Panel: European Geospatial Market and Economy: Growth Trend and Directions

Europe offers a trillion Euro geospatial market. It is a region where geospatial tools and technologies are indispensable in governance, businesses, and socio-economic-environmental development. Between 2021-2025, the commercial value-added services or the downstream market in Earth Observations is forecasted to grow at CAGR 14.53%. This growth is driven by the evolving role of national geospatial agencies, enhanced workflow integration in the economic sectors, changing business models, and evolving legislative environment.

This panel will discuss:

• Upcoming business trends and opportunities as per the demands of the market
• Evolving collaborative business models
• Key growth drivers and differentiators shaping Europe’s Geospatial Industry
• Success stories: what works best for who
• Current and future priorities influencing geospatial businesses
• The evolving landscape of geospatial technology adoption and implementation

Panel: Space & Geospatial Policy Empowering Industry Growth

Europe’s public policies provide a conducive environment for driving geospatial industry growth. Considering the challenges and threats currently faced by geospatial industry and the exacerbation of uncertainty posed by the industry, the need for flexible yet robust and legitimate regulation is evident.

This panel will discuss:

• Recent developments in geospatial and related policies in Europe
• Impact of policies on technology innovations, emerging business models, geospatial market growth and ease of doing business
• Meeting the geospatial business needs of Europe: Today and Tomorrow

Panel: Role of NMAs in shaping Geospatial Infrastructure

Geospatial technologies are invaluable assets for nation development. Their applications across various domains lead to sustainable development, improved governance, and enhanced decision-making. As nations continue to leverage these technologies, the potential for their contribution to nation-building grows, leading to greater prosperity and well-being for citizens. The panel will host leading national mapping agencies to present their viewpoints on:

This panel will discuss:

• Role of geospatial and allied technologies in achieving national and regional development mandates
• Development of geospatial knowledge-enabled applications accounting for user demand
• Development and transformation of business and collaboration models of NMAs
• Opportunities and challenges faced by NMAs in development of national geospatial infrastructures

Panel: Startups and Investments Opportunities

The startups, and the investment opportunities are critical to the growth of the European geospatial industry. Europe's GIS-based companies are at the forefront of innovation, offering transformative solutions across various sectors, including urban planning, environmental monitoring, and much more. With increasing reliance on geospatial data for decision-making, startups in this space are attracting significant investment. Opportunities abound in smart cities, climate resilience, and advanced analytics, driven by public and private sector demand. European startups benefit from a supportive ecosystem, including EU funding programs, venture capital’s investors and a growing network of industry partnerships.

This panel will discuss:

• Adapting to global financial industry challenges
• Identifying profitable sectors and investments rich sectors
• Investment opportunities for Geospatial and EO startups
• Understanding the current market demand and emerging trends in GIS
• Applications that are crucial for identifying investment opportunities

Fireside Chat: Advancements & Obstacles of Geospatial AI

This panel will discuss:

• Sectors deeply benefitted from the technology
• Challenges like data security and privacy and measures to overcome the same
• Relevant policies

Panel: Technology Disruptions Driving the Industry Growth

The introduction of various trends and innovations, such as Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence, IoT, Cloud GIS, and Automation, are all geared towards improving lives with economic benefits. These advancements open new opportunities, and the market value of the industry is set to soar even higher in the future

This panel will discuss:

• Technologies Reshaping Geospatial Ecosystem
• Growth in the geospatial market Value
• Upcoming Trends and Innovations

Panel: Digital Twins: Above-Surface and Below-Surface Innovations

This session will delve into the transformative potential of digital twin technology across various domains, focusing on smart infrastructure and ocean exploration. Digital twins, virtual replicas of physical entities, provide real-time data and predictive insights, enabling enhanced decision-making and operational efficiency.

This panel will discuss:

• The current trends of Digital Twin technology and opportunities for technology convergence
• Need for resilience and transparency
• Cross-Domain Innovations-Synergies between land and marine digital twin applications.

