Advancing Global Cartography and GIScience.

<title/> The International Cartographic Association (ICA) has, for over 50 years, strived to advance cartographic theory and praxis. Throughout its work throughout the last half-century member organisations, commission and working group members and its various executive committees have established mechanisms to investigate the Art, Science and Technology of Cartography and GIScience. This paper provides an overview of the ICA. It outlines its work and its commitment to facilitate discourse in the discipline through encouraging research, publishing the findings of research and development, disseminating current thinking via various fora, encouraging excellence in map-making through competitions and exhibitions and acting internationally as the key authority in Cartography and GIScience, in many instances through member nations and with sister societies and other international bodies. This is offered to give a background to the papers provided in this special issue of The Cartographic Journal, which offers papers selected by the Scientific Committee of the 25th International Cartographic Conference of the International Cartographic Association, held in July 2011 in Paris, France. These selected papers formed part of over 900 papers that were received, reviewed and published. It is doubly rewarding, as this conference celebrates the 50th anniversary of last Paris ICA conference. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]