Ms. Mari Khardziani is Head of International Relations Service at National Agency of Public Registry (NAPR) under Ministry of Justice of Georgia, in charge of international relations and coordination/management of international projects. In 2016-2022, she was the local project manager of the Norwegian projects, and was involved the IGIF project implemented with the Norwegian support in Georgia. From 2016 till April, 2023 she was also a member of UNECE WPLA Bureau.

After working in private sector for several years, in 2004 she moved to NAPR - a government agency responsible for land administration, business registry, geodesy, mapping, address registry and the National Coordinator for development of National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI) in Georgia. At NAPR, she worked at different positions, including over 14 years at managerial position. Being at NAPR since its foundation, she was involved in implementation of the reforms and nationwide projects, including land administration and geospatial spheres. Her top skills and competences cover international relations, organizational leadership/management, strategic planning, communication, project management and land administration.

Ms. Khardziani holds BA in English and the Master's degree in Public Administration (MPA) from Georgian Institute of Public Affairs (GIPA).

Dr Lesley Arnold is Director and owner of consulting firm Geospatial Frameworks. As principal consultant, she works with governments to develop strategies, policies and implementation plans for geospatial information reform, open data initiatives and geospatial innovation, globally. Examples of her work include Cadastre 2034, and Elevation and Depth 2030 strategies for the Australian Government, and SDI Strategy for the Government of Sri Lanka.

Lesley also works with the United Nations, FAO and World Bank supporting countries to strengthen their geospatial information management capabilities towards implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. She is one of the lead authors of the UN-GGIM Integrated Geospatial Information Framework (IGIF), and has developed IGIF educational materials, Webinars and conducted IGIF training and mentoring.

Previously, Lesley was Director at Landgate responsible for Western Australia's (WA) geographic, aerial photography and satellite remote sensing programs, and the delivery of products and services through Landgate's Shared Location Information Platform.

Lesley has held several executive positions on intergovernmental committees, and is currently Non-Executive Director for AuScope, and the Australian Urban Research Infrastructure Network (AURIN), and Board Member for Geoscience Australia's Location Program. Lesley is also Adjunct Associate Professor at Curtin University WA, where she co-supervises PhD Students. Her research interests include the future Geospatial Information Ecosystem, spatial data supply chains and automated updating.

Thalia is the Director of the Geospatial Commission, which is an independent Expert Committee within the UK Government's Cabinet Office, tasked with advising the government on priorities for improving the UK's location data, running the public sector's key geospatial data contracts and developing and overseeing implementation of the UK's national geospatial strategy. Prior to this, Thalia established and led HM Treasury's digital policy team, where she was responsible for the approach to public spending on digital technology and infrastructure.

2004 - 2011 Cartography studies at the TU Dresden
2011 - 2014 Doctoral studies at the TU Dresden (PhD in 2014)
2014 - 2018 Geodata Manager at swisstopo
2018 - 2020 project manager in railroad construction business
since 2020 Project coordinator at swisstopo

Abstract

Next Generation Map

The rapidly increasing use of mobile devices in the digital and mobile society has led to a wide variety of mobile map applications and a large number of map users (Bartling 2022). Today, mobile map applications are ubiquitous. In particular, the map applications of the major players in this field have fundamentally influenced and changed user requirements. This inevitably leads to a rethinking and reorientation in official cartography to meet the changing user requirements of a mobile society. Globally, a trend is emerging in which the focus of official cartography is increasingly on the flexible and mobile presentation of data, accompanied by a shift away from the production of printed maps. Faced with these challenges and based on internal studies, swisstopo has launched the

Dr. Jill Saligoe-Simmel is the principal product manager of Geospatial Infrastructure at Esri. She is responsible for product requirements and strategy for modern Spatial Data Infrastructures and INSPIRE. As a Subject Matter Expert, Jill brings 25 years of geospatial technology, governance, and policy-level experience, with substantial involvement in statewide and national NSDI.

