Ever-increasing volumes of geographic information pose challenges for making geographic information available and usable in maps. In celebration of the International Cartographic Association’s International Map Year 2015/16, we invite original research contributions on the role of spatial data infrastructures (SDI), standards, open data and open source software in mapping for a special issue of the International Journal of Cartography.

The discovery, access, exchange and sharing of geographic information and services among stakeholders from different levels in the spatial data community is facilitated through a SDI. Standards are key for the quality and development of interoperable geographic information and geospatial software. The drive for access to geographic information has led to its publication as open data, i.e. freely available to everyone to use and republish as they wish, without restrictions from copyright, patents or other mechanisms of control. According to a report by the United Nations Committee of Experts on Global Geospatial Information Management (UN-GGIM), the use of open source software solutions is likely to increase significantly in the future as a viable alternative to proprietary suppliers. Open source software for geospatial, geographic information standards and open data policies are therefore significant for SDI development and implementation.

This special issue follows on SDI-Open 2015, a pre-conferenece workshop of the 27th International Cartographic Conference, titled Spatial data infrastructures, standards, open source and open data for geospatial (SDI-Open 2015), which was jointly organized by the Commission on Geoinformation Infrastructures and Standards, the Commission on Open Source Geospatial Technologies and the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) on 20 and 21 August at the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. While workshop presenters will be invited to submit expanded versions of the extended abstracts presented at SDI-Open 2015, the call is now open to all researchers. Please follow the journal’s instructions for authors).

Important dates

Call for papers opens: 14 December 2015
Paper submission: 1 March 2016
Notification of acceptance: 1 June 2016
Publication of special issue: 1 December

Guest editors

Serena Coetzee serena.coetzee@up.ac.za (Chair: ICA Commission on SDI and Standards)
Franz-Josef Behr franz-josef.behr@hft-stuttgart.de (Vice-Chair: ICA Commission on SDI and Standards)
Antony Cooper acooper@csir.co.za (Former Chair: ICA Commission on SDI and Standards)
Silvana Camboim silvanacamboim@gmail.com (Chair: ICA Commission on Opensource Geospatial Technologies)
Michael Finn mfinn@usgs.gov (Vice-Chair: ICA Commission on Opensource Geospatial Technologies)

Commission websites
Commission on SDI and Standards: http://sdistandards.icaci.org
Commission on Opensource Geospatial Technologies http://opensourcegeospatial.icaci.org