The 5th International Symposium on Digital Earth - Bringing Digital Earth down to Earth.

The International Symposium on Digital Earth (ISDE) bi-annual conference series has promoting advanced visualization technology under a common vision using a series of key topics or sessions. The first symposium, inaugurated by the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Chinese government, was held November 29 through 2 December 1999, in Beijing, China in 1999, with 500 participants from 27 countries (www.digitalearth.net.cn). The Beijing Declaration set in motion the bi-annual series and established the guiding principles for collaboration among the interested nations.  The second symposium was held in New Brunswick, Canada June 25-27, 2001 with 700 participants and 30 countries (www.digitalearch.ca).  The third symposium was held in Bruno, Czech Republic 21-25 September 2003 (www.digitalearth03.geogr.muni.cz), 254 participants and 34 countries were represented.  The fourth symposium held 28-31 March 2005 in Tokyo, Japan,  (www.isde-j.com) had 335 participants and 1,100 public attendees and 30 countries were represented.    Each conference has expanded the awareness and reach of the Digital Earth vision with the exposition of cutting edge technology, such as Japan’s Super Computer. The 5th ISDE (www.isde5.org) will continue the growth of attendees and national diversity as well debuting new Digital Earth technology and network implementation. A special Digital Earth Summit on Sustainable Development is scheduled for August 27-30 in Auckland, New Zealand due to increased awareness of Digital Earth (www.digitalearth06.org.nz).