GEOPRO 2002 is an International Workshop on Semantic Processing of Spatial Data, which took place in Mexico City, Mexico, 3-4 December 2002. Semantic processing of spatial data is an emerging area of Geomatics that focuses on representation and use of knowledge to support (semi) automatic Geographic Information Systems (GIS). Due to the growing demand for both interactive and automatic intelligent GIS, the field of semantic processing of spatial data has an exciting and promising future.

GEOPRO 2002 was the first in series of workshops (under acronym "GEOPRO") organized for researchers at all levels of experience to share insights into semantic processing of spatial data methods. The workshop welcomed strong participation from researchers in both industry and academia. GEOPRO 2002 was sponsored by National Polytechnic Institute (IPN), Centre for Computing Research (CIC), Mexican Petroleum Institute/Research Program in Applied Math and Computing (IMP/PIMAYC) and Las Americas University in Puebla (UDLA-P) all are from Mexico.

The response to the workshop was overwhelming that ensures its promising future. In the following table we present an overview of the workshop attendance.

OVERVIEW OF ATTENDANCE

INSTITUTION/COMPANY	#ATTENDEES
NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF STATISTICS, GEOGRAPHY AND INFORMATICS (INEGI), MEXICO	10
MEXICAN PETROLEUM INSTITUTE (IMP), MEXICO	10
LAS AMERICAS UNIVERSITY-PUEBLA (UDLA-P), MEXICO	5
CENTRE FOR COMPUTING RESEARCH (CIC-IPN), MEXICO	20
SECRETARY OF ENVIRONMENT AND NATURAL RESOURCES (SEMARNAT), MEXICO	3
FEDERAL ELECTION INSTITUTE (IFE), MEXICO	3
GTT NETCORP, INC., USA/LATIN AMERICA	2
NATIONAL WATER COMMISSION (CNA), MEXICO	2
MICHAEL BAKER, USA/MEXICO	2
AUTONOMOUS UNIVERSITY OF MORELOS STATE (UAEM), MEXICO	2
NATIONAL ECOLOGICAL INSTITUTE (INE), MEXICO	1
GEOCENTER, MEXICO	1
FEDERAL ELECTRICAL COMMISSION (CFE), MEXICO	1
URBAN PLANNING DEPARTMENT OF THE AUTONOMOUS UNIVERSITY OF MEXICO (UNAM), MEXICO	1
SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE, RURAL DEVELOPMENT, ARABLE AND SEA RESOURCES AND ALIMENTATION (SAGARPA), MEXICO	1
INTERDISCIPLINARY PROFESSIONAL UNIT FOR INFORMATICS, SOCIAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE SCIENCES (UPIICSA-IPN), MEXICO	1
SUPERIOR SCHOOL OF ELECTRICAL AND MECHANICAL ENGINEERING (ESIME-IPN), MEXICO	1
NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ANTROPOLOGY AND HISTORY (INAH), MEXICO	1
ENVIRONMENTAL SYSTEM RESEARCH INSTITUTE (ESRI), USA	1
L'INSTITUT GÉOGRAPHIQUE NATIONAL (IGN), FRANCE	1
DEFINIENS IMAGING GmbH, GERMANY	1
TOTAL REGISTRATED ATTENDEES	70

The Organizing and Program Committees included specialists from around the world, representating about 20 countries. The workshop was organized into five sections: raster-to-vector conversion; automatic map generalization; automatic geo-image interpretation; intelligent GIS tools; and GIS applications. Each session included a keynote lecture and/or tutorial given by recognized specialists from USA, France, Germany, Russia and Mexico.

The workshop did well as a means of interaction between the academia and the industry: the representatives of both environments were presented in nearly equal parts. The institutions such as IPN, INEGI, IFE, IMP (Mexico); ESRI, GTTNetCorp. (USA); IGN (France) and Definiens Imaging GmbH (Germany) shared its ultimate experience in GIS development and map production. All of them have both research and GIS/map production units in its infrastructure. The attendees were also discussed new multilateral GIS projects for Mexico (some of them are: 1) a GIS for Nuclear Plant "Laguna Verde", Veracruz, Mexico; 2) an all-country geographic metadatabase).

Besides of scientific program the workshop included diverse social events such as the workshop banquet in a typical Mexican restaurant "La Posada", excursions to numerous Mexico City and its suburbs sightseeing such as National Anthropological Museum, Chapultepec Forest, El Zocalo, Xochimilco Lake, exciting Teotihuacan Pyramids, etc. and "el bríndis" at the closing ceremony.

The workshop might not be organized without a noble support of many persons and organizations. The list of acknowledgements to all of them would be too large. Let me just acknowledge the contribution of the members of Geoprocessing Laboratory and the support provided by the sponsors of GEOPRO 2002: IPN (Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Mexico), CIC (Centro de Investigación en Computación, Mexico), IMP/PIMAYC (Instituto Mexicano del Petroleo/Programa de Investigación en Matemáticas Aplicadas y Computación, Mexico), UDLA-P (Universidad de las Americas Puebla, Mexico), CONACYT (Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología, Mexico), IASTED-format (International Association for Technology and Development), ESRI-logo (Environmental System Research Institute, USA), IGN (l’Institut Géographique National, France), Definiens Imaging GmbH, Germany, and GTT NetCorp, Inc., USA.

See you at GEOPRO 2003!

March 28, 2003

Serguei Levachkine

Workshop Chair

Editors' Preface

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