What is top of mind in today’s geospatial sector?

Read our analysis of the results from the most recent 'GIM International' industry survey to discover fellow professionals' ambitions, investment plans and visions for progress.

Our industry survey has become an annual tradition, allowing us to assess the development of the geospatial sector. While there may appear to be little change year on year, a broader perspective over a multiyear timespan reveals the technological and societal shifts shaping the industry’s evolution. This report, based on analysis of GIM International’s 2025 geospatial industry survey, takes a step back to examine the longer-term trends, providing a clearer view of where the industry is heading and giving insight into mapping and surveying professionals’ visions of the future.

Despite being indispensable across countless aspects of life and business, the geospatial sector has long been overlooked – or at least underestimated – by the outside world. Like the engine beneath the bonnet of a car, geospatial data works in the background, crucially driving numerous processes yet barely noticed. But the geospatial sector’s technical ingenuity is no longer entirely hidden. As data capturing solutions have advanced and matured over the past years, geospatial data has become more affordable, reaching a wider user group as a result and playing a valuable part in the broader trend known as Industry 4.0 (and, increasingly, Industry 5.0).

Everyone involved in the mapping and surveying field a decade or so ago remembers the emergence of uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs or ‘drones’). Back then, they were welcomed by some as a disruptive change that would open up countless new opportunities, while being labelled by many others as a hype (much like AI today, in fact!). In the years that followed, drones gradually became a standard instrument in the surveyor’s toolkit. In fact, as is usual when an innovation moves into the mainstream, their novelty seemed to have worn off. However, the technical engineering didn’t stand still. Thanks to significant advancements in the area of payloads, such as the miniaturization of sensors, drones started to reappear in the results of last year’s annual survey, and their ‘comeback’ has further intensified this year.

The evolution of Lidar sensors

The resurgence of drones in the geospatial sector is closely linked to the broader adoption of remote sensing technologies, particularly in the form of Lidar sensors for UAVs. In this year’s industry survey, 38.6% of respondents identify the widespread use of remote sensing technologies – including 3D laser scanning, mobile mapping systems and drones – as the most impactful development in the past decade. The integration of Lidar sensors has greatly expanded the capability of UAVs, enabling precise aerial collection of high-quality data that has become essential for modern surveying work.

In addition to the rise of remote sensing, other key technological advancements highlighted by the survey include the growth of GNSS technology (18.6%), the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning with geospatial data (18.6%), and the maturation of cloud computing and communication infrastructure (17.1%). These innovations all contribute to a more connected, efficient and accurate geospatial landscape in which drones and their evolving sensor capabilities play a central role.

One of the respondents sums it up very fittingly: “Surveying is being driven by technology. Conventional surveying is being gradually replaced by various forms of remote sensing and scanning. I still use total stations and GNSS, but my employers purchase these services from surveying contractors as and when required.” Another participant comments: “The improvement of the characteristics of laser scanners and the possibility of installation on various mobile platforms has enabled their application in various new areas.”

AI is a game changer

Needless to say, there’s no avoiding AI when asked about the development with the most impact on the industry. As one geospatial professional shares: “Artificial intelligence, particularly in the realm of deep learning, has had a profound impact on remote sensing, influencing multiple facets such as data acquisition, processing, analysis and interpretation.” According to this expert, the integration of AI into remote sensing significantly enhances data quality, automates data processing, refines feature extraction and classification, facilitates change detection, enables data fusion, and streamlines quality control procedures. These advancements will lead to more accurate, comprehensive and timely analysis and interpretation of remote sensing data.

“By employing AI methods like deep learning, professionals in the field can not only improve the quality of the data they work with, but also extract meaningful insights and automate numerous aspects of data analysis. This approach unlocks the full potential of remote sensing technology for a wide range of applications,” the respondent continues.

In fact, the continued integration of AI, machine learning, and real-time analytics into geospatial workflows leads the pack of emerging trends and technologies that will shape the geospatial industry most significantly in the coming years, with no less than 80% of respondents in agreement on this. The high degree of consensus underscores the industry’s strong belief in the transformative potential of these technologies to enhance decision-making, efficiency and automation in geospatial applications.

While the hype of a few years ago has subsided somewhat, AI is still widely regarded as a game changer in the analytics in the geospatial domain. “So far, we saw only very specialized tools. This will go into more general applications to open the door for directly moving from sensors towards solutions,” states one professional. Another respondent is more cautious: “AI and automation all sound great, but companies find it hard to invest/keep up with what they can’t understand. And AI can only work to its full potential if it’s ‘good data’ that it’s working from.”

