International Eurasian Academy of Sciences, IEAS

Academician

Ershun ZHONG

Profile:

Elected Academician of the International Eurasian Academy of Sciences in 2003, Professor Ershun Zhong is a Chinese expert in geographic information technology whose research and professional work have focused on geographic information systems (GIS), the development of foundational GIS software, and the industrialisation of domestic GIS technologies. Born in Ningxiang, Hunan Province, in March 1956, he received his bachelor’s degree from the Department of Geology of Sun Yat-sen University in 1982, conducted research on marine environmental engineering as a visiting scholar at Western Washington University in 1986, and earned a doctorate in remote sensing and GIS from Peking University in 1991. He subsequently carried out postdoctoral research at the State Key Laboratory of Resources and Environmental Information Systems of the Institute of Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, from 1992 to 1994, before joining the Institute, now the Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, where he is Research Professor and Doctoral Supervisor and directs the Centre for the Development of the Geographic Information Industry. In 1997, he founded Beijing SuperMap Geographic Information Technology Company, now SuperMap Software Co., Ltd., and led the development and industrialisation of the SuperMap GIS software platform. The platform has been applied in surveying and mapping, land and natural resources, digital cities, water conservancy, transportation, energy, finance, and other fields, with applications extending beyond China. Professor Zhong has served as Vice President of the China Association for Geographic Information Society, Chairman of the Commission on Cartography and GIS of the Geographical Society of China, and President of the Eurasian Association for System Sciences. He has also undertaken international teaching and training in GIS and remote sensing in Asia and lectured at universities in North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. His honours i

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Professor Zhong’s research and industrial work have centred on the innovation and application of foundational GIS software. At a time when GIS development was largely workstation-based, he pursued microcomputer-based GIS and subsequently led work on component-based GIS, Internet GIS, and embedded GIS, together with advances in spatial database engine technology. These efforts contributed to the development of the SuperMap GIS platform and a technical architecture covering desktop, network, platform, and industry-oriented applications. Under his direction, SuperMap participated in the development of national and industry standards for geographic information technology and undertook major national projects in large-scale spatial information systems, resource and environmental information sharing, land information management, and digital city development. SuperMap software has subsequently been deployed in a wide range of public and industrial applications and expanded into overseas markets. Beyond software development and engineering practice, Professor Zhong has contributed to the integration of academic research with industrial application and to the training of GIS professionals through university and enterprise-based programmes. His career has combined research in geographic information science with sustained technological development, engineering implementation, and industrialisation. Through these efforts, Professor Zhong has contributed to the development of foundational GIS software, the growth of China’s domestic GIS industry, and the wider application of geographic information technologies in China and internationally.