Geospatial World Forum 2014 in Geneva this year had ministerial-level participation from Ghana, Mauritius, Malaysia, India, Azerbaijan and Philippines.  A total of 1,002 delegates from 78 countries attended the conference, as well as 48 exhibitors from 16 countries, including two country-pavilions.  There were 405 technical presentations.

This year’s conference had a strong vertical focus and included streams on LIS for Smart Cities, Agriculture, Building and construction, Collaborative approach fostering global peace and prosperity, SDI and urban planning,  Disaster management and planning, Energy, Community engagement, and Climate change.  As an example, I chaired the full day, very well attended Building and construction (GeoBuild) stream which included 15 presentations on both buildings and infrastructure and wrapped up with a panel discussion on vertical and horizontal building information modeling (BIM) with Peter Hansford, UK Government Chief Construction Advisor, Dr Anne Kemp, Director of BIM Strategy and Development at Atkins Global, Hakan Engman, CEO of Agency9, and Andrew Evans, Senior Manager Global Operations at Topcon. 

In addition there were streams with a technical focus including Emerging and disruptive technologies, Space technologies, Big data, Sensors, Business intelligence, Innovative remote sensing and ROI, Open Data, and Cloud computing.

Geospatial Media and Communications honoured the best works and minds of the industry by conferring 14 excellence awards, 10 leadership awards, 5 policy awards and 8 innovation awards.  The awards jury was comprised of Prof. Fraser Taylor, Distinguished Research Professor at Carleton University; Aida Opoku Mensah, Director, ICT, Science and Technology Division at the United Nations; Matt O’Connell, President of MOC Partners; Prof. Henk Scholten, CEO of Geodan and Scientific Director of the SPINlab at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam; and David Schell, Chairman of the Open Geospatial Consortium.

At the heavily attended closing panel on the last day of the conference, chair and moderator Christopher Barlow, Director, Strategic Relations and Communications, Thompson Reuters, summed up four days’ takeaways and invited the closing panellists to put their views forward.

Geoff Zeiss, Editor – Building and Energy, Geospatial Media & Communications, Canada, said the strategy to get into verticals such as building & construction, agriculture, energy etc. was an excellent move as it connects the geospatial industry with the mainstream industry and builds awareness about the evolving technologies.

Barbara Ryan, Director, Group on Earth Observations (GEO) Secretariat, Switzerland, said the conference was a perfect way for her organisation, which is pioneering the task of spreading awareness about the use of earth observation data for global benefits, to connect with the private industry, including geospatial and mainstream businesses. GEO also used the forum to launch their pet project GEO Appathon — an app-building contest using EO data.

Prashant Shukhle, Director General, Canada Centre for Mapping and Earth Observation, earth Sciences Sector, Natural Resources, Canada, said the conferences like this was essential is increasing the outreach of geotechnologies. He also called for strong interaction of the public sector with the private players to create conducive policies and market while optimising the use of these innovative technologies. Shukle, however, had a word of warning regarding too fast and too enthusiastic a focus on vertical industries, saying timing is critical and the industry must carefully learn from experiences.

Ronald van Coevorden, Worldwide Segment Marketing Manager – Geospatial Division, Trimble, said his company had been a strong supporter of such events since that creates a platform to interact with a wide variety of people from various public sectors. He also welcomed the trend of vertical focus of the industry.