ISDE) was commemorated during the 3rd China Digital Earth Conference held in Suzhou, China. Since its establishment in July 2004, ISDE has gone through two decades of development, witnessing the growth of Digital Earth from a conceptual vision to a technological application, and leading the global development of Digital Earth. More than 1,200 experts and scholars from Chinese government departments, scientific, educational, and industrial communities as well as representatives of international organizations gathered to witness the important contributions made by ISDE to promote the global development of Digital Earth over the past 20 years, and to share the outstanding achievements of China's scientific research and technological applications of Digital Earth.
The Opening Ceremony of the 3rd China Digital Earth Conference
At the opening ceremony of the conference, Dr. Hui Luo, Director General for Department of International Affairs of the China Association for Science and Technology (CAST), pointed out that ISDE has achieved important results in promoting the global development of Digital Earth technology and facilitating international cooperation and exchange in the field, and that its successful practice has further strengthened the confidence and motivation of China's scientific and technological community to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, and organize China's scientists to actively participate in the global scientific and technological governance. Mr. Zhenyu Wang, Deputy Director of the International Cooperation Bureau of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), pointed out that CAS has long attached great importance to scientific and technological innovation and international cooperation, and has promoted the development of China's Digital Earth by launching the Big Earth Data Science Engineering program, and hosting a series of academic conferences together with ISDE. He expected that ISDE would make greater contributions to the development of Digital Earth.
The 20th Anniversary Celebration of the International Society for Digital Earth
At the 20th Anniversary Celebration of ISDE, the participants watched a video on reviewing the 20 year’s development of ISDE. And then Dr. Alessandro Annoni, the President of ISDE, delivered a video speech praising the key role of Chinese scientists in promoting the global development of Digital Earth with ISDE, expressed his pride in ISDE growing as a major international organization in the global geospatial field, and recognized the remarkable contributions made by Chinese researchers and scientists to achieving the ISDE’s Digital Earth vision and objectives. Prof. Michael Meadows, President of the International Geographical Union (IGU), made a speech as a representative of international organizations. He noted that, over the past two decades, ISDE had played a vital role in advancing the frontiers of geospatial knowledge, technology and applications, and that ISDE and IGU had worked together to facilitate the exchange of knowledge, ideas and best practices. He is confident that the collaboration will further advance geographers and geospatial experts towards a sustainable and more resilient future.
Video speech from Dr. Alessandro Annoni, President of ISDE
In addition, eight international and national organizations, including the United Nations Committee of Experts on Global Geospatial Information Management, the Committee on Data of the International Science Council, the International Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing, and the African Association of Remote Sensing of the Environment, sent congratulatory letters to ISDE on its 20th anniversary, and looked forward to deepening their cooperation with ISDE in the future in areas related to Digital Earth.
To recognize the scientists who have made outstanding contributions to the development of Digital Earth, ISDE awarded Academician Huadong Guo, Honorary President of ISDE and Director of the International Research Center of Big Data for Sustainable Development Goals, the "Digital Earth Outstanding Science and Technology Achievement Award", to commend his outstanding contributions as the main founder of ISDE, in promoting the global development of ISDE, facilitating international academic exchanges, overcoming technical difficulties, exploring disciplinary innovation, and leading the forefront of the Digital Earth concept. ISDE also awarded the "China Digital Earth Outstanding Contribution Award" to Prof. Yongwei Liu, Secretary General of the Chinese National Committee of ISDE, in recognition of his key role in promoting the growth of Chinese National Committee of ISDE, actively leading the academic exchanges of China's Digital Earth, and fostering a new generation of talents in the field of Digital Earth science and technology.
Academician Huadong Guo, Honorary President of ISDE, was awarded the
"Digital Earth Outstanding Science and Technology Achievement Award"
Academician Huadong Guo made a keynote speech entitled "ISDE—An International Scientific Organization Initiated by China and Admitted to the International Science Council (ISC)". As the initiator, founder and leader of ISDE, Academician Guo recounted the Society's journey from its inception to its current status as a global leader in digital earth development.He emphasized that ISDE, initiated in China and growing in the world, is an international scientific and technological organization which was initiated by China and joined the International Science Council (ISC), and it has made outstanding contributions to the continuous promotion of the breadth and depth of theoretical research and technological application of Digital Earth technology, highlighting China's leading position and important role in the field of Digital Earth. He has high expectations for ISDE and believes that in the future ISDE will create a bigger stage for global academic exchanges and scientific and technological integration of Digital Earth, and make greater contributions to deepening the cooperation between international scientific research institutions and jointly promoting the wide application and deep development of Digital Earth technology in more fields.
Academician Huadong Guo delivered a keynote speech
At the same time, the ISDE 20th Anniversary Achievement Exhibition was held, which demonstrated the important milestones and symbolic achievements of ISDE in academic exchanges, international cooperation, and academic publications, and highlighted the leading and promoting role played by ISDE in the field of Digital Earth. This exhibition fully demonstrated the leading and promoting role of ISDE in the field of Digital Earth globally.
Participants visited the ISDE 20th Anniversary Achievement Exhibition and highly praised the achievements of ISDE.
Participants visited the ISDE 20th Anniversary Achievement Exhibition
