Ismail Serageldin gave the opening Keynote address to the 19th Congress of the International Society for Photogrametry and Remote sensing (ISPRS). The Congress, held every four years, represents the largest gathering of its kind, with some 2000 specialists gathering in Amsterdam for lectures, seminars, exhibitions and networking. This Congress' theme, "Geo-information for All" , was reflected in inviting Serageldin to open the proceedings with a strong plea representing the user's perspective. Ismail argued that by adopting the user's perspective and thinking about the demand side for data, it was very likely that the work of the ISPRS members could become crucial to decision making about the greatest challenges of our times from sustainable farming to effective natural resource management and better urban planning. The speech was very well received.