János Szilágyi

He was a leading figure in Hungarian map digitization and geospatial information, one of the founders of the profession in Hungary, and also a significant businessman.

As a young man, he worked in the Public Works Department at the Cartographic Company.
A significant turning point in his life was a posting to Libya (1982 - 1984, LAMKÉV Road and Railway Construction Company). With the income he earned there as a surveyor, he started his own business in 1987, the Geometria Small Cooperative (later Geometria Térinformatikai Rendszerház Kft.). He was not only the founder of the company, but also the main owner and manager until his death. In addition to map digitization and the construction of map databases along the concepts he had built, Geometria was also widely involved in public utility IT (the creation of technical IT systems for public utilities): it became a cooperating partner and supplier to many domestic public utility companies. It also carried out significant activities for foreign orders and founded a subsidiary abroad.

He established the Hungis Foundation for Geographic Information Systems in Hungary; he played a decisive role in the establishment and - due to his support - the survival of the journal Geographic Information Systems.