By every usage indicator imaginable, the platform’s second phase has taken off: following its early‑2023 debut of Open Maps for Europe 2 (OME2), over 18,000 people have retrieved roughly 15,500 continent‑wide data sets and triggered around 96.4 million calls to its web services.

Over the course of two calendar cycles, audience numbers on the interface grew dramatically, with Open Maps for Europe rising by roughly 450% from about 4,000 to a little above 22,000 participants, many exploring pan‑European open data.

Prototype and Pan-European High-Value Data

As a standout example of this momentum, the OME2 large‑scale high‑value prototype drew 600 registrations to access high‑value data, surpassing the initial aim of 150 by more than fourfold.

Pan-European Open Data: New Production Process

After going live during 2024, an authoritative 1:10,000 resource that spans administrative areas, transport links, and hydrography across 10 countries has already prompted almost 5,000 WFS requests. Behind the scenes, the first output produced with a new production process from the National Institute of Geographic and Forest Information (IGN France) assembles edge‑matched official geospatial content as core geospatial data, drawing on data from national mapping authorities.

In the consortium, a not‑for‑profit network representing Europe’s national mapping bodies — EuroGeographics — worked alongside National Geographic Institute (Belgium), Hellenic Cadastre, Spain’s General Directorate for the Cadastre, and the Netherlands’ Cadastre, Land Registry and Mapping Agency, with IGN France also a partner.

Articles

Ome2: Open Maps For Europe 2 Milestones And High-value Prototype

Across high-stakes sea operations, a mapping platform establishes a new reference point for automating printed navigation used in paper chart series and modern nautical charts.

Custom Chart Builder Adoption in Maritime

After months of internal acceptance checks and setup, the national sea‑chart authority formally selected Esri’s CCB to automate generation of every printed navigation sheet within ArcGIS Maritime workflows. Following successful demonstrations of compliance with strict naval safety rules in France, the team finalized the move, marking a step change in digital marine cartography and confirming a safe path to scale paper chart production.

From the vantage point of the principal maritime consultant, removing hand edits makes it possible to issue regulation‑ready paper chart products in far less time and at lower cost. According to him, the endorsement by the national hydrographic authority positions the CCB solution from Esri as a dependable option for offices around the world and speeds the shift to e‑navigation and digital‑first production.

During the past year, multiple vendors were reviewed before the team opted for the CCB suite from Esri because it automates creation using Electronic Navigational Charts (ENCs). Joint development efforts, including tailored portrayal and chart scale controls, delivered renderings that align with the French Navy’s operational expectations. The result is a repeatable, efficient approach that upholds safety and compliance while freeing resources—well suited to ArcGIS Enterprise scenarios where organizations want to deploy a web‑based app to generate information products in real time.

Custom Chart Builder Transforms Nautical Chart Production

For professionals focused on outcomes, mobile checks and automated dimensional control translate into an advantage for makers through the FARO CREAFORM portfolio, and dependable insight for construction, public‑sector safety, and geospatial specialists comes from real‑world capture delivered by FARO INSIGHT, with handheld options designed for work in the field.

Shaped by the parent organization, this reconfiguration alters how organizations pursue precision work across the field, with support from AMETEK. Previously housed within the company, the 3D measurement operation moves forward in tandem with Creaform under the FARO CREAFORM banner, creating a unified division that delivers reliable results so plant and service teams can act quickly. At the same time, the practice responsible for turning the physical world into usable information will operate as FARO INSIGHT. Announced jointly by the companies, the move brings together expertise from two groups, namely FARO Technologies and Creaform.

By design, the redesign boosts customer value, quickens innovation cycles, and combines strengths to fuel durable expansion across measurement workflows.

Under seasoned leadership, metrology becomes more mobile: Fanny Truchon will guide FARO CREAFORM to advance 3D metrology that is easier to use and impactful for manufacturers, offering improved outcomes, a better experience, and one accountable contact across the full catalog, including handheld options.

Working alongside Virtek Vision, Dietmar Wennemer will steer a new environment at the company that carries teams from field collection to results—seamless capture, conversion of point clouds, plus governed data sharing and management for digital‑twin workflows across AEC&O, public‑sector safety, and geospatial. Across the INSIGHT umbrella, outputs from a 3D scanner connect to insight with minimal friction.

Faro Creaform And Digital Reality: A Unified Metrology Path

Smart growth has long served as a guiding framework for sustainable development, promoting compact communities, efficient land use, and improved quality of life. However, as urban and regional challenges grow more complex, planners and decision-makers need tools that go beyond traditional approaches.

Geodesign enhances smart growth by integrating geographic data, analytical modeling, and design thinking into a single, collaborative process. Together, these approaches support better-informed decisions and more resilient outcomes.

Smart growth focuses on development strategies that balance economic vitality, environmental stewardship, and social equity. Core principles typically include efficient land use, mixed-use development, transportation choices, and the preservation of natural and cultural resources.

While these principles remain highly relevant, applying them effectively requires a clear understanding of spatial relationships, trade-offs, and long-term impacts—areas where conventional planning methods may fall short.

Geodesign is a framework that combines geographic science with design processes to evaluate how proposed changes affect people, places, and systems. By using spatial data and modeling, geodesign allows planners to explore multiple scenarios and understand potential outcomes before decisions are implemented.

This approach encourages collaboration among stakeholders, enabling designers, analysts, and policymakers to work from a shared geographic context.

When geodesign is applied to smart growth initiatives, it strengthens the ability to test ideas, measure impacts, and refine strategies. Planners can assess how land-use decisions influence transportation networks, environmental conditions, and community needs in near real time.

By visualizing alternatives and understanding consequences early in the process, geodesign reduces uncertainty and helps align development goals with sustainability objectives.

The integration of smart growth and geodesign supports a wide range of planning efforts, including:

Community engagement and scenario evaluation

These applications help organizations make informed choices that balance growth with long-term resilience

As communities continue to face pressures from population growth, climate change, and economic shifts, the need for adaptive and data-driven planning approaches becomes increasingly important. Geodesign provides a powerful way to evolve smart growth principles, enabling smarter, more transparent, and more sustainable decisions.

By making smart growth smarter, geodesign supports communities in shaping futures that are both practical and visionary.

Enhancing Smart Growth with Geodesign

By means of the … film … it would be possible to infuse certain subjects, such as geography, which is at present wound off organ-like in the forms of dead descriptions, with the pulsating life of a metropolis. - Albert Einstein.

It may be argued that the very heart of geography and GIS is constituted in large part by the practice of looking and is, in effect, the stuff of images. If we agree, then geo-visualization is highlighted as an important disciplinary and practical endeavor. The last two decades witnessed increasing recognition of the power of articulate, moving images to intervene in the ongoing transformations of everyday geography, and yet there remains a reticence within the geo-visualization community to fully embrace the emotional power of cinema.

