November 7-9, 2025, Shanghai – The 13th University GIS Forum 2025, jointly undertaken by East China Normal University and Wuhan Zondy Cyber Technology Co., Ltd., was successfully held in Shanghai. With the theme "Intelligence and Collaboration," the forum brought together over 800 participants, including renowned academicians, experts, scholars, industry associations, enterprises, and faculty and student representatives from universities across China. They gathered in Shanghai to communicate and exchange ideas on theoretical frontiers and technological developments, discipline construction and talent cultivation, integration innovation and industrial growth, and other key topics. Participants shared the latest achievements and valuable experiences, discussing how the geographic information industry can better integrate into the digital economy in the era of intelligence, how universities can cultivate talent to meet the new developmental needs of the industry, and how to achieve efficient collaborative development across various fields and levels such as data and business, thereby fully serving the needs of national economic and social development.

The forum was jointly hosted by the Strategic Alliance for Geographic Information Industry Technology Innovation, the National-Local Joint Engineering Laboratory for Geographic Information System, the National Engineering Research Center for Geographic Information System, China University of Geosciences (Wuhan), Peking University, Wuhan University, Tsinghua University, Nanjing University, Tongji University, Nanjing Normal University, Information Engineering University, Yunnan Normal University, Guangzhou University, Central South University, Southwest Jiaotong University, Lanzhou Jiaotong University, Hohai University, and East China Normal University. It was co-organized by Tongji University, Fudan University, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai University, Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai Ocean University, Shanghai University of Sport, Shanghai Maritime University, and Shanghai Institute of Technology.

At the opening ceremony, Professor Shi Guoyue, Vice President of East China Normal University, delivered the welcome speech. Zhang Shaojie, Vice President and Secretary-General of the Chinese Society of Surveying and Mapping, Wang Zengning, Vice President and Secretary-General of the China Association for Geographic Information Industry, and Yu Xiancheng, President of the Global Navigation Satellite System and Location-based Service Association of China, attended the forum and delivered addresses. Plenary reports were given by Professor Anthony Gar-On Yeh, Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Professor at The University of Hong Kong; Professor Guo Huadong, Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Researcher at the Aerospace Information Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences; Professor Gong Jianya, Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Professor at Wuhan University; Professor Tong Xiaohua, Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and Vice President of Tongji University; and Professor Ye Jieping, Vice Director of Zhejiang Lab.

Academicians Yeh and Guo Awarded Lifetime Achievement Award in GIS Education

Zhang Shaojie, Vice President and Secretary-General of the Chinese Society of Surveying and Mapping, and Yu Xiancheng, President of the Global Navigation Satellite System and Location-based Service Association of China, presented the "Lifetime Achievement Award in GIS Education" certificates and trophies to Academician Anthony Gar-On Yeh of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Professor at The University of Hong Kong, and Academician Guo Huadong of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Researcher at the Aerospace Information Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, in recognition of their outstanding contributions to China's geographic information education and for cultivating a large number of outstanding talents. The award-winning academicians delivered acceptance speeches, summarizing their experiences in scientific research and education and expressing their encouragement and expectations for the successors in the field of geographic information science.

The results of the forum's awards selection, which lasted for four months, were announced during the award ceremony on November 8-9. A total of 14 "GIS Innovation Figures," 20 "GIS Rising Stars," 10 "GIS Promising Talents," 16 "Outstanding Teaching Achievements," and 10 "Outstanding Theses" were selected. Through these awards, the forum serves as a powerful platform for recognizing the core and emerging forces in university GIS, exploring successful teaching achievements and experiences, and sharing cutting-edge theoretical knowledge and technologies.

Gathering of Academicians and Experts Interprets GIS Frontiers

This year, the state proposed deepening the development and utilization of data resources, stimulating innovation vitality in the digital economy, continuously promoting the "AI Plus" initiative, and leading the development of new quality productive forces through scientific and technological innovation. During the plenary report session, Academician Yeh showcased thoughts and practices on urban planning and management empowered by the transition from 2D to 3D. Academician Guo explained the progress towards Sustainable Development Goals driven by digital technology. Academician Gong analyzed the key technologies for constructing global geographic information service infrastructure. Academician Tong shared the latest advances in surveying, remote sensing, and visual navigation for asteroid exploration. Professor Ye Jieping detailed the development of GeoGPT, a large language model system designed for earth scientists.

During the invited report session, seven experts and scholars, including Researcher Liu Jiping from the Chinese Academy of Surveying and Mapping, Professor Yan Haowen from Lanzhou Jiaotong University, Professor Zhou Guoqing from Guilin University of Technology, Professor Li Xia from East China Normal University, Professor Wu Liang from China University of Geosciences (Wuhan), Professor Tang Luliang from Wuhan University, and Professor Wang Lunche from China University of Geosciences (Wuhan), shared insights on various topics. These included changes in cartography and geographic information science, mobile micro-maps and their production methods, spatiotemporal change patterns of the Beibu Gulf tidal flats driven by lightweight B-LiDAR, indirect effects of land use change on the terrestrial carbon cycle in China, all-space intelligent GIS technology in the AI era, new methods for urban crowdsourced intelligent sensing, and the regulatory effect of vegetation greening on the urban thermal environment and its climate response. The sessions focused on frontier GIS theories and technologies, facilitating multi-level sharing and exchange with participants.