The comments field where survey participants can explain their answers produced some interesting input, illustrating the high level of intelligence among our readers. For example: “Today, we have high-quality 3D point clouds that will need to be processed in the coming years using AI/ML algorithms. Additionally, sensor fusion requires calibration through new methods such as wavelets (which analyse data in both time and frequency domains), Fourier transforms (which decompose signals into constituent frequencies), and Legendre polynomials (used for solving differential equations and modelling complex datasets), alongside traditional calibration parameters. All of this needs to be integrated into an automated workflow, which is still a work in progress.”

The drive for automation

The drive for automation is expected to play a central role in the evolution of the industry, making data collection and analysis both more efficient and more reliable. Roughly half of the participants anticipate further adoption of uncrewed systems, for instance, with a particular focus on improving autonomy and data quality. According to one of the experts who completed this year’s survey: “We are now able to collect large amounts of very precise data in a short time. The greatest improvement is expected from the automation of the processing of that data to produce final spatial products and/or decision-making based on them.”

Another conclusion from the survey results is that technology fusion is expected to accelerate further. 46.9% of the respondents regard the integration of capabilities developed in the last decade as a key future trend. This entails advances in remote sensing, sensor fusion and data processing, leading to more sophisticated and versatile solutions. One respondent points out: “As one technology changes, it creates a wave affecting other technologies. We expect even greater things to happen in the future as one aspect of change triggers a chain reaction with other technologies.”

Data interoperability standards and IoT

Besides these technological developments, 43.4% of the respondents highlight the need for more data interoperability standards to ensure seamless data exchange between systems, minimizing integrity loss and enabling smoother integration across platforms. One survey participant welcomes all the advancements, but underlines the importance of solid geospatial data as the basis: “All the answers point to the fact that data-led decision-making, whether it be by humans or AI, is on the up. But nearly everything requires good foundational data. Therefore, things like standards or interoperability will continue to be key.”

Improving data interoperability standards is also highlighted as a priority to optimize workflows. One expert explains: “If we could spend more time analysing and providing solutions rather than manipulating data to fit across tools, the industry could advance at a much faster pace.” Indeed, ensuring the accuracy, consistency and security of geospatial data is vital for delivering reliable insights across various applications. Reflecting the importance of data quality and management, 42.5% of the professionals surveyed highlight the need for improved data handling processes.

Meanwhile, 43.4% of respondents predict that advancements in the Internet of Things (IoT) will facilitate the creation of more interconnected systems for continuous data collection and monitoring. Lastly, 32.4% of professionals envision a strong rise in Earth observation and mobile satellite communication, signalling an ongoing interest in enhancing global monitoring capabilities. Interestingly, the 2025 survey reveals a stronger interest in Earth observation compared to previous editions.

Planning the built environment

Multiple participants foresee that the emerging trends and technologies shaping the geospatial industry will have a profound impact on how we plan and live in the built environment. “As digital twins evolve from individual assets to entire cities and infrastructures, the seamless endless flow of data – from site capture to dynamic modelling and real-time change management – becomes an increasingly achievable goal. This will rely on workflows designed to ensure interoperability across platforms and applications,” comments one. Another respondent states: “The ability to use a unified base dataset across multiple use cases and applications will unlock immense potential, offering great value to society, enabled by the evolving technologies that are transforming the geospatial data workflow.”

On the topic of the geospatial industry’s ability to contribute to tackling societal challenges such as climate change, one participant states: “Ultimately all the benefits of geospatial data, and the analysis possible to aid in reporting and action for the purposes of climate change monitoring and prevention, are done out of principle – there is rarely a business case for it. There has to be a societal shift.”

Talent shortage impacting on quality

One of the most substantial challenges facing the geospatial industry in the coming years is the shortage of skilled workers. Recruiting, educating and training the next generation of professionals remains a key concern, as illustrated by the fact that talent management and retention once again top the list in the survey (54.1%). Notably, only 14.9% of respondents report that they are not currently experiencing a shortage of skilled personnel.

A considerable number of respondents – especially in the Western world – point out that the popularity of the geospatial discipline seems to be decreasing among today’s young people, who are largely looking to enter professional life on high salaries and with limited effort. “The geospatial science domain requires the professional to be up-to-date in the application of technology, keep their theoretical knowledge fresh and improve the engineering and application experience. Such a difficult business environment loses its attraction to youngsters,” comments one respondent.

Bridging the knowledge gap with clients appears to be another hurdle. Roughly 40% of the respondents have experienced difficulties in effectively communicating complex geospatial concepts to customers who may not necessarily have a deep technical understanding of the field. One respondent from Great Britain sums up both of these issues: “There is a shortage of surveyors in the UK, it seems. This affects capacity to provide services. The knowledge gap with the clients seems to be variable, with some very showing lack of technical understanding.” Similar issues can be found in a vast array of regions and are definitely not limited to the UK alone.