This essay is about the intensification of emotional life that is possible through moving spatial images. Our primary assumption is that while data visualized through GIS can be provocative, it is often joyless and over-calculated, with a tendency for the program to overwhelm the content. Even the best GIS-visualized data is often more interesting to think about than to experience, more interesting to create than to comprehend - it is most often not the product of a searching soul but of a highly computer-literate mind. And so we argue that although today’s geovisualized data and digitally formatted movies may look different and may appear to have separate functions, they are both digital, pixelized, spatial data that engages users/consumers in similar ways. The problem for geographers and GIS specialists, we submit, is that cinematic landscapes, in which humans and human culture play a very important part, are a much more powerful producer of emotional geographies than static or animated cartographies, no matter how the data are visualized. If cinema is more concerned with engaging emotions than celebrating computerized visuals, then why should this not also be the case for geovisualizations? As neurologist Antonio Damasio (1994) has shown, emotions are a huge part of, and are not separate from, our intellectual reasoning.

Think back to the last time you lost yourself in a series of contours, shadings and cartographic symbols. Perhaps you have a treasured map at hand that will do the job for you right now (indeed, the boundlessness of imagination enables continuous return to the same map for fresh marvels). This process involves a particularly quirky engagement, pouring over the image to the extent that we may lose a conscious connection to our corporeality. The space between our conscious knowledge of our bodies and the borders of the map merge. Perhaps time disappears. We are lost to the task of imagining what it would be like to be in this place for the first time. We imagine tramping over the hills or along the streets depicted in the map. We pick up maps of exotic places and indulge our amazement at the contemporaneous heterogeneity of the planet, what Doreen Massey (2005, 15) calls "spatial delight." There may even be an imagining that projects knowledge of local weather, waves, tides, or of the ways mists curl around mountain tops – knowledge not directly accessible from the map.

And there is other knowledge not necessarily accessible from the maps, which gives us pause. Two decades of warnings from cartographers such as Brian Harley, Dennis Woods and Mark Monmonier highlight the inherent power of maps: the grotesque distortions of variety and uniqueness, the colonialism, the propaganda, the god-trick, the diminishing/submersion of certain subjects for others. Even with these admonitions and understandings, there is still wonder.

We argue, and this is our central twist, that more so than cartography, cinema produces wonders that affectively engage and absorb us - they intensify our lives, if only momentarily. There is no reason why geovisualized data should not do the same.

So, let us think for a moment about the mechanics behind the emotional wonders of moving images. Cinema is a particular kind of movement propagated by single picture frames passing rapidly in front of a projection light at a prescribed rate; in its digital form the movement is accomplished by changing hues and colors of the individual pixels that compose the viewing screen.

The active promotion of images in motion in the United States began on June 13, 1891 when Harper’s Weekly announced that Thomas Edison had invented a kinetograph, a combination of a moving picture machine and a phonograph. The 1902 Sears catalogue described the kinetoscope’s ability to render a "pictorial representation, not lifelike merely, but apparently life itself, with every movement, every action and every detail brought so vividly before the audience" (quoted in Denzin 1995, 16). What was revolutionary about the kinetoscope was its power over the image. By the 1920s Soviet filmmaker Sergei Eisenstein was breaking ground with kino-pravda (film truth). Eisenstein’s notion of "the-image-in-motion-over-time-through-space-with-sequence" was about filmic rhythm and the ways film time-space could be manipulated for fullest effect (see Figure 3 and Aitken 1991). Eisenstein’s image-event was not about presenting real life, or even film as a mirror of real life. The focus of kino-pravda on filmic rhythms, sequences, framings, spectacles, jump cuts and montages was about the creation of illusion to the extent that we, the consumers of the images, would suspend our disbelief.

From cartography, DiBiase and his colleagues (1992, 206), closely paralleling the earlier thoughts of Eisenstein, extend spatial images into the realm of non-static, animated representations existing within two or three spatial dimensions plus a temporal dimension. Their dynamic variables of duration (the number of units of time that a scene is displayed), rate of change (a proportion formed by the magnitude of change in an attribute and the duration of scene), and order (the logic of chronological sequencing of scenes associated with a time-series data set) are used to form dynamic representations. This is precisely what Eisenstein did with kino-pravda, but his focus was on the emotional impact - he called it shock-value - of the image-event.

Geographers learn from looking and the geovisualization approaches established by DiBiase, but also Cartwright, MacEachren and others, offer a unique way of interpreting visual representations. Indeed, MacEachren’s famous elaboration of semiotics to cartography is about a science and art that is closely connected to the study of film (see Aitken and Craine 2005). Let us assume that geography must move past pure semiotics and cognitive theory in order to open up the discipline to fresh investigation. Further, geovisualization must refuse to take vision for granted and should, instead, insist on "problematizing", theorizing, critiquing and "historicalizing" the visual process. As a case in point, data exploration through the use of "map metaphors," Cartwright (2004, 32) famously argues, is changed to "new forms of multisensory and multimedia communication" where visual information gathering is augmented with other sensory stimuli. Unfortunately, Cartwright stops short of exploring the important dimensions of affect and absorption.

With the recognition of multimedia as a viable way to communicate geographic information, we can examine how new technologies provide new modes of data exploration and new forms of analysis and cognition through affect. To take just one example, Platt (1995) shows how ‘storytelling’ offers the user the option of engaging the geography of a particular place. Video-gaming is a case in point where filmic digital images are merged with usable/controllable products to create innumerable storylines. Imagine the young gamer deftly avoiding missiles and light-beams from enemy fighters and courageously engaging the enemy in LucasArts’ Star Wars series as a Death Star brings its planet-destroying cannon on the unsuspecting world below. Her passion may for some border on addiction, but it is nothing if it is not self-absorbed. Do you recognize something important about the ways young people engage with these games? Watch her weave in and out of the canyons that comprise the surface of the Death Star. And like Luke Skywalker feeling the force, she successfully sends missiles down the postage stamp opening into the main reactor. Boom! We are treated to a spectacular conflagration. Next level and a new storyline. She is now ramping down a hierarchy of scaled images towards the planet below. The images coalesce in a way that suspends her disbelief about a myriad of pixels changing hue. Indeed, she has no knowledge of the mechanics of digital animation. She is simply hurtling towards the surface to chase some of the renegade enemy fighters that escape the conflagration aboard the Death Star. Now she is down in some desert canyons, chasing more enemy fighters. You are impressed at this time with the way she negotiates scale. The pixels change hue to form digital images of dynamic landscapes – aerial photographs if you will – from the planetary scale down to just above the desert floor.

We’d like to finish with a thought about the ways film and animation contrive the stories of our lives. We believe that this is about the power of moving images to create spaces and affect societal change. And it is about the subtle pervasiveness of these images in contemporary culture. Einstein (opening epigram) was right when he suggested that geographers do not appreciate the power of the moving image. Nor do we know how to use that power to better the world in which we live through emotion-charged geovisualization. Obviously, this power goes way beyond video-gaming. As we are absorbed into mobile geographic images, it is possible also to be affected by the power of those images to highlight social injustice, geographies of AIDS, or the tragedies of the global sex-trade. Affective geo-visualizations are soulful; they tug at our hearts to the extent that we may be mobilized to action.

Guest Editorial: Affective Geovisualizations

PCI announced its support for the deployment of the GXL system on the Amazon cloud, enabling faster, more scalable product development and delivery. By leveraging cloud infrastructure, the GXL platform enhances performance, flexibility, and accessibility for organizations managing complex geospatial and enterprise data workflows.

