Croatian Cartographic Society, Department of Geography at University of Zadar and Croatian Geographical Society are organizing the 9th Conference Cartography and Geoinformation with international participation and celebrating World GIS Day in Zadar, November 20-22, 2013.

In collaboration with the Department of Geography of the University of Zadar and Croatian Geographical Society, the Croatian Cartographic Society wants to contribute to the development of geoinformation, cartography, geography, and related fields, with a particular emphasis on GIS and spatial data infrastructure. A wide variety of topics and keynote speakers guarantee interesting lectures and a contemporary approach.

This is the 9th conference organized by the Croatian Cartographic Society. Previous conferences were organized in Zagreb and other cities. This year we return to Zadar, where the conference Cartography, Geoinformation and Sea was held in 2007.

The World GIS (GIS Day) is an international forum of users interested in geoinformation system (GIS) and technology displaying successful GIS applications. GIS Day was celebrated for the first time in 1999 (http://www.gisday.com/about.html). More than 950 events worldwide were registered on the occasion of GIS Day in 2012. This year, GIS Day is going to be celebrated on November 20, which is also the first day of the conference.

The concept of spatial data infrastructure (SDI) is determined at the national level with the new Law about the National Spatial Data Infrastructure. The INSPIRE directive is a turning point in the approach to spatial data at the continental level. INSPIRE establishes the framework for collecting, processing, distributing and using spatial data in the future. It is also one of the major topics of this conference.

Croatian participation in the International Cartographic Exhibition in Dresden this year point to the conclusion that production of maps and other geoinformation products in Croatia is not at the desired level. Invited lecturers from Croatia are going to attempt to represent the state of geospatial data and map production in the Republic of Croatia.