London, 13 March 2024 – The AGI has declared its annual conference and flagship event GeoCom a huge success. GeoCom 2025 took place for the first time in Scotland on the 27th February. Under the theme ‘Opportunities in Geospatial Intelligence: Shaping a Smarter World’ it attracted more than 200 delegates and was supported by geospatial organisations from across the UK. Alongside a packed programme of presentations from thought leaders and innovators, GeoCom also featured a lunch-time session for students and early careers professionals, a panel discussion on AI, and the usual ‘geo-drinks’ and networking.
“We are grateful to our colleagues at AGI Scotland for giving us the opportunity to bring GeoCom to Edinburgh for the first time,” commented Peter ter Haar, Co-Chair of the Association for Geographic Information. “The day was well supported with first class speakers, industry engagement, and extensive delegate representation, and we look forward to replicating this model in the future.”
Bruce Gittings, Chair of AGI Scotland added, “On behalf of AGI Scotland and the Scottish GI community it was a pleasure to welcome GeoCom, and we are invigorated and encouraged by the appetite for innovation and best practice expressed on the day.”
The AGI GeoCom 2025 lineup featured a keynote presentation from Rebekah Jones, an award-winning and celebrated scientist turned whistleblower, who, using contemporary examples of geospatial scientists facing immense pressure, discussed a new template for ethical practice in geospatial intelligence. She was joined by Jen Hampton of the Office for National Statistics who explored how data integration and the use of addresses and geographies, is supporting evidenced-based decision making.
Daniel Rex of Informed Solutions considered the potential for Artificial Intelligence and geospatial for smarter asset management, and Amanda Chan and Chandramauli Tyagi, of Ramboll demonstrated the innovative use of data to support improved place-making. Jethro Lennox of Collins Bartholomew illustrated the complexities of mapping the world and how the same map can be consumed by both public and private sector organisations, whilst Paul Everett of the British Geological Society described the development and delivery of landmark datasets to the public and research communities.
Additional presentations included Siew Fong Chen of the Global Maritime Consultancy who described the use of digital twins to understand risk to subsea cables, Gareth Young of Land and Property Services in Northern Ireland who explored the use of geospatial identifiers to reduce barriers to cross-departmental initiatives and improve services, and David Ferguson from ScotlandIS who provided an overview of collaboration within the technology sector to maximise the economic opportunity for Scotland. Also on the GeoCom agenda, were Dr Allan Williams of the National Collection of Aerial Photography (NACAP) and Gala Camacho Ferrari of Diagonalworks.
GeoCom25’s panel session on the subject of ‘Getting Real with AI in Geospatial’, produced an insightful conversation with guest panellists David Ferguson of ScotlandIS, Dr Phil Bartie from the Heriot-Watt University, and Shona Nicol and Carolyne Thomson representing Scottish Government. Discussing how the geospatial community could reap the benefits of the advances in computing and use of artificial intelligence, the panel was also mindful of the risk and pitfalls.
The AGI would also like to thank the event’s sponsors for their support. Gold sponsors; Ardent Management, City Science, Esri UK, Idox, Informed Solutions, Landclan and Verisk, and Silver Sponsors; Bluesky World, Geovation, Tensing and Location Data Scotland.