Christchurch, New Zealand is set to host
more than 300 international scientists for the 13th International
Conference on Geographic Information Science (GIScience) in 2025.
Held biennially since 2000, GIScience is
the flagship conference in its field. The 2025 conference will mark only the second time the event
has been held in the Southern Hemisphere.
The four-day event, from 26 to 29 August
2025, will bring together international participants from academia, industry,
and experts on urban analytics, geographic computing, movement analysis,
digital mapping, and GeoAI from around the world.
Technological innovations, such as the use
of AI to analyse massive geographic data sets, are developing fast. This
conference aims to create an opportunity for New Zealand to contribute to research
and incorporate new methodologies into its governmental and industrial
processes and decision-making.
The conference is being organised by the Te
Whare Wānanga o Waitaha | University of Canterbury (UC), along with partners at
University of Auckland, Massey University, University of Otago, and supported
by ChristchurchNZ and Tourism New Zealand.
UC recently placed in the top 100 globally
for Geography, and first equal nationally in the latest QS World Rankings.
ChristchurchNZ head of business events,
Megan Crum said 'prestigious conferences' like GIScience 2025 not only boost the
local economy, but also contribute to scientific advancement,
industry innovation, attraction of global talent, and improved social policy.
“For international GI scientists, our city
will be a living classroom. We are an ideal example of a bicultural and
multicultural community experiencing fast demographic and economic change,
urban growth and rebuilding, alongside a diverse biosphere and sometimes
turbulent physical geography. Christchurch is also a gateway to Antarctica, and
it has an economy tied to the land through a large agricultural sector plus a
fast-growing technology sector,” she says.
“UC’s impactful research solves local and
global challenges, and we pride ourselves on our inclusive community and
delivering a high standard of research-led education that is accessible,
flexible and future focused,” says UC executive dean engineering, professor Saurabh Sinha.
“We are excited to be welcoming delegates
from across the world to share our knowledge and collaborate to make a
difference.”
UC associate professor of computer science
and software engineering, Benjamin Adams is the lead local chair for the
conference.
He said New Zealand offers a
particularly compelling backdrop for the GIScience conference. Geographic
information plays a role in decision-making not only in the public and private
sector to inform responses to disasters and critical issues for example, but
also in the wider population, such as navigational support.
“As our organisation team demonstrates, we
have a strong and growing local research community in GI Science working across
all of New Zealand’s universities. New Zealand is a place where interesting and
varied GI Science research is being conducted and crucially where the
application of geographic information science is felt across all sectors of
society,” he added.