The move to a cloud-based environment reflects PCI’s ongoing commitment to innovation and to helping customers reduce infrastructure overhead while improving speed to market and operational efficiency.

The GXL system is designed to support data-intensive applications that require reliability, scalability, and rapid deployment. Hosting the system on the Amazon cloud allows organizations to dynamically scale resources, optimize performance, and ensure high availability without the constraints of traditional on-premises environments.

By using cloud-native services, PCI enables faster system updates, improved collaboration, and streamlined deployment across distributed teams.

Benefits for Product Development and Delivery

Deploying the GXL system in the cloud provides several key advantages:

Faster product deployment and update cycles

Improved system scalability and reliability

Reduced infrastructure and maintenance costs

Greater flexibility to adapt to changing business needs

These benefits help organizations bring products to market more efficiently while maintaining performance and security.

Supporting Innovation Through Cloud Computing

PCI continues to support cloud-based strategies that align with modern enterprise and geospatial technology requirements. The deployment of GXL on Amazon cloud infrastructure demonstrates how cloud computing can accelerate innovation, simplify system management, and support long-term growth.

This approach allows customers to focus on product development and business outcomes rather than infrastructure complexity.

PCI is a technology-focused organization supporting advanced systems and solutions for enterprise and geospatial applications. With an emphasis on innovation, scalability, and performance, PCI helps organizations adopt modern platforms that enable efficient data management and informed decision-making.

PCI Supports Deployment of GXL System on Amazon Cloud to Accelerate Product Delivery

The Town of Wausau, Wisconsin is a rural community in Central Wisconsin with a population of 2,229 (Census 2010). The geographic extent of the town is 37.7 square miles. The political boundary of the town coincides with one surveyed township of the U.S. Public Land Survey System (PLSS) and is subdivided into 36 surveyed sections, each with an area of approximately one square mile. The western boundary of the town is irregular due to annexations by the neighboring City of Wausau (population 39,106, Census 2010) (Figure 1).

The Wausau Town Board wanted to survey the town’s residents on the need for specific services, the willingness of community members to pay for specific services, and other key issues important to the community especially during an economic downturn. The town board contracted with the Wisconsin Institute of Public Policy and Service (WIPPS) in October 2010 to formulate survey questions, compile results, incorporate the survey results within a GIS, and complete a final report. WIPPS is a unit within the University of Wisconsin Colleges and the University of Wisconsin Extension, and is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization tasked with providing meaningful public outreach to the people of Wisconsin. The town realized a significant savings by partnering with WIPPS to complete the project. My role in the project, as a faculty member at the University of Wisconsin, was as co-principal investigator.

The Town of Wausau has a population density of 59 people per square mile. (By comparison, the City of Wausau, which borders the Town of Wausau on the east, has a population density of 2,082 people per square mile.) Examination of the Town of Wausau’s 2006 comprehensive plan indicates that various agricultural pursuits comprise the leading land use in town at 48.5%. Woodlands and wetlands account for 25.8% and 13.4% respectively of the town’s total land area. There is little commercial development, with only 0.4% of the land area devoted to commercial pursuits. Residential development accounts for 6.8% of the land use in the community and is greatest in the western third of the town that borders on the City of Wausau. Population growth has been slow over the last 40 years with a population change of 141 persons (6.2%) between the 1970 and 2010 censuses.

One of the major problems in conducting social surveys in rural areas like the Town of Wausau is the need to protect the anonymity of the respondents. The problem is enhanced when the information is incorporated into a GIS and portrayed as mapped data. The potential exists in rural communities with low population densities for community members to identify responses provided by individual households. Several members of the community expressed concern about this issue and it was a major discussion point between the town board and WIPPS in the formulation and design of the survey and the GIS. The problem was how to present the survey results in a mapped context without compromising the anonymity of the respondents.

The problem was solved by using surveyed PLSS sections of the township as a map grid by which the results of survey questions were reported (Figure 2). The responses to the survey questions were broken down by surveyed section using the MYSTAT (version 12) statistical software package and mapped using Caliper’s Maptitude (version 5) GIS. Surveyed sections are regularly used as the mapping units for various geological, biological and agricultural studies, but not for mapping the results of data collected from social surveys. I did an extensive search for projects using PLSS sections to map social data in rural America and didn’t find any others.

Surveys were sent to all households in the town in October 2010. The residential database of the town was the source of the addresses. Slightly more than 900 surveys were mailed and 505 households returned completed surveys, representing a return rate of 56% (Figure 3). The survey required approximately 10 minutes to complete. All survey responses were anonymous. The first question on the survey asked the respondents to identify the section of the township in which they lived. A map was provided for reference purposes. In Wisconsin, land records for deeds and taxation are kept using the PLSS system, so residents would be very familiar with a PLSS section map. We were confident that they would be able to successfully identify their section. Several background questions were asked of respondents which pertained to the socioeconomic characteristics of the household, including median age, level of educational attainment and household income. Specific questions related to key issues facing the town used a modified Likert scale to determine the strength of agreement or disagreement for each of the questions. The results of the survey had a 95% confidence level with an error range of plus or minus 3%.

The Town of Wausau is an older, middle class community with a median population age between 45 and 54 years and a median income between $50,000 and $74,999. Most of the respondents were high school graduates with some college. The average resident had lived in the community between 11 and 20 years and 95% of the residents owned their own homes.

Several survey questions were designed to gather information about the public services which residents wanted, and their willingness to pay for these services. These public services included: fire service, ambulance service, snow plowing and sanding, road maintenance, garbage and recycling pickup, asphalt roads, town constable and police, town ordinance enforcement, update and upgrade of equipment, and building upgrades and remodeling. The level of the importance of each service to the town’s residents and their willingness to pay for each service were each ranked according to the number of responses received. A Spearman ranked correlation coefficient (non-parametric test for ranked statistical data) was calculated to test for the level of agreement between the residents’ expressed need for specific public services and their willingness to pay for them. The calculated Spearman correlation coefficient was r = 0.983 at a 95% confidence level. The results of the statistical analysis revealed an almost perfect correlation between the public services desired by the residents and their willingness to pay for them.

The survey addressed many other key issues facing the town. Questions pertaining to these issues used a modified Likert scale to gather responses. With each of the questions, residents could express their level of agreement or disagreement. The Likert scale facilitated the mapping of the response data. Proportional pie charts were used to summarize the results for each question by surveyed section. One key issue facing the town is its future development. The question, “Do you think the Town of Wausau needs more commercial development such as offices, retail stores, or service business?” was asked to explore the residents’ opinions on future commercial development. The majority of residents responded that the situation was fine as it was (Figure 4). Another key issue of concern to the town was the aesthetics of the community. The opinion on this issue was about equal for and against, as seen in the responses to the question, “Should the Town of Wausau create and enforce ordinances to ensure appearance standards for lawns, yards, and home property generally?” (Figure 5).

