GEO Business launches highly anticipated programme

The CPD-accredited education programme is thoughtfully designed to help attendees keep pace with the rapidly evolving field of geospatial innovation. Dive into the details here.

GEO Business, the UK's premier geospatial event, has released its highly anticipated programme for the 2024 edition, happening from 5-6 June at ExCeL London. This expo, free to attend, is tailored for geospatial professionals eager to harness the power of location intelligence. With this year marking its tenth anniversary, GEO Business promises its most exciting edition yet.

The CPD-accredited education programme is thoughtfully designed to help attendees keep pace with the rapidly evolving field of geospatial innovation. Visitors can expect a diverse range of free talks, workshops, and demos led by expert speakers from across the profession. With over 150 experts participating, attendees can earn CPD points while staying informed about the latest industry trends.

Featuring eight specialized theatres, GEO Business covers key applications of geospatial technology, including infrastructure, GIS and data, surveying and mapping, satellites, drones, UAVs, and the built environment. Here's a sneak peek into four of these theatres, along with a glimpse of the thought leaders who will take the stage at this year’s event.

Built Environment Stage

The Built Environment Stage is sponsored by 1Spatial and explores applications of geospatial technologies and processes for the architecture, construction, and engineering sector (AEC). Bringing you a series of presentations and panel sessions covering a range of hot topics. This includes the role of GIS alongside BIM, digital twins, smart cities, and how the geospatial profession can help construction stay ahead of the game.

Building the future: GeoBIM-powered engineering design for a next-gen football ground at Wrexham AFC will explore how GeoBIM enabled seamless collaboration in the construction of the new stand at Wrexham AFC. This session will be presented by Sarah Widdowfield, senior managing GIS consultant at Ramboll.

Since the G7 Summit, Devon and Cornwall Police have utilized Lidar scanners and drones to build digital twins of all key operational venues. In 3D geospatial for policing, Robert Goldsmith, mapping manager at Devon and Cornwall Police, will share how these innovations have enhanced security planning.

The 'UK ground investigation data’s worth £1bn+, can it deliver more?' panel session will be delivered by British Geological Survey’s Stephanie Bricker and Marcus Dobbs. They will also be joined by Kevin Yue, principal economic adviser at the Geospatial Commission, and Jane Franklin, managing director at Difference Engine to discuss what the industry is looking for from future GI data services and what to expect from the British Geological Survey.

Earth Insights Stage

Brought to you in partnership with the Satellite Applications Catapult, sessions on the Earth Insights Stage delve into the opportunities of satellite applications and the latest advancements in Earth observation. Learn about pioneering use cases of space technologies in engaging presentations and panel discussions delivered by experts in the field.

Maryia Urazaeva, business development innovation lead at Satellite Applications Catapult, will share strategies for businesses to use EO technologies to drive innovation in EO adoption across sectors: Fusing commercial goals with sustainability.

Automated monitoring with remote sensing will cover how deep learning and other techniques can be applied at scale to remotely monitor infrastructure assets, presented by Fergus Craig, co-chair of the Association for Geographic Information and UK sales manager at NV5 Geospatial.

A live demonstration of a web-based asset monitoring application using current Sentinel 2 satellite data will be included in the session.

Ever wanted to see how the whole Great Britain coastline has changed over the past 38 years? Thanks to Earth observation satellites that have been imaging the Earth since 1984, this is possible. The digital GB coastline (a 38-year dataset) will explore how the dataset was made and how to access it for free.

ARGANS’s Martin Jones, coastal programme manager and Anne-Laure Beck, technical lead EO engineer, will be joined by Dr Andres Payo Garcia, principal scientists, Coastal and Estuaries Geohazards Research at British Geological Survey for this session.

Drone & UAV Stage

The Drone & UAV Stage features a programme of talks curated in partnership with ARPAS-UK. Sessions showcase the latest drone and UAV technology and industry applications.

Expect talks covering a range of topics, such as: regulations, survey accuracy, how to be a professional drone operator, how BVLOS will affect the geospatial world and more.  

OpenAir UWE | Drone About Campus, is a case study of how the University of the West of England (UWE), Bristol, has successfully integrated ‘drone-in-a-box’ technology enabling ‘drone on-demand’ services and automated condition monitoring.

UWE’s Richard Brailsford, building surveyor and Richard Kimber, data, systems & service delivery manager will present alongside Herotech8’s head of business development, Mike Edwards, to discuss the technology and regulatory innovation necessary to develop this new infrastructure and demonstrate some of the use cases.

Transforming surveying workflows with latest DJI drone solutions will explore real-world case studies to illustrate the benefits of integrating DJI drones into surveying workflows, including time savings, cost-effectiveness, and improved data quality. Join Freda Peng, solution engineer at DJI to gain insight into how drone solutions are revolutionizing surveying processes and opening new opportunities in the field.

Infrastructure Stage

Expect insights into major projects and from major clients on the Infrastructure Stage, sponsored by Bentley Systems. Sessions explore applications of geospatial technologies and processes across major infrastructure. This encompasses roads, rail, tunnelling, energy and utilities projects. Talks focus on the tools and data that are being collected and utilized, from a wide range of perspectives such as location, population, and environment. 

Offshore wind infrastructure location depends on GIS data and its interpretation. Installing inter-array cables connecting turbines to the substation requires harmonizing various sub-seabed conditions, known as constraints. In Heatmapping seabed risk for offshore wind development, Holly Cairns, senior GIS analyst at Global Maritime, will explain the process of recording, processing, and presenting the constraints and subsequent suitability heatmap.

Learn how the AXIOM team within Network Rail have analysed the current process for initiating, designing, and implementing Temporary Speed Restrictions (TSR) and looked at options to move to a digital, semi-automated process, underpinned by geospatial data and technologies. 'Network Rail – Using geospatial technology and data to improve the way temporary speed restrictions are implemented on the rail network' will be presented by Network Rail’s senior geospatial developer Nicholas Johnson, and Peter Burnett, senior digital delivery specialist, as well as Minesh Naran, head of transport at 1Spatial.

Browse the full programme of GEO Business 2024 here.