The International Society of Precision Agriculture (ISPA) is a scientific organization that was initially conceived by the founders of the precision farming idea in Minnesota in the early 90's.  The first International Conference on Precision Agriculture (ICPA) was held in 1992 and was heavily attended by scientists from around the world.  Similarly, the European Conference on Precision Agriculture (ECPA) began in 1997 in Europe.  The two events worked together to ensure that each year a conference focused on Precision Agriculture took place, ICPA being held on even numbered years and ECPA on odd numbered years.  After several years, the discussion turned to forming a new society that would support those interested in precision agriculture.  This society would not only help promote precision agriculture globally but also bring scientists and others together.  On July 23^rd, 2008 during the 9^th International Conference on Precision Agriculture, a global panel of precision agriculture representatives signed the Declaration of Intent to form the International Society of Precision Agriculture. 

After the hard work and dedication of several people, ISPA was formed and officially registered as a society in June 2010 with the first board elected during the 10th ICPA, and the first society business meeting held in Denver, Colorado on July 21^st, 2010.  ISPA operates as a 501(c)3 non-profit organization registered in the State of Illinois (USA) in Piatt County.  The ISPA Board featured 4 members who were elected with an executive secretary who supports day to day activities of the society.  In 2024, the ISPA Board revised the bylaws, which included expanding the board to nine individuals that included 4 officers plus 5 regional representatives.  The Board expansion was completed to ensure global representation on the board and to provide input from around the globe on the future direction of ISPA. 

In 2018, ISPA began the process of creating a Precision Agriculture (PA) definition.  This process was led by then ISPA President Nicolas Tremblay, then Board Secretary Viacheslav Adamchuck, and ISPA member Alex Escolá.  They along with feedback from the ISPA membership and a panel of 46 PA experts worked together to come up with the first official Precision Agriculture definition of the International Society of Precision Agriculture.  In 2023 the ISPA Board, led by John Fulton, determined that is was time to expand upon the PA definition and ensure that the definition can be applied to all areas of agriculture.  Again, the ISPA membership provided feedback on revisions, and in January 2024 the updated Precision Agriculture definition was approved. 

Mission Statement: 

The mission of ISPA is to advance the science, education and practice of precision and digital agriculture globally. 

Vision Statement:

Developing solutions to feed the world and improve the quality of life with new technologies.  

The Purpose of ISPA is to: 

• Organize and conduct international conferences related to precision agriculture (PA), such as the International Conference on Precision Agriculture (ICPA), European Conference on Precision Agriculture (ECPA), Latin American Precision Agriculture Conference (CLAP), African Conference on Precision Agriculture (AfCPA), Asian-Australasian Conference on Precision Agriculture (ACPA) and other related conferences.
• Facilitate interaction and exchange among scientists, educators, extension or outreach personnel, technology developers, service providers, policymakers, and users of precision and digital agriculture technologies
• Develop and maintain a web-portal to communicate the latest developments in PA with the world, and maintain a member listserv(s) to communicate among society members.
• Publish an ISPA newsletter monthly for members and other subscribers.
• Support, to the length possible, precision or digital agriculture conferences and similar activities around the world including ISPA-partnered regional precision or digital agriculture conferences.   
• Collaborate, to the length possible, with leading farmers and similar organizations around the world.
• Provide members an opportunity for publication of original scientific manuscripts in the society sponsored, peer-reviewed journal (Precision Agriculture referred to commonly as PRAG). 

The documents listed below dive deeper into the history of precision agriculture and ISPA: 

• The 10th ICPA History and Declaration of Intent to Form the ISPA
• Historical Evolution and Recent Advances in Precision Farming
• History of Precision Agriculture and On-Farm Experimentation