Other issues addressed by the survey pertained to safety issues facing the community such as geographic restrictions on the use of firearms during deer hunting season, especially in more populated areas of the town. Figure 6 shows that most residents felt that there should be no hunting allowed in residential areas, along subdivision borders, or along the city border. A minority of the respondents felt there should not be restrictions to hunting on private land. The presence of certain dog breeds within the town limits was also a concern of the community because of the potential for attacks on the residents. Most residents felt there should be no restrictions to different dog breeds in the community in response to the question, “Should certain dog breeds be banned from the town of Wausau?” (Figure 7).

The use of surveyed sections of the PLSS as the mapping unit to present data collected from rural areas is a straightforward method to portray information in a geographic context. In the United States, access to digital geographic files for the PLSS is universal and easily incorporated into a GIS. The method allows for the preservation of the anonymity of respondents and also allows for the visual presentation of information to decision makers. This project also demonstrates that programs affiliated with state universities, like WIPPS, through their community outreach efforts can provide rural communities the expertise and resources needed to complete complex projects in a timely manner with a significant cost savings.

Integrating Social Survey Data and GIS to Determine the Needs of a Rural Community in a Geographic Context

Today's GeoInspiration is Dr. Grant Ian Thrall, a man for whom I have gained much respect over the years, speaking with and listening to him at the business geography sessions at the American Association of Geographers conference and at the Applied Geography Conference. Dr. Thrall holds degrees in economics, business and geography — the last from The Ohio State University — and has been tirelessly merging these three fields for decades. He also bridges the academic, nonprofit and business sectors, serving as president of the American Real Estate Society, which produces six trade journals and has 1,650 members, while owning his own consulting firm, Business Geography Advisors. I view him as a true bridge-builder, helping scores of students, faculty and decision-makers in many different fields understand the value of decision-making with a geographic perspective. 

Dr. Thrall entered the field of geography a bit differently than our other GeoInspirations. Rather than being inspired by a class or mentor, it was experience itself which taught him the importance of geographic study.

"It was geographic phenomena and geographic reasoning that drew my interest to what I would learn, much later in my education, that some considered my interests [as actually focused on] geography," he explained.

"My parents were Route 66 people from central Ohio. My dad had been a college professor and a superintendent of a school district. They drove Route 66 to Colorado Boulevard in Pasadena, turned left and bought a house. My dad accepted a teaching post at a high school. His job opportunities were limited because he had become physically handicapped as had Bob Dole in WWII; like Bob Dole, my dad had lost the use of his left elbow. This is important to this story only in that as many fathers would play sports with their sons, mine did not. Instead, my dad would drive the family in his car along each new interstate and to each new development in the high-growth Los Angeles of the 1950s. We would discuss what was being built and to be built, where and why. We were doing urban business geography, not knowing it was geography.

"I was fortunate to spend my junior year of high school in London, England. Twenty years after WWII, London was still rebuilding from the damage of the blitz. London was a very different urban place than Los Angeles. I could take the Tube most anywhere. London was a walkable city. In Los Angeles, I was geographically limited to where a driver’s license holder was willing to take me. I continued to think about urban space, land use, land use patterns, vintage of place.

"Upon returning to Los Angeles, my mother began working at General Electric. She became head of marketing for GE West Coast, one of the first three women executives at GE. Today we hear 'Fathers, take your daughters to work for a day.' In my case, it was my mother who took me to work. 'Grant, your assignment for the week is to calculate cannibalization of the surrounding GE white good franchises if GE agrees to add a new franchise at this address, and [determine] whether the new franchise will be viable.' This was in the era before big box appliance stores," Dr. Thrall continued.

"These projects expanded my interest and knowledge of how business decisions affect land use patterns, and what would be a good business decision for development of a location – not all locations have the same opportunity. Like-kind locations might have the same opportunity.

"My parents’ choice of purchasing a residence near the California Institute of Technology would also be a significant force in my academic orientation. Later, while I was majoring in economics and business at California State University at Los Angeles, and while working my way through college, one of my many job experiences was working at Caltech. I had the good fortune to become immersed in Caltech’s quality academic culture; that became the standard by which I have evaluated education institutions since that experience. I have been excited to watch Neil deGrasse Tyson’s commentaries on the 1960s faculty at Caltech; I knew these people. Many worthwhile experiences. I walked with Dr. Clair Cameron Patterson along Colorado Boulevard, and conversed with him about the harm of lead fumes to human life and the environment from gasoline additives. Clair Patterson sowed the seeds in me of environmental awareness and being a good earth steward.

"In a counseling session in the College of Business at CSULA, I told the academic advisor what I wanted to study. I was told there were no such classes at the university, no such academic discipline. Just fit in, do what is required and graduate. That advice left me unfulfilled.

"Lunchtime friends at CSULA were philosophy majors. They were excited that Professor John Hospers had accepted a position at CSULA and recommended that I enroll in his courses. I did. John would subsequently become chair of the Philosophy Department at University of Southern California – benefits of proximity and agglomeration – and he would be the first nominee for President of the United States by the Libertarian Party. I benefited and still allude to John’s teachings and writings; but I did not become an unquestioning disciple.

"John Hospers and Ayn Rand were intellectual partners at the time. John the academic, Ayn the populist, the communicator to the average person, the non-academic. A key axiom of their thesis is no relevant interdependencies, no relevant externalities; if there were such phenomena, the market would adjust, making the phenomena irrelevant with no harm done. Indeed, government action to control the externality would be worse than the harm caused by the externality. I found this impossible to reconcile with what I had learned from Clair Patterson at Caltech. Much later, my Ph.D. dissertation dealt with the topic of public goods and externalities; not being satisfied with my work on this topic, I revised the formulation and published in a Regional Science journal, “Public Goods, Externalities, and the Consumption Theory of Land Rent.” I received letters from very distinguished economists upon its publication that I had solved one of the most difficult economic topics of the time period. Motivation and relevant problem identification from experience.

"I graduated from CSULA and received an assistantship in economics at The Ohio State University. There, my graduate advisor was Dr. John Weicher, an urban economist. However, before I graduated, he left OSU to become assistant secretary of HUD. Knowing my interests, he recommended I enroll in some geography classes.

"At the same time John advised me to enroll in geography classes to fulfill my urban economics program, I was dating Susan Elshaw, also a graduate student at OSU, and whom I would later marry. Her apartment roommate was Allison, who was dating Dr. Reg Golledge, professor of geography at OSU. Geography and economics were at the time mixed up together in Hagerty Hall, the old business school building. Reg convinced me to finish my Ph.D. in geography with a minor in economics, rather than the vice versa of finishing in economics with a minor in geography. Easy sell, since my economics advisor had just left for HUD in Washington, D.C. So after my M.A. in economics, I enrolled in my first course in geography. I found the topics of urban economic geography relevant to my long-standing interest, and was attracted to the newly developing technology of GIS which would prove important to my empirical work. Professors Reg Golledge and Emilio Casetti were my co-advisors in geography," Dr. Thrall said

"My becoming a geographer, my particular value platform as a geographer, has been more of a process than a decision of which box to check when declaring a college major. It has been more an evolution from experiences than a single class or book; the class and book helped me to structure my thoughts on the topic in a comprehensible manner. Later I created the Scientific Geography Series ten volume collection of monographs in part to assist myself in understanding relevant geography literature, and structuring the body of relevant knowledge. I have been multidisciplinary, which fits with the geography discipline’s belief that it is integrative of other disciplines; I have found universities to be more about silos of disciplines. Geography has its own spatial reasoning and theory, its own GIS and spatial statistics methods, and its own set of substantive topics that are accepted as core to the discipline. I am fortunate and humbled that my contributions in business geography (location intelligence) have served to create part of what is now accepted as core, and not available when I was a student.