Abstract

Geospatial Product Thinking for Knowledge-Based Digital Ecosystems

As stakeholders in future digital ecosystems, we provide the integrated geospatial infrastructure that helps organizations work beyond borders to address shared challenges and achieve common goals. We also cultivate entrepreneurial mindsets, understand geospatial product thinking, and propagate proven good practices that help grow knowledge-based ecosystems. Our shared experiences help us all go further, faster, together.

Abigail Coholic is the Senior Director of Channel Partnerships at Ecopia AI, a technology company founded with the mission of digitizing the world using AI. Ecopia applies advanced AI technology to mine geospatial imagery, outputting large-scale, GIS professional quality 2D and 3D Land Cover maps. Named by Deloitte as one of the fastest-growing technology companies in North America for the past two consecutive years, and the winner of GWF's Innovation in AI Award in 2022, Ecopia's maps continue to be embedded into hundreds of decision-making applications across over 100 countries around the world

Dr. Raj Kumar Khatri has served as a member of Indian Administrative Service (IAS) for over 33 years. He worked as Additional Chief Secretary (ACS) Commerce & Industries Department, Education Department, Land Revenue Department, Labor Department in the State of Karnataka, India. He was actively involved in drafting Aerospace Policy and Electric Vehicle (EV) Policy for Karnataka. He was responsible for implementation of infrastructure projects including public private partnership (PPP) basis projects including the expansion of the Bengaluru International Airport. He also administered prudent crisis response during the COVID-19 pandemic.

He has used GIS / Geo Spatial Technologies in various Government Departments such as Urban Development, Agriculture, Land Management. He was a member of think tank constituted by Geospatial World.

Presently he is working with Reliance Jio, the largest telecom company in India that extensively uses GIS.

Colin Bray is Head of National Mapping, Tailte Eireann and has been President of EuroGeographics since 2018.

Colin has more than twenty-five years' experience in strategic geospatial information management. He was CEO and Chief Survey Officer, Ordnance Survey Ireland (OSi) from 2013 until its merger with the Property Registration Authority and Valuation Office to form Tailte Eireann.

He holds a Master of Science Degree in Management/Organisational Behaviour, a European Honours degree in Geodetic Engineering, and a Diploma in Geo-Surveying. He was the first Chartered Geomatics Surveyor to become President of the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland (SCSI).

Darko Vucetic is a Director for Development and Innovations of Serbian NMCA and Head of Centre for Geospatial information management at Republic geodetic authority of Serbia. Darko's main activity is to seek and provide the most optimal solutions based on geospatial data management to all public sector institutions within the NSDI and to ensure strategic approach for geospatial data use at the national level. Centre using innovative approach and technologies, develop fit-for-purpose solutions, methodologies and business processes, provide capacity building and awareness rising for usage of geospatial data for public sector in Serbia.

Sallie Payne Snell is Acting Secretary General and Executive Director of EuroGeographics. A highly respected senior manager, she has an international network of geospatial contacts gained through extensive relationship and reputation management experience.

Sallie represents EuroGeographics in its capacity as an Observer Organisation at both the United Nations Committee of Experts on Global Geospatial Information Management (UN-GGIM) and UN-GGIM: Europe.

Her previous positions include Deputy Director, Association for Geographic Information and International Stakeholder Relationship Manager, Ordnance Survey. She holds a BSc in Geographical Science.

Ms. Killpack serves as the Deputy Associate Director for the Core Science Systems Mission Area within the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). The Core Science System Mission Area (CSS) fulfills the role as the National Civilian Mapping Agency and is responsible for mapping the geologic, geographic, and land features of the United States. The CSS conducts detailed surveys and distributes high-quality and highly accurate topographic, geologic, hydrographic, and biogeographic maps and remotely sensed data to the public. As Deputy Associate Director, Ms. Killpack provides leadership for the science planning and direction of the Mission Area. Ms. Killpack also leads the development, management, and coordination of program activities which include the National Geospatial Program (NGP), the Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC), the National Cooperative Geologic Mapping Program (NCGMP), the Science Analytics and Synthesis (SAS) Program, the National Geological and Geophysical Data Preservation Program (NGGDPP), and the National Land Imaging Program. Ms. Killpack previously served as the Deputy Director of the USGS National Geospatial Technical Operations Center (NGTOC) providing senior level oversight for the Center including workforce planning and execution, administration and facilities support, labor-management relations, and training and communication. Before working for the USGS, Ms. Killpack also worked for the Department of the Interior National Park Service as the GIS Coordinator for the Intermountain Region, SWCA, Inc. as the GIS Director, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Pacific Services Center as the Geospatial Technology Coordinator. She holds a B.S. in Material Science from University of North Carolina Chapel Hill and a M.S. in Environmental Monitoring from University of Wisconsin Madison.