Panel: Strengthening ESG Objectives through Earth Observation

Achieving ESG objectives through earth observations is crucial for precise environmental monitoring, resource management, and sustainability reporting. It enables real-time tracking of ecological impacts, helps optimize resource use, and ensures transparency, aiding in compliance with regulations and fostering trust among stakeholders, ultimately driving sustainable development and corporate responsibility. Thus, transitioning into a greener space of business operations becomes more valuable to an organisation to deliver ESG goals, building resiliency as well as healthier sectors across Europe.

This panel will discuss:

• Implementable green transitions within business operation in the European market- its challenges and solutions
• Long-term business decisions on balancing commercial and environmental demands
• What insights can Earth Observation give towards ESG goals
• Success stories and Use Cases
• Improving ESG Strategy through Earth Observation

Panel: Geospatial Technologies Transforming Telecommunication, Utilities and Energy

Digital technologies and innovations that can optimise and increase efficiency within the telecommunications, utilities and the energy sectors. Technological innovations facilitate precise monitoring, efficient resource management, and strategic planning, crucial for reducing carbon footprints. For utilities aiming for the EU's carbon-neutral goals, geospatial solutions optimize operations, enhance renewable energy integration, and minimize environmental impact. Leveraging modern ICT, these systems enable effective green management by providing real-time data, predictive analytics, and seamless connectivity, ensuring sustainable and resilient utility infrastructures.

This panel will discuss:

• Use of geospatial technologies, AI, IoT, Big Data for telecom sector
• Green transition of the energy sector through Geospatial
• Impact of geospatial solutions and AI on utilities planning, energy usage, network optimization
• Geospatial systems leveraging modern ICT for effective creation and
• management of infrastructures for different utilities
• Strategies for energy-efficient network design and operation

Panel: Hydrospatial-Advancing Blue Economy

As per the EU Blue Economy Report 2024, established sectors of the EU Blue Economy directly employed close to 3.59 million people and generated around €623.6 billion in turnover. Hydrospatial information is crucial in determining the baselines and supporting decision-making across all blue economy sectors. It is also a key component of the European Digital Twin of the Ocean, which enables modelling and development of science-driven decision-making tools, thereby ensuring a healthy and sustainable ocean. The development of the hydrospatial domain necessitates collaboration among diverse stakeholders of the blue economy, including hydrographic and oceanographic offices, blue economy sectoral users, technology providers, and policymakers.

This panel will discuss:

• Evolving demand for ocean knowledge, and opportunities for growth and innovation in the blue economy
• Evolution of hydrospatial domain
• Technology innovation enabling hydrospatial knowledge creation
• Enhancing interoperability and data integration for hydrospatial knowledge
• Hydrospatial knowledge impact in blue economy sectors

Panel: Location Intelligence Empowering Businesses

In the modern landscape, Location intelligence transforms decision-making by providing insights through geospatial data. It helps businesses across industries optimize their operations, manage risks, and understand customer behaviour. For example, insurance companies refine risk assessment and claims management, while businesses can enhance asset management, site selection, and customer engagement. By analysing geographic data, companies can make informed decisions, improve operational efficiency, and tailor strategies to meet market demands.

This panel will discuss:

• Improved underwriting and claims management through geospatial risk analysis.
• Enhanced asset management and site selection based on spatial data.
• Tailored strategies and marketing through geo targeting to do consumer behaviour analysis.

Panel: Collaborations for a Stronger Economy: Academia-Government-Industry

The private industry, government, and academia — the three pillars of the geospatial ecosystem — need to prepare themselves. Innovation doesn’t happen in isolation and opportunities and challenges in today’s demanding environment will need to be faced together. Such collaboration becomes a unique strategy because it helps each collaborating partner achieve its vision and accomplish its mission in a structurally transformational way. The geospatial industry is witnessing many such collaborations toa achieve a unified goal.

This panel will discuss:

• The Academia -Government-Industry collaborators and their respective roles
• Examples of successful partnerships being executed
• Challenges faced and what lies in the future in this complex alliance