"GIScience in Times of Changing Technology"
Prof. Andrew U. Frank 
Head of Research Group Geoinformation, Vienna University of Technology, Austria
Dr. Andrew U. Frank is Professor of Geoinformation at the Technical University of Vienna since 1991. He teaches courses in spatial information systems, representation of geometric data, design of Geographic Information Systems for administration and business, selection of GIS software, and economic and administrative strategies for the introduction of GIS. In 1999 he became head of the newly founded Institute for Geoinformation and Land Surveying. In 2004 this Institute was merged with the Institute for Cartography and Geo-Media-Techniques and he is now the head of the Institute for Geoinformation and Cartography.
He leads an active research group focusing on problems of spatial cognition, user interfaces for GIS, and the economic and organizational aspects of the collection, management and use of geographic information. This work is supported by industry and research foundations. He is involved in several research projects of the European Commission. 1995 he completed a project for the organization of an international post-graduate course in GIS. Based on his experience from consulting assignments his present research interests comprise the cultural differences among European GIS-users as well as administrative and legal topics. He was also leader of the project “Study on European GI Policy Issues” under the GI2000 program of the European Commission. He is currently involved in the COST G9 project and to EU IST projects.
"Smart Places: the Role of GeoSensor Networks"
Prof. Mir Abolfazl Mostafavi
Professor and Director of the Centre for Research in Geomatics, University of Laval, Canada
Dr. Mir Abolfazl Mostafavi, is professor at the Department of geomatics sciences, Laval university. He is Scientific Director of the Centre for Research in geomatics (www.crg.ulaval.ca) since 2010. He currently leads the CONVREGENCE Network (www.convergence.ulaval.ca) which aim is to facilitate the collaboration and the partnership among academia, industry and government sectors to stimulate research and innovation activities in geospatial sciences and to accelerate the knowledge transfer to potential users. His research interests are mainly focused on the dynamic GIS, spatial data modeling and representation, geosimulation, spatial ontologies and semantic, mobile geospatial virtual and augmented reality and geosensor networks for smart environments. Dr. Mostafavi has been an active member of GEOIDE (Canadian Network of Centers of Excellence) for more than 10 years. He is a member of the Centre for Interdisciplinary research in rehabilitation and social integration where he conducts innovative research on the development of geospatial assistive technologies for people with motor disabilities (http://mobilisig.scg.ulaval.ca/). Currently, he leads an international working group on Semantic Interoperability and Ontology for Geospatial Information within the International Society of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ICWG II/IV).
"Beyond Spatial Enablement: Research and Development" 
Prof. Abbas Rajabifard
Professor and Head of Department of Infrastructure Engineering, the University of Melbourne, Australia
Professor Abbas Rajabifard is Head of the Department of Infrastructure Engineering and Director of the Centre for Spatial Data Infrastructures and Land Administration, both at the University of Melbourne. He is immediate Past-President of Global Spatial Data Infrastructure (GSDI) Association and is an Executive Board member of this Association. He is also a member of the International Joint Board of Geospatial Information Societies (JBGIS) and was Vice Chair, Spatially Enabled Government Working Group of the UN Global Geospatial Information Management in Asia-Pacific (UNGGIM-AP). Prof Rajabifard has spent his career researching, developing, applying and teaching spatial information management and strategies particularly for SDI to deliver benefits to both governments and wider society.
"Remote Sensing Image Fusion: an Update" 
Prof ( Em.) Dr.J.L.van Genderen
Faculty of Geoinformation Science and Earth Observation, University of Twente
Professor van Genderen Graduated from the University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia, with an honours Degree in Geography. He then obtained a Post-Graduate Diploma in Air Photo Interpretation from the International Institute for Aerospace Surveys and Earth Sciences, ( ITC) in Delft, the Netherlands, followed by an M.Sc. Degree in Remote Sensing. In 1972 he completed his Ph.D. in Remote Sensing from the University of Sheffield, United Kingdom. That was the year that the first civilian earth observation satellite , Landsat-1 ( ERTS-A) was launched. In the more than 40 years since that time, he has been working on space technology and applications in more than 140 countries. For ten years he worked for various remote sensing companies in England, Belgium, USA and the Netherlands. In 1986 he returned to the ITC and became Professor of Operationalization of remote sensing applications. There, his main research has been in the fields of image and data fusion, SAR Interferometry, and focussing on applications in coastal zones, and for natural and man-made diste. Disasters He was President of ISPRS’s TC VII on Remote Sensing from 2004-2008, and is an Academician in the Eurasian Academy of Sciences Since taking compulsory retirement from ITC in 2009, he has been working as a Consultant and as a Visiting Professor at various Universities in Developing countries.
"Geospatial Knowledge for Territorial Intelligence" 
Prof. Robert Laurini
President of the NGO "Universitaires Sans Frontières/Academics Without Borders"
Prof. Robert LAURINI (aka Roberto) is presently Professor Emeritus at INSA-Lyon University of Lyon, president of the NGO "Universitaires Sans Frontières/Academics Without Borders". During his activities, he was intensively involved in international affairs. He speaks fluently French, English, Italian and Spanish. Among others, he has been member of PhD committees in 17 countries. He was recently elected "Fellow of the Knowledge Systems Insitute" of Chicago, Illinois, USA.
Previously, he was full distinguished professor at the National Institute for Applied Sciences (INSA-Lyon), and more precisely at the Computing Department and at the LIRIS Laboratory in which he was in charge of international affairs.
He carried out researches at the University of Cambridge, Martin Center for Architectural and Urban Systems, UK (1976-1977) and at the University of Maryland (Center for Automation Research, USA) (1986-1987). He was teaching at Computing Departement of the University Institute of Technology, Claude Bernard University of Lyon during several years. During five years, he was head of the Laboratory for Information System Engineering (LISI), shared by to the National Institute for Applied Sciences (INSA) and Claude Bernard University of Lyon, France. From 2001 to 2004, he was head of SIGMA / CASSINI, French CNRS Federation on Geographic Information Systems. Until recently, he was deputy head of the LIRIS Research Center for Images and Information Systems from January 2003 to December 2006, vice-president of the INSA Board of Regents from November 2002 to November 2006. From 2004 to September 2007, he was head of Lyon Research-Oriented Master Degree in Computing.