The Commission will act as a focus for those members of the international community who share an interest in using mathematical and statistical models in geographical systems analysis, geographical systems theory, geographical systems dynamics, geographical decision (or decision support) systems, GIS and remote sensing. This synthesis will aid and enhance research on mathematical modelling, statistical methods and other technological advances.  In addition, the specific systems orientation of the Commission will enable a new emphasis to be placed on more applied outputs that have relevance to geographers engaged in evaluating a variety of policy arenas. To date, geographical systems analyses have contributed significantly to the understanding of, for example, the space economy, transportation and urban planning, global environmental change, spatial epidemiology and health care delivery.

The Commission, therefore, will emphasize the following general areas of concern:

• geographical systems analysis;

• geographical systems theory;

• geographical decision support systems and decision theory;

• geographical systems dynamics;

• the interface between GIS, remote sensing and spatial modelling; and,

• applications of systems models to policy making and evaluation.

The promotion and publication of these ideas will be facilitated by our strong links with the editorial boards of the following international journals: Environment and Planning A-C, Geographical Systems, International Journal of GIS, Papers in Regional Science, Geographical and Environmental Modelling, Canadian Geographer, and Sistemi Urbani.