During October 25–28, 2005, more than 600 users gathered in the vibrant city of Warsaw, Poland, to take part in the 20th European Conference for Esri Users and the 3rd European Educational User Conference, organized by Esri Polska.

The opening day started with a presentation by Esri president Jack Dangermond. He spoke of the increasing intertwinement of Esri and information technology (IT) that will bring GIS to its next level. "Technology is not the limiting factor anymore," he said. "It's the way departments, organizations, and national governments are willing to cooperate and share data and applications."

David Maguire, Esri director of Products and International, and a team of Esri technical staff members discussed the future of ArcGIS at length in their presentation, the Road Ahead—ArcGIS 9.2. There were demonstrations of new cartographic capabilities, Esri Image Server, and the new user interface and capabilities of ArcGIS Explorer.

Other speakers during the first day were professor Milan Konecny, president of the International Cartographic Association; professor Jerzy Gazdzicki, president of the Polish Association for Spatial Information; and professor Marek Ostrowski, author of books of aerial photographs of Poland. Parallel sessions of technical workshops and user presentations filled the second and third days. The main sessions were about cadastre and cartography, utilities, transportation, and defense.

The 51 exhibitors made the exhibition the largest to date during a European conference. The historic Polish Conference Center (originally a gift of the people of the former Soviet Union) was an ideal setting for both the conference and the exhibition. The gala dinner, a highlight of the conference, took place in the magnificent entrance hall of the Warsaw Technical University.

The 3rd European Educational User Conference attracted about 45 people from both higher education and primary and secondary schools. Mike Phoenix, Esri's education industry manager, gave the keynote address, which was followed by two days of presentations and discussions.

For more information, visit Esri Polska (Web: www.esripolska.com.pl).

The next European Conference for Esri Users will take place November 6–8, 2006, in Athens, Greece. For more information, contact Marathon Data Systems (e-mail: marathon@otenet.gr, Web: www.marathondata.gr).