Moreover, 32.9% of the survey participants express concerns when it comes to preventing a ‘race to the bottom’ in terms of pricing and quality. Upholding high industry standards while staying competitive remains a delicate balance for many professionals in the geospatial sector and can potentially have a stifling effect on business operations. One entry notes: “The industry is slowly getting smaller talent pools. We have many inroads through technological advances that attract people, but they have the IT abilities and unfortunately not the wider geospatial views/skills. The cheapening of dataset collection does not promote a quality culture and there are still no best/standardized ways for sharing or storing data.”

Keeping pace with innovation

As innovation accelerates, staying up to date with the latest tools and techniques is critical for the sector’s continued growth and relevance. However, 47.9% of respondents say they struggle to keep pace with technological advancements and adopt new technologies. Especially smaller companies are affected by this, but various other factors can have an impact. One of the survey participants zooms in on the challenge in African countries, for example: “Many regions face barriers in implementing these innovations due to infrastructural limitations, budget constraints and resistance to change. Additionally, there is a significant knowledge gap, as most universities tend to produce average users of geospatial tools rather than highly skilled professionals with advanced expertise. This results in a workforce that may struggle to fully leverage emerging technologies.” This underscores the need for different solutions in different parts of the world. Some ways of addressing this, according to the respondent, include “technical training […] as building a highly skilled workforce will be key to unlocking the full potential of the geospatial industry. Bridging these gaps will require targeted educational programmes, ongoing capacity-building initiatives, and stronger industry-academia partnerships.”

Investment plans in technologies and talent

When asked about their plans for technological investments, respondents were allowed to provide multiple answers in this year’s survey. GIS software and platforms are out in front, with 43.2% of respondents planning to invest. This is followed by 42.5% focusing on data processing and analytics tools. UAVs for mapping and 3D modelling are an investment priority for 38.4%, and also on the radar for many companies are mobile mapping systems (28.1%) and cloud-based geospatial solutions (26.7%). Other areas with investment interest include GNSS receivers (23.3%), terrestrial laser scanners (19.2%) and portable/wearable mapping systems (15.8%), followed by total stations (14.4%), airborne laser scanners (13.7%) and digital aerial cameras (11%). Given the size of the worldwide geospatial industry, even the smaller percentages represent a pretty high volume of potential equipment sales.

Besides these envisaged technological investments, companies are clearly aware of the need to address the ongoing shortage of skilled personnel, with 64.5% of organizations investing in internal training and development programmes, and 58.2% partnering with educational institutions to attract new talent. Meanwhile, to reduce reliance on manual labour, 48.9% are turning to automation and advanced technologies. Additionally, 39% are outsourcing tasks to specialists.

Visions for progress

To gain insight into the future visions of geospatial experts, this year’s industry survey concluded by asking the participants to name the one thing they would change about the geospatial industry to drive meaningful progress. This question produced a series of interesting and varied responses. One respondent mentions the importance of more lobbying to increase general awareness of the sector’s work, stating: “Raising awareness for the importance of our industry can help bridge the gap between its potential and public recognition.” Another participant suggests that higher investment in cross-sector education and training is critical: “Increasing geospatial literacy across sectors can empower more professionals and ensure better collaboration.”

Others see the need for better collaboration between surveyors and GIS specialists, advocating for the idea that “this is not an ‘either/or’ situation”. Improved stakeholder collaboration is also suggested, with one participant stating: “If I had the capacity, I’d ensure that all stakeholders focus on their specialized areas, build human capacity, and maintain high standards.” Lastly, one expert refreshingly highlights the importance of often-overlooked tasks: “Don’t forget to celebrate the ‘boring’ work. Without strong processes, testing and learning from failure, the extraordinary accomplishments in our field wouldn’t be possible.”

Conclusion

Compared with previous editions, the tone of the reactions in the comment fields in this year’s survey is somewhat less upbeat. Perhaps the current geopolitical circumstances play a role in this, not to mention the climate-change issue looming over the market. But despite the uncertainties and slightly less optimistic mood, the ambitions of the participants remain strong, with continued intent to invest in new equipment and personnel, and a clear motivation to move forward. With the vast majority of the survey participants painting a picture of increased technological possibilities that have come within reach of more and more professionals in recent years – including those with fewer financial resources – it should be possible to realize many of those ambitions in the coming years. This year’s survey reconfirms the sector’s determination to not only stay ahead of technological advancements, but also to build a resilient, future-ready workforce that can thrive in an ever-evolving landscape. This drive to innovate and adapt, combined with the ‘engine beneath the bonnet’ (i.e. geospatial data) will enable the geospatial industry to continue to offer solutions for the multifaceted challenges that the world faces.