From 7 to 10 November, 2016, the GEO-XIII Plenary Session and Symposium were held in St. Petersburg, Russia. The International Society for Digital Earth (ISDE) attended the plenary and held a symposium.

As a member of GEO, ISDE submitted a statement to the plenary which stated that since its entry into GEO in 2009, ISDE has and will continue to adhere to the development philosophy of Digital Earth. Furthermore, ISDE will better serve GEO and support work in the application of big Earth observation data by taking advantage of Digital Earth meetings and the International Journal of Digital Earth. ISDE will continue to support the new 2017-2019 GEO Work Programme, and hopes to develop close cooperation with GEO through the International Science Program for the DBAR (ISPDBAR) and the International League for the DBAR (ILDBAR). ISDE will also support GEO programs including the Group on Earth Observations Global Agricultural Monitoring Initiative (GEOGLAM), and the GEO Cold Regions Initiative (GEOCRI).

In addition, the plenary approved the nomination of members for the 2017-2019 GEO Programme Board. WANG Lizhe, Research Fellow of RADI, became a member of the committee through the ISDE’s recommendation.

On November 7, the DBAR symposium was held by ISDE and was aimed at promoting the implementation of ISPDBAR and ILDBAR by using the GEO platform. Present at the symposium were 15 experts from China, Russia, India, and Italy as well as some international organizations including: GEO, the Global Spatial Data Infrastructure (GSDI) Association, and the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC). Research Fellow WANG Changlin, Executive Director of ISDE, introduced the development of ISDE, elaborated on the mission and task of ISPDBAR, and called on the relevant institutes of the “One Belt and One Road” Initiative to seek membership in ILDBAR. Barbara Ryan, Secretariat Director of GEO, stated that GEO is willing to cooperate with ISDE to promote DBAR-related activities. Experts held further discussions for the potential cooperation between ISDE and GEO, and on the mechanism and form of cooperation with other international programs and organizations. Also attending the meeting were Director YAN Dongmei of the Department of Science and Technology under RADI and relevant working staff of the ISDE Secretariat.

ISDE was developed based on RADI as an international academic organization founded on the initiative of CAS in conjunction with a number of domestic and foreign institutions and scholars in the field of Digital Earth. In 2009, ISDE became an official member of GEO, an inter-governmental organization, at the GEO-VI Plenary held in the United States. From then on, ISDE has been recognized as an important international organization in the field of geo-spatial information science. Since its entry into GEO, ISDE has been actively engaged in GEO activities, has deepened its cooperation with GEO, and has continuously expanded its international influence.

Representatives from ISDE attend the GEO plenary.

Research Fellow WANG Changlin introduces ISPDBAR and ILDBAR.

Barbara Ryan, Secretariat Director of GEO, and other experts hold discussions.