Mr. Sumit Gera is the Senior Director of Canadian Geospatial Data Infrastructure (CGDI) division of Canadian Centre for Mapping and Earth Observation (CCMEO), Department of Natural Resources. He holds Bachelor of Commerce degree honours from Carleton University with a specialization in finance. He has extensive experience in audit, business valuations and mergers and acquisitions. In his past roles, he acted as a lead Canadian negotiator on Climate Change files.

Degree in Geological Sciences and with a PhD in Geodynamics, he has been Senior Researcher at ISPRA since 2005; from 1998 to today he has been involved in the management and development of Geographical Information Systems, SDI and technological infrastructures and has designed various databases and web applications for sharing, analyzing and validating data quality.

Since 2018 he has been technical manager of the National Environmental Information System which represents the national hub of Spatial and Environmental data, while since 2013 he has represented Italy at the European Commission for the INSPIRE Directive and is therefore technical manager of the National Spatial Information Infrastructure and Monitoring Environmental.

Dmytro Makarenko is an international relations specialist with more than 12 years of experience in various government positions.

In 2014 joined to the team of State Service of Ukraine for Geodesy, Cartography and Cadastre, where he acted on various positions and was responsible and supported the policy formulation of National Spatial Data Infrastructure in Ukraine, initiated and managed numerous international projects in geospatial data, land management and capacity development.

During this period, he was responsible also for the international representation of Ukraine on behalf of the StateGeoCadastre, participating and sharing of the Ukraine's progress and experience in the geospatial data development.

Starting from Oct 2020 as a member of NSDI developers team from Research Institute of Geodesy and Cartography supported the ongoing geospatial process in the country which resulted in launching of the NSDI pilot geoportal.

Dmytro also acted as NSDI Advisor to international experts' team (USAID and Norway Mapping Authority) and provided the consultancy in the geospatial sector, particularly in conducting the IGIF assessment and country action plan for Ukraine and contributed to the agenda of high level NSDI Council in Ukraine.

Mohamed Amine Ben Rhaiem is a GIS developer,analyst and an active member in the Tunisian national SDI project. He got his master degree in GIS from PARIS 1 SORBONNE in 2017. Since August 2022, He is the head department of geospatial application development and scientific methodologies in the national center of mapping and remote sensing in Tunisia (CNCT). Now, he is coordinating the scientific project "The big spatiotemporal data at the service of an intelligent and sustainable city" which aims to develop a model of a digital twin city in Bizerte in Tunisia.

Ruud van Rossem studied Geodesy at the Technical University of Delft. After various functions at the Dutch Cadastre he moved to the national government (Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and the environment, Ministry of Infrastructure and the environment, Ministry of Interior and Kingdom Affairs) where he was responsible for the development op various so called Key Registers and other parts of the Spatial Data Infrastructure. He was general program manager for de Key Registers Cadastre and Topography (2004-2009), the Key Register Large Scale Topography (2008-2017) and the further development of the National Spatial Data Infrastructure (2017-now). The presentation is about the further development from these various Key Registers towards a much broader Data Foundation as a base for working on the various challenges that we currently meet in a data driven way.

Olive Powell is the Head of Geography & Geospatial at the UK Office for National Statistics where she leads the Geospatial division which provides the geospatial infrastructure, datasets and spatial analytical services needed to deliver national statistics for public good. Olive is driven by her passion for geospatial data and technology, which started when she studied Geography and Environmental Sciences at La Sorbonne University in Paris. She now has more than 20 years' experience in the geospatial industry specifically in environment, law enforcement, and central government - always advocating its benefits and value proposition. She is also passionate about diversity and is the co-founder and Director of Women+ in Geospatial, a global network of nearly 5,000 women across the globe.

