TIR-FOR is a project promoted by the International Union of Academies (UAI) and coordinated by the TIR-FOR International Commission. It derives from the union of two projects related to the ancient cartographic topography of the Roman world: Tabula Imperii Romani (TIR) and Forma Orbis Romani (FOR), both designed with scientific aims, as extensive collaborations between countries and unified in the UAI General Assembly of 2004.

As a result of this unification, the Commission has started to renew the methodology in order to digitise both the process and the product. Therefore, since 2014, a unified approach had been developed creating a single database valid for the entire Roman Empire enabling each research team to work locally using this centralised database. This multiplies its potential. It has the aim of extending its use to broad sectors of the population and to become a fundamental application resulting in an increase of our knowledge and enjoyment of the archaeological and antiquarian heritage.

The challenge for the International Commission is to ensure that this cultural heritage promotes an awareness of our common past and encourages research within the concept of citizen science. The instrument being constructed today has huge potential to keep the Roman past alive both in cultural and social terms via the world of the Internet and new information and communication technologies, helping to integrate the real world in the virtual world.