The documentary follows Kelowna’s transformation of its GIS capability in the context of rapid population growth and wildfire risk. Esri describes how the city’s geospatial strategy and location intelligence were used in planning and crisis response.

A 10 m resolution geospatial raster dataset mapping the spatial distribution of cassava and maize fields across Oyo State, southwestern Nigeria, for 2022. Crop predictions were generated using fused Sentinel-1 SAR and Sentinel-2 optical imagery, supervised machine-learning classification and field-validated ground-truth observations. The package includes GeoTIFF crop-extent layers, a combined ZIP package and README documentation. Creators include researchers from the University of Delaware, IITA, NASRDA, University of Ibadan, University of Maryland and partner institutions.

Infrastructure was once defined by scale. How high we could build, how quickly we could deliver, and how far we could connect.

Today, the focus has shifted from what we build to how intelligently it performs. Can infrastructure anticipate disruption? Adapt to change? Connect people, data, and decisions in real time?

The AEC Summit during Geospatial World Forum (GWF) 2026 saw leaders from government, industry, technology, and academia coming together to explore these questions. A clear message emerged: 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘳𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘺 𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘣𝘺 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦, 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘶𝘳𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘦.

Six key takeaways stood out:

• 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐭 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐫. Infrastructure is evolving into connected, responsive systems that strengthen resilience and improve operational efficiency.
• 𝐃𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐓𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐞𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐳𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. They are becoming decision-support tools across the entire infrastructure lifecycle.
• 𝐀𝐈 𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐧𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧-𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠. The emphasis is shifting from reacting to challenges to anticipating and addressing them before they escalate.
• 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐥. Open, connected ecosystems support seamless collaboration, stronger data sharing, and scalable innovation.
• 𝐂𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐟𝐮𝐞𝐥𝐬 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. Real progress depends on partnerships across government, industry, academia, and technology providers.
• 𝐏𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐞. Technology delivers its greatest value when it helps create safer, more sustainable, and more liveable communities.

Together, these conversations are helping shape the next chapter of the built environment, and the journey has only just begun.

Join us at Geospatial World Forum (GWF) 2027 as we continue exploring the technologies, partnerships, and ideas driving the 5th Industrial Revolution and Sentient Economy.

20–22 April 2027 | Amsterdam, The Netherlands

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