Victoria is the Project Manager for Data Access and Integration with EuroGeographics, the not-for-profit membership association for Europe's National Mapping, Cadastral and Land Registration Authorities (NMCAs). She is responsible for the delivery of the associations' data activities, with a focus on our European-funded project Open Maps for Europe. She is also responsible for the coordination of the production, licensing and user management of EuroGeographics' pan-European products.

The OME2 project, co-funded by the European Union, will develop a new production process for harmonised, edge-matched, large-scale, high-value pan-European open datasets. A proof of concept will be delivered via the user interface built by the award-winning Open Maps For Europe Project. The prototype will cover ten countries and provide three datasets, identified as key themes by users and defined as high-value in European Commission's implementing rules for the Open Data and reuse of Public Sector Information Directive - administrative boundaries, transport and hydrography. OME2 will also enhance the five existing Open Maps For Europe datasets, including the Open Cadastral Map.

32-years old, M.Sc. Geographer, already worked for several years in various topics throughout the climatic (satellite-based climate monitoring) and the geoinformation sector. Currently working at the Federal Agency for Cartography and Geodesy in Germany as an innovation and project manager, focussing on software development within the scope of routing, accessibility and sustainable development.

Abstract

German Grid Cell Database: From Spatial to Statistics

Objective of the German Grid Cell Database project was to develop and install permanent IT infrastructure that allows for the operative and automatized processing of geospatial data (points-of-interest) and the calculation of accessibility data on the standardised European INSPIRE 100-metre grid. Results can be easily aggregated with existing statistics and geodata throughout Germany.A new operative method for the generation, processing and maintenance of accessibility areas from given Points of Interest (POI) is presented as the result of a cooperative research and development project. After the scientific and technical analyses of different accessibility concepts an automatized and innovative processing infrastructure including an integrated management system was developed and installed. Its scope, methodology and features will be presented.

Benedikt Graler is managing director and head of research at the 52°North Spatial Information Research GmbH. He is a mathematician by training and did his PhD in Geoinformatics. Current research activities focus on the integration of different data sources into research data infrastructures to facilitate improved information derivation.

Glenn has been an active supporter of the geospatial information industry throughout his career. Glenn has served multiple terms as a Board member of the Spatial Industries Business Association (SIBA), including as Chair during 2015 and 2016. Glenn is co-Chair of the leadership group that was responsible for the highly regarded 2026 Spatial Industry Transformation and Growth Agenda launched in April 2017. Glenn is currently Deputy Chair for the 2030 Space and Spatial Industry Growth Roadmap. Glenn also serves on the board of Locate Conferences Australia Pty Ltd, the entity established to deliver the industry's annual "Locate" conference series. Glenn is the Chair of the Industry Advisory Committee for the Department of Geospatial Sciences at RMIT, and a member of the Department of Infrastructure Engineering Industry Advisory Board at the University of Melbourne. Glenn was a member of the Victorian Spatial Council for over four and half years, and the recipient of the Surveying and Spatial Science Institute's Victorian Spatial Professional of the Year Award in 2007.

Glenn is a recognised leader in the geospatial information technology industry. Glenn is strategic thinker, advocate and advisor regarding how geospatial and related systems, data and analysis can be utilised to improve organisational decision-making and efficiency, and address some of our most pressing environmental, economic and resource issues. He has over 35 years of experience, gained working in Australia and internationally, both with the private sector and all levels of government.

