Objectives

Map Asia is evolving as a platform for all stakeholders like researchers, users, technology developers and policy makers to discuss, deliberate and share knowledge and experiences for the benefit of the Asian Geoinformatics community.

Map Asia 2004 has certain key objectives underlying its theme that aims at the overall development and proliferation of the discipline of geospatial science and take its benefits to the community level. Its theme and subthemes are aimed towards fulfilling four basic objectives -

g-Lateral Cooperation
China, India and many other countries in the region are extremely well-equipped with the knowledge of geospatial science and its applications. Research and domain expertise are in-depth but scattered. Map Asia brings in an opportunity for all to come together and reinstate the force that Asian community as a whole represents for its capabilities as a market as well as an indigenous force. Regional cooperation still remains the need of the hour and Map Asia 2004 will facilitate the Asian geoinformatics community to know about each other’s skills and requirements and explore possibilities of collaboration for mutual benefits.

Geo-referring Infrastructure Development
Physical infrastructure forms the lifeline of modern day societies. It defines the very basis of the word 'development'. Subsequently investments and progress in these sectors involve heavy research, analysis and simulations. Geoinformatics has emerged as a crucial and rational tool in this sector. Map Asia 2004 aims at exploring the latest, the most interesting, the best and the varied instances of use of this powerful platform of Geoinformatics in Asia.

Technology and Application Showcase
Map Asia 2004 will showcase state-of-the-art technologies and their applications. It will showcase latest developments and major case studies representing contribution of geospatial information in overall development and improvement in quality of life. The conference offers great opportunity for technology developers and users to showcase their capabilities and build relationships with like-minded organisations and also explore market opportunities.

Bridging Boundaries
Although Map Asia primarily serves to the Asian geographic community,it has attracted considerable participation from Europe and North America in the past. It provides a useful platform for collaboration between Asia and rest of the world.