"Individuals that I hold as most important in my intellectual development in geography are geographers Reginald Golledge and Emilio Casetti; urban economist John Weicher; philosopher and Libertarian Party nominee for POTUS John Hospers; and the Homer Hoyt Institute," Dr. Thrall said.

Of what projects is Dr. Thrall proudest to have been a part? 

"The creation of Business Geography as an accepted university core curriculum whose graduates are in high demand by business; the creation of the AAG Business Geography Specialty Group; being elected to president of American Real Estate Society; having my work quoted in The Economist; my varied entrepreneurial endeavors; my ten volume Scientific Geography Series; Land Use and Urban Form: The Consumption Theory of Land Rent; Business Geography and New Real Estate Market Analysis which was subsequently used to jump start the rewriting with several ARES members and CCIM practitioners, CCIM 102 Real Estate Market Analysis Curriculum and CCIM/ESRI STDB.com; my monthly columns in GeoSpatial Solutions GIS trade publication from circa 1990 to circa 2007; and I would like to mention having been chair of Gainesville Redevelopment Agency, effectively providing me a “test tube” for my land use theory and business geography / location intelligence methods; the City of Gainesville awarded me two consecutive days as 'Grant Thrall Days',” he said.

With this vast experience from which to draw, I was eager to hear what issues Dr. Thrall sees as those most important to the geography community today. "Be equally rigorous and relevant," he told me. "Maintain focus on skills needed for employment within and outside the university. In addition to being academic as in “normal science,” be entrepreneurial. Be both a teacher scholar and a practitioner scholar.

His advice to new geographers? "Same as Indiana Jones gave to students in the library as he slid through on the back of his son’s Harley Davidson motorcycle: Get out of the library and classroom and experience geography as done by practitioners," he replied.

May we all heed Dr. Thrall's advice, be rigorous in our methods, think outside the box, blaze our own trails when there are none to follow, promote geographic thinking in many disciplines, and tirelessly serve the community.

If you are interested in reading more about Dr. Thrall and his work, he has an extensive library of resources on his website, YouTube channel and across various other media:

Dr Thrall’s YouTube channel focuses on location, spatial economics, consumer behavior, geography, education, geospatial data and technology, and related topics.

A selection of his books can be found on Amazon.

Dr. Thrall’s homepage includes links to reprints and working papers, his resume, news interviews, and video presentations.

The Gainesville Sun published this article, Thrall Masters the Business of Geography, about the man and his workin 2013.

GeoInspirations: Grant Ian Thrall, Bridging Geography, Business and Economics

The U.S. Constitution is one of the most brilliant documents ever written for the foundation of a democratic nation-state. As it says, it is “the supreme law of the land.” Its laws, and the laws established therefrom, apply to all Americans equally.

However, are laws always applied equally? There is no doubt that despite our highest ideals, injustice in social and environmental equality still exists in the U.S. and abroad. The definition of equality is subject to many interpretations, as is the concept of justice.
While there is no single solution for inequality and injustice, GST offers powerful tools to quantify and visualize the many factors that may contribute to inequality and injustice, and to empower those who are disenfranchised.

In addition to his GIS duties at the Oregon Department of Forestry, Emmor Nile is a GISCorps volunteer supporting the Tanzania Development Trust, which is a part of the Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team. OpenStreetMap, as its name indicates, is an open-source platform for participatory mapping, specifically for creating an open global map, from aerial and satellite imagery, field surveys and ground GPS observations. 

HOT is an international team with Working Groups who work on specific or multiple projects, including water and sanitation, gender equality, poverty elimination and disaster response, and numerous others. By providing accurate roads and building data for dozens of countries around the world, they increase the capacities of governments and NGOs to mitigate and, hopefully, prevent conditions detrimental to vulnerable populations.

Like OSM, the Environmental Justice Atlas is focused at the global scale, sharing maps that document and catalogue social conflict around environmental issues and scales ranging from global to regional to local.  It is also open source, running on a custom application, and invites volunteers to participate in various projects, which include Corporate Human Rights Violations, Global Seed Laws and Mining Conflicts. It also offers maps in Spanish for easier access to the people who live in the affected areas. You can join the project as well.

The EJA and OSM are unique in many ways. Plenty of data is available at the global scale, such as the CIA World Factbook, and Esri’s basemaps and their Living Atlas of the World, which offer maps, both in web maps and images that can be georeferenced, along with tubular data at The World Factbook. However, most of the data is generally quite coarse in spatial scale.

In contrast, the EJA and OSM seek to create a dynamic database of the world with the scale of a local map. Given the volunteer participation and sweeping scale of the projects, the geographic coverage itself is widely scattered across the globe. When the data is created, however, it offers much more detail than has been previously available. Even roads digitized from a Landsat image with 15-30 meter resolution will offer more accuracy than much that exists now, especially in remote, undeveloped areas such as Africa or the Amazon.

Many states and cities in the U.S. have gone to great effort to map social and environmental justice. In California, the Othering & Belonging Institute at UC Berkeley has created a state-wide “opportunity map” to help determine which census tracts in the state are best suited for the construction of low-income housing. This map was used by state decision-makers to allocate funds more equitably, based on empirical analysis and verifiable data.

In a similar vein, the State of Washington has used GST and other data to create a map showing environmental and health disparities for every one of the 1,458 census tracts in the state. The mapping tool itself allows visitors to make their own maps, but it requires a certain degree of map-savviness and patience to put all of the pieces together.

At the urban level, the Center for Earth Energy and Democracy in the Twin Cities of Minnesota recently released a mapping tool for mapping EJ. It also offers a story-map as an overview of the project, as well as an infographic that illustrates what these data and maps can reveal.

Fortunately, the U.S. has a robust geospatial infrastructure and a very talented community of geospatial professionals. Although data and skill sets vary widely across jurisdictions, we are among the global leaders in using GST to inform decision-making at levels from municipalities to states and to the nation itself.

In the developed world, technology, data and intellectual capacity are abundant. An academic study of Dortmund, Germany drills down to the neighborhood level using demographic data, such as income, and environmental data, including air quality. While the study focuses on only a single city, its methodology could be applied to many other cities and municipalities.

Washington, California, Minnesota and Germany are prosperous societies, despite disparities in environmental justice and living conditions. They all have the resources and social awareness to address these issues in places that matter to the people. But…who are the people?

The previous examples have addressed various spatial scales, but the ones mentioned just above are all in urban areas, or developed by people in urban areas. Our world is becoming increasingly urban, but over 40% of the globe’s population still live in areas classified as rural.

In North Dakota, four Native American reservations used GST to preserve their voting rights in the face of a new, statewide voter identification law that required street addresses to obtain a voter ID. As in many tribal and other rural communities, people didn’t always have street addresses.