Abstract

Adjusting the Digital Cadastre - part of Victoria's Digital Cadastre Modernisation Project

For some time, the Government of the State of Victoria in Australia has recognised the limitations of the State's existing cadastral mapping and the need to improve its accuracy for use in a wide range of modern applications. Developed over the past 30 years from digitised survey plan boundaries, the property boundaries included in the map base suffered from variable accuracy due to the varied sources used. The Government set a goal to recreate a new Victorian digital cadastre by re-digitising approximately 850,000 survey plans (describing some 3.3 million parcels) and capturing the actual survey measurements shown in these plans and using a least squares adjustment process to derive a more accurate data-driven digital cadastral representation. These plans ranged from historic (some plans were produced over 150 years ago) to modern and hence were impacted by a wide range of survey instruments, observation types and regulatory conditions. The key challenge of this ambitious project was the computation of all land parcel boundaries using the survey plan measurements, and then use of a flexible and robust least squares adjustment process to fit them all together to create a more accurate and contiguous digital cadastral fabric for the entire State. Spatial Vision delivered the adjustment process by building an automated adjustment toolset using open-source software components including the adjustment engine Dynadjust , a team of skilled operators and by working closely with our Government client and local surveying experts. The success of the overall project relied on this collaboration as the development of the adjustment tools and processes faced many technical and logistical challenges. Some of these included: - Defining a suitable measure of quality for the output data - Developing highly automated multi stage processing to achieve the required efficiency and consistency within a limited time and dollar project budget - Delivering a comprehensive cadastral fabric including areas with limited survey control With staged availability commencing in 2022, the new digital cadastre of Victoria will deliver significant productivity gains across many sectors of the economy - from property and land development, through to utility and other infrastructure asset management. It will underpin the delivery of some $81 billion (AUD) in new infrastructure investment and the development of capabilities like digital survey plan lodgement, Victoria's Digital Twin and the development of a 3D cadastre for the State. This presentation will describe the significance of the new digital cadastre, the Government's Digital Cadastre Modernisation plan as well as the adjustment process, challenges and solutions.

Antti Jakobsson is a chief engineer at National Land Survey and will be the head of the LIH. He well experienced in European projects like GeoE3, ELF and others. He has a doctoral degree in GI science and his thesis covered the topic of data integration in Europe, data quality. He is also written books on history of cartography.

Abstract

Location Innovation Hub - creating location intelligence for Europe

Location Innovation Hub (LIH) is one the European digital innovation hubs (EDIH) selected in 2022. We will be helping startups, SMEs and public sector to utilize location technology and digital twins for creating new innovations. National Land Survey of Finland is co-ordinating this with 12 business partners, 14 university, public sector and NGO partners. We also have 22 associated and other partners which include large companies and associations.Our target sectors include built environment, bioeconomy, health & wellbeing and transportation. Operations commence in 2023 and we expect to help 100 SMEs in our first three years of operations. LIH is the only EDIH in now selected 136 network accross Europe that is fully concentrating in location.

Until 2016, she has been production manager of pan-European geographical dataset EuroRegionalMap and is now managing the implementation of the federal geospatial platform geo.be according to INSPIRE compliancy. In the past 3 years, she has been acting as a technical adviser for the Open Map for Europe platform hold by the EuroGeographics association. She is currently deeply involved in the working group on data integration of UNGGIM-Europe as co-chair. She has followed with warm interest the GSW training sessions on geospatial knowledge infrastructure of the past 2 years.

Abstract

NGI Belgium: a mapping agency at a cross-domain geobroker role for providing suitable geospatial content

No longer limited to maps production, NGI Belgium is entering into a new geospatial eco-system guided by an increasing demand in matter of geospatial information from various domains : climate change, national security, environmental management, mobility management. These new eco-systems require a fundamental revision on the way, geospatial data are produced and distributed while embracing the need to be connected to other domains ( statistics, health). The presentation will introduce the current user needs and requests NGI Belgium has to meet, the solutions and the challenges to face not only in matter of technology but also in matter of data governance, of standardization, data harmonization and integration.

Patrick is responsible for the development of location intelligence and data solutions at Precisely. Before joining Precisely, he led the evolution of exposure management and analytic cloud solutions at RMS and has nearly 20 years of experience in analyst and regulatory roles across the UK and USA insurance industries.

Abstract

Governance and Spatial Data: Unlocking New Business Value

Many organizations create central data hubs, or data catalogs, to improve data management, ensure compliance, and make data readily available to business users. Bringing spatial data under the umbrella of data governance can also help organizations reduce risk, improve performance, unlock new business opportunity, and foster trust in data.