IBGE has just been chosen as the winner of the Geospatial Excellence Award, for its project Territorial Mapping 2010 - Evolution and Potential, considered the best geospatial application for demography in 2011. The prize was received during the Latin-American Geospatial Forum – LAGF, which will take place until August 19, at the Windsor Barra Hotel, in Rio de Janeiro. Considering the demands of the 2010 Population Census, the Territorial Mapping was elaborated to integrate the spatial representation of urban and rural areas in the Brazilian territory in an environment of geospatial data, through the use of modern information technology resources. In the event’s opening session, the President of IBGE, Eduardo Pereira Nunes, spoke about the importance of the use of geospatial information in Brazil and about how IBGE has been working to integrate geoscientific and statistical data, in order to improve the knowledge about the country’s reality.

With the topic “Bringing Global Perspectives to Local Action”, LAGF is intended to contribute significantly to the exchange of information among professionals of geospatial industry in Latin America. It is the first annual Latin-American conference for the display of geospatial information, technology and applications. The event is organized by GIS Development – The Global Geospatial Media Company, in partnership with IBGE and Pereira Passos Institute (IPP). The main objective of this initiative is to place geospatial knowledge in the center of the economic and developmental agenda of Latin-American countries.

The head of IBGE’s Geosciences Directorate, Luiz Paulo Souto Fortes, and other technicians of the institute are also participating in the event, with lectures about the following topics: Spatial Data Infrastructure; Global Satellite Navigation Systems; Digital Photogrammetry (a topographic survey method that makes use of photographs);  3D Navigation; and Mapping of the Rio de Janeiro State.

The meeting, supported by the Permanent Committee on Spatial Data Infrastructure for the Americas (CP-IDEA), will include plenary sessions, symposiums, seminars, workshops, technical sessions, technological displays and exhibitions. The forum is directed to government representatives, scholars, researchers, students and professionals working in this field.

The complete program for the LAGF is available at

http://lagf.org/2011/ps.htm.