A collective project between academia, a tribal advocacy group and the tribes used various ArcGIS applications and OpenStreetMap to identify home locations and streets. This collaborative project, with stakeholders deeply involved, helped bring record voter turnout on three of the four reservations.

The example above illustrates several of the many challenges facing indigenous populations in the U.S. and across the globe: disenfranchisement, geographic and thus political remoteness, and the gap between traditional knowledge (we know where we live!) and modern land and environmental laws (where is the deed?).

In some cases, a digital GIS may not be available, but this doesn’t mean that traditional use areas can’t be mapped. The Toledo Maya in southern Belize produced a beautiful hand-drawn atlas of traditional use areas, the maps of which were converted to data and used in policy reports and policy decisions. Subsequently, a court decision recognized the legality of a communal land tenure system.

Another academic study from 2011, this time in the mountains of far northern California, addresses key issues in mapping tribal territories. While the full content is well beyond the scope of this article, Emma Tome looked at how GIS was used by three tribes (Karuk, Hoopa and Yurok) for resource management. She considered their technical GIS capacity as well as their approaches to integrating traditional knowledge and modern methodologies.

One of the takeaways from this study, and the examples above, is that cultural resources and natural resources are intertwined. Unlike many nations, the U.S. has laws that define “cultural use of the biophysical environment, and such ‘intangible’ sociocultural attributes as social cohesion, social institutions, lifeways, religious practices, and other cultural institutions.”

Ms. Tome’s dissertation also poses an interesting question: What is indigenous mapping? 

“One sees a map through their position in relation to it, through the work one does on it, and through the questions one asks of it. Meaning becomes material; the map produces the territory, and the territory produces the map .”

As Americans, we are blessed to  live in an open society in which the people hold the power. But with great power comes great responsibility. As geographers, we hold a unique position of both power and responsibility.

Promoting environmental and social justice can be as simple as volunteering a few hours a week with HOT, or as involved as developing a youth program with AirBeam, such as the one deployed by the San Francisco Bay Area parks partnering with state, local and nonprofit groups.

As we’ve seen, GST can be applied to scales from global to local, and from perspectives that range from community organizers to academic studies. The world is a vast place. It may seem a daunting task to map every street and building in Tanzania or to geocode every residence on the sweeping plains of North Dakota, but to quote the good Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King: “All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance and should be undertaken with painstaking excellence.” Or perhaps more succinctly: “You don't have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.”

Communities Using Maps to Enact Environmental Justice

The Australian government’s newly formed Australian Space Agency (ASA) has partnered with Fugro to design, build and operate the Australian Space Automation, Artificial Intelligence and Robotics Control Complex (SpAARC) in Western Australia (WA). Benefitting from additional funding support from the WA State Government, the new complex will support start-ups, small businesses and researchers in controlling robotics activities in space, including servicing satellites in orbit.

The ASA selected Fugro in Australia on the basis of their track record in cutting-edge remote operations and robotics control in harsh marine environments, which demonstrates their robust robotics control capability via satellite communications. The creation of SpAARC will stimulate domestic space investment and provide new STEM education and diversified employment pathways. New space infrastructure will also lead to job growth in the Australian space sector and adjacent industries through accelerated technology transfer.

The Head of the ASA, Dr Megan Clark AC, said: “The new space facility will encourage further research and development of remote asset management capabilities for use in space. Fugro is a leader in offshore positioning, inspection and monitoring, and seabed-mapping services, and we are thrilled that the establishment of SpAARC will create more high-tech jobs in robotics and automation to benefit other industries such as mining, agriculture, emergency services and maritime surveillance.”

Mark Heine, CEO of Fugro, said: “We are excited to partner with the ASA on a project of such national importance. Over the last few years, we’ve been rapidly delivering our own digital transformation with a strong focus on remote and autonomous operations and artificial intelligence. This new project is a fantastic opportunity to build on our existing capabilities in satellite positioning and remote operations being applied to robotics in space.”

This project received grant funding from the Australian Space Agency’s Space Infrastructure Fund: Robotics, Automation and Artificial Intelligence (AI) Command and Control Centre grant opportunity.

Fugro is the world’s leading Geo-data specialist, collecting and analysing comprehensive information about the Earth and the structures built upon it. Adopting an integrated approach that incorporates acquisition and analysis of Geo-data and related advice, Fugro provides solutions. With expertise in site characterisation and asset integrity, clients are supported in the safe, sustainable and efficient design, construction and operation of their assets throughout the full lifecycle.

Employing approximately 10,000 talented people in 61 countries, Fugro serves clients around the globe, predominantly in the energy and infrastructure industries, both offshore and onshore. In 2019, revenue amounted to EUR 1.6 billion. The company is listed on Euronext Amsterdam.

Fugro partners with Australian Space Agency on new robotics control complex

On the heels of a breakout year powered by revenue momentum, wider global footprint, and fresh R&D, Queclink Wireless Solutions secured the No. 3 spot in Berg Insight’s evaluation of the Global Aftermarket Vehicle Telematics Hardware Market.

From the study’s tally, the company holds about a 2.9 percent slice of the market, with global shipments totaling roughly 73 million connected telematics devices.

Aftermarket Innovation and New Telematics Devices

Across 2025, the portfolio expanded by eleven launches in connected hardware, advancing the firm’s position in the sector. Headlining the set was CV5000, an AI-enabled dash camera that is both more capable and more adaptable, extending the momentum established by the prior-year CV200. Also introduced were GV75MG SAT — a satellite-capable in-vehicle locator suited to fleet use — the GL30, a real-time miniature tracker that stands as the tiniest GPS-based locator in the company’s lineup, and GES100CG, an intelligent bolt seal designed to lift container security. Taken together, the additions broaden Queclink’s offering for operators of passenger cars and commercial vehicle fleets, extending its telematics solutions.

Aiming to respond faster to local needs and to widen its global aftermarket channel, the company grew its distribution ecosystem by eight new partners across both fresh and existing territories. Within Europe, deals were signed with Sparwan, Mirifica, and Easynet, and a new hub opened in Zagreb, Croatia. Further collaboration deepened across North and Latin America, China, and India, strengthening support for telematics services and hardware sales.

Berg Insight Ranking: Queclink in The Global Aftermarket Vehicle Telematics Hardware Market

With regulatory backing from PETRONAS, a joint effort with Viridien sets in motion an initiative across the hydrocarbon-rich Balingian–Luconia–Baram basins. In this Southeast Asia setting, the goal is to refresh the subsurface picture.

Beginning in January 2026, the company plans to overhaul about 44,000 square kilometers of historic three-dimensional seismic surveys by first performing a province-wide post-stack integration that yields early volumes and directional insights for subsequent high-end phases. To start, clearer illumination is sought, with intricate layers of carbonate addressed later in the workflow, while long-standing velocity and attenuation issues are tackled to support exploration choices across the basin.

Advance funding is open now, giving initial participants priority access to preliminary data and to upgraded imaging products delivered via Viridien’s platform and regional expertise in the region. Designed to open underexplored plays and deliver decision-ready material for mapping and prospect screening, the initiative is run alongside PETRONAS through Malaysia Petroleum Management.

