"WORLD GIS DAY" celebrated all over the world on 3rd Wednesday of each November to raise awareness about Geographic Information Systems, was celebrated this year in our country on 18-19 November hosted by the Ministry of Environment and Urbanisation at Ankara ATO Congresium International Convention and Exhibition Centre, in coordination with the General Directorate of Geographic Information Systems and with the participation of all public institutions, universities, organizations and civil society institutions with the theme "With Geographic Information Technologies Towards Smart Cities".
By the "World GIS Day 2015" which was held by the theme "With Geographic Information Technologies Towards Smart Cities", technical-scientific sessions, panel discussions and special presentations are organized throughout the two-day event, starting from the idea that geographic information technologies will be used much more effectively and the smart technology needs of the cities for will increase in the coming period primarily by our local authorities and also by all public institutions.
Nearly 1550 people including the participants from public institutions, universities, civil society organizations and private firms, has attended to the "World GIS Day 2015 Summit and Exhibition Event" which was held by the theme "With Geographic Information Technologies Towards Smart Cities" during two days.
On the first day of the Summit, in honoring with our Minister, General Commander of Mapping Burhanettin AKTI, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Forestry and Water Affairs Prof. Dr. Lütfi AKCA, Head of TUBITAK Space Technologies Research Institute Associate Prof. Dr. Lokman KUZU and also many other senior executives have participated to make their speeches.
After the opening ceremony, symbolic data delivery of the True Orthophotos is performed to the Mayors of Tokat, Eskişehir, Erzincan, Düzce, Nevşehir, Afyon, Uşak and Gümüşhane which are produced for the first time in our country in terms of the scope, cost, time and technology used.
In addition, awards have been presented to General Commander of Mapping, Ministry of Forestry and Water Affairs, Ministry of Health, General Directorate of Forestry, General Directorate of Land Registry and Cadastre, the General Directorate of National Estate, General Directorate of Agrarian Reform, General Directorate of Provincial Bank Inc., TNCIP Board of Directors, Konya Metropolitan Municipality, Anadolu University which are conducting successful studies in matters of geographical information technology, geospatial data production and applications and have contributions to the establishment and development of geospatial data infrastructure and also to author Mustafa ORAKÇI who is the writer of “Ünlülerle Bir Gün Kitap Serisi” introducing important figures in our history to our children by these books.
Exhibition area with around 40 stands where there were stands opened by public institutions, universities, private companies and civil society organizations to exhibit their work in the subject GIS Technology and Smart Cities; has visited and introduced by particularly our Minister and all other participants.
The second day of the summit the event was ended by sessions including technical presentations performed by the personnel of public institutions and organizations, local authorities, universities, civil society organizations and representatives of private companies on the subjects of “Smart Cities and GIS” and “Geographical Information Data Infrastructure and Applications”.