Recognizing and celebrating leaders and organizations for their outstanding contribution to the global geospatial industry

Deirdre Dalpiaz Bishop is making an outstanding contribution to the world and her profession. Through her geospatial work at the US Census Bureau, across the US government, and with the United Nations, Bishop is leading the way in educating a variety of national and international stakeholders about the benefits of standardizing and integrating geospatial and statistical data, the Integrated Geospatial Information Framework, and the Global Knowledge Infrastructure. Her leadership has improved data integration capabilities for many countries, even hers. This leads to more accessible and valuable data, improved policy planning, evidence-based decision making, more sophisticated identification of inequities in policy, infrastructure, and cost savings resulting in improved government services.

Mikko Tamura is an OpenStreetMap champion. He advocates using open geospatial data and tools to advance the causes of marginalized Asian-Pacific communities. As one of the founders of Mapbeks, a community of LGBTQIA mappers in the Philippines, Tamura organized fundraising mapathons that helped break gender biases on the map and support gender minorities in their everyday lives. He is also leading the ‘She Leads, and She Inspires’ program that empowers women to take careers in GIS tech and funds them with their proposed community projects. His passion to break diversity and advance equity and inclusivity in the industry is truly inspiring.

Federal Agency for Cartography and Geodesy (BKG), Germany, is playing a crucial role in supporting Germany on its path to becoming a smart and sustainable country. In 2021, BKG launched the Digital Twin Germany project to support faster, more informed, and more reliable decision-making. The project entails data collection for the entire country consistently and in unprecedented detail using Geiger-mode LiDAR sensor technology. The data quality is further enhanced by adding satellite and real-time data facilitated by AI. The Hamburg metropolitan region pilot was completed at the end of 2021. The Agency supports the sustainability and quality of the Global Geodetic Reference Frame (GGRF) and contributes to a globally coordinated geodetic infrastructure. BKG represents German interests in international collaborative entities and projects addressing the fields of geodesy and geoinformation.

Founded in 2019, Xona Space Systems believes that modern technology has the potential to benefit people from all walks of life. To enable this, Xona is working to provide resilient and accurate PNT services: satellite navigation for the age of autonomy. Xona challenges the assumption that the GNSS space segment is fixed and out of reach of commercial entities. In May 2022, the company launched its first PULSAR demonstration satellite mission, becoming the first privately funded company to launch its satellite navigation mission. PULSAR system is a high-performance satellite navigation constellation in LEO designed to provide secure and resilient sub-10cm accuracy on a global scale. The system is built around Xona’s patented distributed atomic clock architecture that enables small satellites to provide extremely high-performance navigation and timing services without the need for atomic clocks on each satellite.

Maptionnaire allows users (the general public) to easily create their map-based questionnaires and civic participation platforms on cloud-based software. It redefined citizen engagement as an ecosystem of data linked to locations, known as PPGIS (Public Participation GIS). In 2022, the company launched a Participatory Budgeting module powered by geospatial tools that engage residents in decision-making about allocating city budgets at scale. This offering is unique on the market as, traditionally, these processes are run in in-person meetings, dominated by loud voices and data cherry-picking. Maptionnaire takes pride in advancing civic tech by bringing spatiality to the center of decision-making and being the PPGIS tool of choice in the research milieu.

After making waves with liberalization in the field of geospatial data in 2021, the Department of Science and Technology of the Government of India recently notified the National Geospatial Policy 2022. The government aims to promote the country’s geospatial data industry and develop a national framework to use data for improving citizen’s life. The policy aims to create a high-resolution topographical survey and mapping and a high-accuracy Digital Elevation Model (DEM) for the country by 2030. The policy will enhance capabilities, skills, and awareness to meet the country’s future needs. The government also aims to develop a Geospatial Knowledge Infrastructure (GKI) supported by the Integrated Data and Information Framework.

Kadaster International has been working with Colombia institutions on its Land in Peace project to contribute to implementing the Peace Agreement in Colombia, focusing on Fit-for-Purpose land administration. By cooperating with Colombian-Dutch governmental institutions, academia, and the commercial sector to develop the needed technologies and train local communities, Kadaster has simplified land administration processes and empowered farmers and indigenous communities. The project has directly impacted the land administration at a local and national level. The Colombian National Land Agency has implemented the Fit-for-Purpose approach to update municipal cadastres in several regions. Many grassroots surveyors have supported cadastral actualization activities in different parts of the country, and several indigenous youngsters were trained to support their community.

Founded in 2013 as a non-profit organization, Beneath The Waves is dedicated to promoting ocean health and using science and technology to catalyze ocean policy. Its work focuses on protecting threatened species, establishing protected areas, and creating nature-based solutions to climate change. Through collaboration with governments, the general public, and the private sector, Beneath The Waves has scaled its conservation impact, driving tangible and defensible outcomes, while bringing conservation messages to the masses through unique storytelling and media platform. Most recently, its Blue Carbon Project, in partnership with R-evolution, which involved mapping and monitoring of seagrass meadows in The Bahamas using sensor-tagged sharks, satellite data, marine vessel surveys, and LiDAR bathymetric sensor, was presented to the Government of The Bahamas, resulting in the announcement of a Blue Carbon Credit program in the country.

Created in 2012, PVBLIC Foundation launched with a goal to use the power and reach of mass media to make positive change in people’s lives around the world. Today, PVBLIC is driven by the idea that media, data, and technology can catalyze social change. In 2021, the Foundation partnered with the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, Esri, and the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD) Global Geospatial Information Management (UN-GGIM) Secretariat, to form the SDG Data Alliance. PVBLIC’s role is to oversee funding and manage the program, working with all Alliance partners to ensure that the Alliance is progressing and achieving its objectives. In collaboration with the UN Department of Global Communications, the Foundation created the SDG Media Zone to take the conversation on advancing the 2030 Agenda out of the policy sphere and into the public discourse.

In 1998 VITO was the first to make global vegetation maps based on SPOT-VEGETATION imagery. Almost 25 years later, VITO is the first to make global vegetation maps at 10m resolution integrating optical (Sentinel 2) and SAR data (Sentinel 1). The vegetation map ‘ESA WORLDCOVER’ is considered the best global land cover map available, proving this vibrant remote sensing institute’s passion, ambition, and skills. Next to the global satellite-based products, VITO is rapidly expanding its portfolio of drone-based products, providing very high-resolution products & services for agriculture, marine, infrastructure, and urban applications. VITO’s latest developments in Natural Capital Accounting prove the pace of this institute that is always at the front of novel remote sensing solutions, serving governments, authorities, and companies in their quest for a more sustainable future.