Speaking on the project, Dechun Lin of Viridien, who leads Earth Data, said insights drawn from the company’s GeoVerse database and long-running regional projects will produce a clearer and more dependable subsurface view, which in turn raises interpretation confidence and sharpens prospect identification.

Viridien Seismic Reimaging Program in Malaysia

From a practical lens and audience-first perspective, the featured program reveals how modern approaches in geospatial analysis turn information into tangible results for places and people.

With dates set for mid-February, a major industry gathering will take place at Denver’s Colorado Convention Center, and there Dr. Lilian Pintea, VP for Conservation Science at the Jane Goodall Institute (JGI), will deliver the headline talk. During that headline moment, he will examine how a carefully assembled suite of high-resolution satellite imagery, GIS, AI, and other tools is reshaping environmental protection practice on a worldwide scale.

Across more than two decades of field-focused work, his teams have applied high-resolution satellite data, lidar, GIS, machine learning, and participatory mapping to safeguard chimpanzees and habitat throughout Africa. Working in close partnership over many years with the renowned primatologist Dr. Jane Goodall—whose boundary-pushing observations reframed modern stewardship—he has helped propel a technology-forward shift guiding agencies, researchers, and community partners for healthier ecosystems and biodiversity.

According to the event’s senior content lead, pairing people-first practice with location intelligence can deliver extraordinary change; precise data and advanced tools, implemented thoughtfully, have the power to influence lives, public policy, and entire ecosystems, said Carla Lauter of Geo Week.

Expressing enthusiasm for the opportunity, he noted plans to share Dr. Goodall’s vision along with new GeoAI directions that support collaborative research and conservation with the communities living alongside wildlife habitat, Dr. Pintea said.

Among the topics he will cover, advanced methods in the institute’s program combine lidar, drone-based surveys, and AI-driven data integration to measure forest structure, build 3D representations of chimpanzee ranges and wetland corridors, and link behavioral, environmental, and acoustic records in novel ways. These innovations are accelerating restoration planning, improving habitat modeling, and strengthening resilience as climate change pressures intensify.

Beyond institutional reputation for research and youth engagement, the core message is that technology should benefit people as much as ecosystems. By using geospatial approaches to close the distance between international conservation targets and on-the-ground realities, communities gain the information, agency, and resources needed for sustainable decisions.

During the conference discussions, he will outline ways the broader geospatial sector can carry Dr. Goodall’s legacy forward by creating tools that are transparent, equitable, and built to empower those most affected by environmental change and biodiversity loss.

With innovation accelerating across multiple domains—from Earth observation to spatial analytics and AI—the session aims to remind attendees what these technologies can unlock: actionable insight, cross-border collaboration, and measurable outcomes where work happens.

For details, readers can explore the keynote session, the complete conference program, and the speaker roster for added context. To learn about attending or exhibiting, visit . Reserve Super Saver Rates by registering today.

Established in 1977, the Jane Goodall Institute (JGI) operates as a global, community-led nonprofit advancing Dr. Jane Goodall’s vision through 26 chapters around the world. The organization seeks to understand and protect chimpanzees, other apes, and the habitats they depend on, while empowering people to be compassionate citizens who safeguard the natural world we share. JGI blends research, community-led conservation, rigorous animal-welfare standards, and innovative uses of science and technology to transform hope into action for the common good. Through the Roots & Shoots youth program—active in 75 countries and expanding—JGI nurtures a movement of caring people building a better future for people, wildlife, and our shared environment.

Designed as a cross-disciplinary hub, the event convenes professionals from geospatial and mapping fields to explore how data, maps, and advanced technology deepen understanding and inform solutions to complex challenges. The conference program and tradeshow deliver expert perspectives, real-world case studies, exposure to cutting-edge tools, and peer-to-peer networking. Geo Week 2026 runs Feb. 16–18, 2026, inside Denver’s Colorado Convention Center. Learn more at . The gathering is produced by Geo Week News and forms part of Diversified’s technology lineup, which includes Digital Construction Week (UK), Commercial UAV Expo, Commercial UAV News, and Geo Business (UK).

Geospatial Map Technologies Accelerating Conservation

By putting automation and computer vision to work across Hawaii, the platform applies AI so transportation officials can rapidly find road wear, rank repair work, and protect travelers.

How the Blyncsy Solution Uses AI to Help the Hawaii Department of Transportation

As part of a campus‑backed road initiative, the state agency has brought in Blyncsy from Bentley Systems to support Eyes on the Road. According to the infrastructure engineering software company, the agency—working with the University of Hawaii—is deploying this analytics solution to elevate roadway safety statewide.

Roadway Maintenance and Asset Inventory From Dash-Cam Imagery

Under the Eyes on the Road project, one thousand no‑cost, high‑resolution dashboard cameras are offered to residents for installation in their vehicles to enhance public safety on streets. While people go about daily trips, the devices continuously capture video and, through a cellular link, send footage to the cloud. Residents continue their usual commutes, and the technology operates in the background. From that community‑sourced stream, overgrown vegetation, guardrail impacts, debris in lanes or along shoulders, and related hazards are flagged using AI and machine learning inside Bentley’s Blyncsy, with identities kept anonymous.

Actionable Insight for Roadway Management

Within Bentley Systems’ Asset Analytics family, Blyncsy turns dash‑cam imagery and other road visuals into actionable insights. By assessing the health of critical transportation assets, it supports asset inventory, smarter maintenance prioritization, and evidence‑based planning, and it can align with digital twin workflows. These insights help agencies allocate budgets where they matter most.

Spot Issues Faster and Prioritize Repairs to Keep Drivers Safe

During Eyes on the Road, detections move to the state transportation department almost in real‑time, giving crews at the Hawaii Department of Transportation the information needed to accelerate repair workflows. This near‑instant feedback loop reduces time to resolution. For drivers, cyclists, and people on foot, the transportation network becomes safer.

Blyncsy by Bentley Systems For Safer Roadway Operations

Following a quiet rollout, the aviation tech firm disclosed that Volatus Aerospace now flies with the PX‑1 RTX module on its fleet to secure precise navigation and reliable attitude data. Customers gain a streamlined path to high‑fidelity overhead information and truly remote flights, including BVLOS, because Volatus has woven the Trimble PX‑1 RTX positioning solution into its service for its national drone delivery program.

In practice, compact GNSS‑inertial hardware works alongside RTX correction services to deliver centimeter‑level positioning and inertial‑derived true heading in real time.

Through L‑band or NTRIP delivery, these streams reach the vehicle without base stations, which adds positioning redundancy when sensors face magnetic interference.

For setup and ongoing use, CenterPoint® RTX corrections — specifically the Trimble CenterPoint RTX correction — minimize site work and accelerate time to productivity.

Position and Controlled Airspace Compliance

Within controlled corridors at Edmonton International Airport in Alberta, ingress and egress, altitude, speed, communications, and remote ID are tightly defined by Transport Canada and Nav Canada. Authorizations require precision when crossing arrival paths at a fixed 50‑foot height, and accurate GNSS position control is essential for compliant takeoff and landing inside the approved route. With this module in place, Volatus can hold the commanded altitude, pinpoint the pad, and remain inside the exact path specified by the civil air navigation provider.

