Szilárd Szabó

His first articles were published at the turn of the 1960s and 1970s in the journal of the University of Chemical Industry of Veszprém (VVE), in our University, and in the Veszprémi Napló.

After graduating from university, he worked as a chemical engineer at the Chemical Industry Design Company (VEGYTERV), which was internationally renowned at the time. There, he became acquainted with computer technology, which was still a novelty at the time. He independently learned how to operate and program the GIER type computer, which was considered the cutting edge in Eastern Europe.

Meanwhile, he was interested in the social utilization of technical innovations. He participated in the work of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences' Institute of Sociology on innovation research, where, under the supervision of Pál Tamás, he participated in the research on the issue of computer-aided engineering design in the then EEC (Council for Mutual Economic Assistance) countries. In connection with this work, he came into contact with the National Technical Development Committee (OMFB) and the Innoteam working group, who were working on the renewal of the economic life of the time. It was at their encouragement that he prepared his doctoral dissertation.

As a programmer, he participated in the creation of the membership registration system of the Hungarian Journalists' National Association (MÚOSZ), which was created on a Commodore computer. At that time, he noticed the trade journal, which was still only an idea at the time and was later published under the name Mikrovilág, which was the first computer publication specifically for young people, and he became a founding member of it. Later, Mikrovilág, together with the then existing Számítástechnika magazine, became the property of IDG. Here, he transferred to Computerworld-Számítástechnika, the flagship of the company group; there he created the Térinformatika newsletter, the Térinformatika magazine that would soon become an actual trade journal. However, the publisher did not find this economical, and this led to a disagreement between them. At that time, he chose the extremely risky Térinformatika magazine, which was then produced under his leadership.

In addition to his editorial work, he also participated in the professional life of GIS in Hungary. He was a member of the board of trustees of the Hungarian Foundation for GIS (HUNGIS) and the organizing committee of the annual GIS Conferences.

Meanwhile, he participated in numerous other conferences, often as a speaker. His articles were published in renowned foreign journals, e.g. in GIS World. He also participated in several research projects. Under his leadership, the Geographic Information System Sourcebook was prepared over the years. He paid special attention to documenting the history of the profession. In this context, he co-authored the book "Chapters from the history of Hungarian geographic information systems from the beginning to 2000: I remember only the beautiful...", as well as a memorial volume about the outstanding personality of this field, János Szilágyi, who passed away prematurely.

As a retiree, he participated in collecting data on NJSZT awardees in 2017. He is currently the deputy editor-in-chief of the online newspaper Rekreátor and works as a technical and scientific expert.