“From our perspective, daily runs carrying healthcare materials travel from Edmonton International Airport to the Montana First Nations Clinic, often beneath an active glide path,” said Greg Colacitti, COO of Volatus Aerospace. “In our Canary platform, a shift to the PX‑1 RTX from Trimble has been decisive; sharper position confidence inside tight delivery zones strengthens safety and underpins the reliability and scale of the service.”

“Across the broader sector, seeing PX‑1 RTX in its first commercial use marks a real milestone,” noted Joe Hutton, director for inertial technology and airborne solutions at Trimble. “By pushing precision further and improving reliability, the system drives down costs, reduces environmental impact, improves operational efficiency, and raises safety for advanced air mobility.”

Drone Delivery With Trimble Px-1 Rtx in Canadian Airspace

The event spotlights sustainability and resilience in the geospatial field, and is co-located with Digital Construction Asia 2023 and the inaugural Drones Asia 

Singapore, 15 March 2023, 10:00 AM – Geo Connect Asia (GCA) 2023, the third edition of Southeast Asia’s flagship geospatial and location intelligence industry trade show and conference, opens today at Marina Bay Sands Expo & Convention Centre in Singapore. The two-day event, organised by Montgomery Asia, welcomes over 2,500 delegates and attendees from more than 25 countries and 75 industry-leading companies, showcasing a full suite of geospatial technologies, digital construction and drone-based solutions.

GCA is co-located with the first edition of Drones Asia, jointly launched by Montgomery Asia, in conjunction with the Association of Aerospace Industries of Singapore (AAIS) and Inmarsat, as Gold Sponsor. Capturing the commercial demand for aerial, unmanned and ground-based solutions, this highly anticipated show is dedicated to the region’s expanding UAV ecosystem. GCA 2023 is also held alongside Digital Construction Asia 2023, a platform for the introduction of the latest solutions for the built environment – including AI, BIM, blockchain, IoT, and visualisation technologies. 

Guest of Honour Dr Amy Khor, Senior Minister of State for Transport and Senior Minister of State for Sustainability and the Environment, addressed attendees during the GCA 2023 opening ceremony, and also in attendance were Rupert Owen, Co-Founder of Geo Connect Asia; Yeoh Oon Jin, Chairman of Singapore Land Authority (SLA); and Dr Nadine Alameh, CEO of the Open Geospatial Consortium. At the event, GCA 2023 partner SLA signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Container Depot and Logistics Association (Singapore) to improve heavy vehicle routing, and an Intent of Collaboration with the General Authority for Survey and Geospatial Information of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to exchange knowledge and experiences on geospatial technology adoption. SLA also announced a pilot project with SG Enable and Gardens by the Bay to map barrier-free routes to enable wheelchair users to move about easily. 

As of 2023, the global geospatial market is estimated to be worth US$510.84 billion and expected to grow at a CAGR of 15.1% to US$895.88 billion by 2027. As governments and businesses recognise the value and potential of geospatial technologies in tackling pressing issues such as climate change, infrastructure development and process optimisation, it is crucial for industry players to further accelerate their capabilities and nurture young geospatial specialists. GCA 2023’s theme, “Advancing sustainable & resilient geospatial solutions for an interconnected world”, seeks to provide a strategic platform for knowledge transfer among industry players and the collaborative development of geospatial solutions across land, building, sea and sky. With the constant strides in technological advancements, improved AI and drone technology have found new and practical applications across various industries, helping to alleviate industry problems such as manpower, safety, and sustainability issues. 

Rupert Owen, Co-founder of Geo Connect Asia, said, “Montgomery Asia is delighted to bring together geospatial and location intelligence industry experts from all over the world. Finally hosting a fully in-person edition, we are excited to be creating a regional community for the industry, with a Singapore base; I believe that these interactions will spur meaningful industry collaboration, knowledge sharing and drive new investment opportunities. Securing the continued support of our sponsors, partners and exhibitors is a testament to the exciting GCA format we are developing, and we would like to thank one and all for making this event possible.”

Mr Sin Lye Chong, Assistant Chief Executive (Geospatial & Engagement) and Chief Sustainability Officer, Singapore Land Authority, said, “The green economy has transformed country and corporate agendas worldwide, and both private and public sectors are increasingly looking to adopt sustainability practices for the benefit of their businesses and communities. As Singapore's National Geospatial Agency, SLA’s partnership with Geo Connect Asia demonstrates our commitment to bring industry players across the public, private and academic domains together to exchange ideas and knowledge, and tap on fresh opportunities to mainstream the use of geospatial data and capabilities. This is also a platform to spur innovative geospatial solutions that will accelerate efforts in enabling and empowering sustainability initiatives here in Singapore and around the world.”

Dr Nadine Alameh, Chief Executive Officer of the Open Geospatial Consortium, said, “The geospatial industry and location intelligence is at the forefront of decision-making across enterprise, government and non-profit organisations. The dynamics of Asia, with its strong interplay between land, maritime and sky, presents unique challenges, which fortunately the industry can help address. With a focus on the interoperability of data, the OGC is well positioned to incorporate the latest technologies relating to space, autonomous vehicles, AI, as well as those that are already well entrenched to provide the most appropriate solutions. The OGC is excited to be able to build its contacts and promote awareness of the geospatial industry across the region by being in Singapore for this year’s Geo Connect Asia.”

The main exhibition showground – the Geo Market Place – has doubled in size to accommodate the overwhelming support from industry players. AECA Solutions, Heron Technology, IDI Laser, Metasensing, Piesat, Satel, ST Engineering Geo-Insights, Teledyne Flir, Trimble, Wingtra, Yellowscan and many other participating exhibitors are showcasing innovative solutions to meet visitors’ sourcing needs. A Singapore Pavilion, led by SGTech, features over ten companies, including Leica Geosystems, Wong Fong Academy, YJP Surveyor and more.

A centrepiece of the event is the Geo Connect Asia 2023 Conference themed “Advancing sustainable & resilient geospatial solutions for an interconnected world”. It aims to prepare businesses and the geospatial industry for the Geospatial 4.0 revolution, while addressing issues of sustainability and climate change, and introducing new application tools with a focus on AI, blockchain, IoT, robotics, and UAVs. 

The conference programme comprises 11 panel-led sessions featuring 65 prominent industry speakers, panellists and moderators, including:

 John Whitehead, Senior Director of Sales and Distribution, APAC of Trimble Inc

James Tan, Director, Smart District Division, JTC

Yu Ning Hwang, Chief Planner & Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) Singapore

 Sin Lye Chong, Assistant Chief Executive, Singapore Land Authority

The main conference themes cover a comprehensive range of topics, including:

Driving sustainable solutions in the built environment through improved analytics

Open standards and open data models for new sustainable urban project planning

Driving intelligent solutions for critical infrastructure projects

Advances in AI & robotics in the geospatial industry

Mapping future talent: connecting digital natives with the worlds of surveying and geospatial

To view the conference agenda, click here. 

The Expert Stage programmes have also been curated to further drive industry collaboration in open platform discussions. These comprise:

Geo Connect Asia returns to Singapore for its third edition supported by leading geospatial industry solutions providers and with double the floor space

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