"Famous Teachers in Universities" and Parallel Sessions Reach Largest Scale Ever

This year, the forum's branded activity "Famous Teachers in Universities" reached new heights in both the number of participating renowned teachers and the quality of activities. Twenty-five experts and scholars from across the country visited ten local Shanghai universities, including East China Normal University, Tongji University, Fudan University, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai University, Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai Ocean University, Shanghai University of Sport, Shanghai Maritime University, and Shanghai Institute of Technology. They engaged with teachers and students on hot topics such as GIS discipline development and talent cultivation under the background of AI, GIS digital terrain, and empowering urban sustainable development with spatiotemporal big data. The atmosphere was lively, with continuous applause.

The forum featured 12 parallel sessions, with over a hundred reports setting a record high. Five of these sessions, including "Geological Big Data and AI Application Innovation," "Key Technologies and Application Demonstration for Comprehensive Remote Sensing Monitoring of Safety," "Remote Sensing AI-Enabled Natural Disaster Diagnosis," "Urban Remote Sensing and GeoAI," and "Scientific Data Mining and Knowledge Discovery in Earth's Surface Systems," provided a platform for experts and scholars in related fields to present and exchange ideas, showcasing the latest technological achievements and applications. In the "Innovation Figures" session, 14 award winners shared their GIS innovation results. Eighteen "GIS Rising Stars" demonstrated their emerging research strength. Sixteen winning teams of the "Outstanding Teaching Achievement" award shared their successful teaching experiences in the "GIS Discipline Construction and Talent Cultivation" session. Ten outstanding thesis award winners presented their representative academic achievements. In a special session for "GIS Promising Talents," ten young graduate students also reported on their research results.

The Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition defense was full of highlights, with 12 team projects covering areas such as low-altitude flight, map cultural and creative products, intelligent inspection, 3D geological modeling, and lunar exploration. Professor Zhang Shuliang from Nanjing Normal University, Professor Cheng Liang from Nanjing University, along with enterprise leaders such as Wang Zhanhong, General Manager of Shanghai Zhongheng Software Technology Co., Ltd., Zou Ping, Deputy General Manager of Firstar Technology (Beijing) Co., Ltd., and Ye Jun, HRD & CEO Assistant of Sinmir Vision Technology, gave full recognition and suggestions to the competing projects. They pointed out that GIS has now become an integrated platform consolidating data, analysis, and decision-making. The project contents demonstrated that GIS has deeply integrated into various fields such as environmental protection, emergency management, post-earthquake monitoring, and cultural heritage protection, enabling interdisciplinary and cross-departmental collaborative applications. The judges also noted that the competition provides an excellent platform for university student teams to embark on innovation and entrepreneurship, hoping to see more teams truly move towards innovation and venture creation, landing their ideas in market practice. After fierce competition, the team from Guangdong Zhengtu Information Technology Co., Ltd. won the Grand Prize, while teams from Lanzhou Jiaotong University and East China Normal University won First Prizes.

AI Integration and GIS Talent Cultivation: Academic Salons Explore Themes of the Era

"Spatial Intelligence" marks our entry into a new era driven by the deep integration of AI and GIS. This is not merely a technological overlay but a revolution in cognitive paradigms. The first academic salon, themed "Spatial Intelligence: A New Industrial Epoch Driven by AI-GIS Integration," was chaired by Professor Zhang Xinchang from Guangzhou University. Participants shared insights on questions such as "How is AI driving GIS application transformation and industrial empowerment? How can we better embrace AI to achieve deep integration of AI and GIS?" Their exchanges provided valuable references for the GIS industry to break traditional boundaries and build an open, symbiotic new development paradigm in the AI era.

The second academic salon, themed "GIS Talent Cultivation in the AI Era," was chaired by Professor Yang Kun from Yunnan Normal University. It explored questions including: What changes will occur in GIS education concepts and models in the AI era? What new requirements does the AI era place on the abilities and literacy of GIS students? What transformations in teaching methods and teacher roles does the AI era demand? Guests engaged in a "brainstorming" session, combining their respective research fields and university talent cultivation plans, continuously generating new ideas.

Over two days, more than ten experts and scholars jointly presented two feasts of academic exchange during the salon sessions. Active discussions both on and off the stage provided new ideas and injected fresh vitality into GIS industry development and professional education in the AI era.

Industry-Academia-Research Integration and Achievement Transformation

The forum specially featured a release ceremony for an industry-academia-research integration platform. To enhance the overall innovation efficiency of the geographic information industry and serve the upgrade and development of China's geographic information industry, the National-Local Joint Engineering Laboratory for Geographic Information System established the "Map Forum" – a platform dedicated to industry-academia-research integration and achievement transformation, continuously enhancing enterprise scientific and technological innovation capabilities and elevating the level of talent cultivation in universities. Liu Yong, Chairman of Zondy Cyber, stated: "We are building this industry-academia-research integration platform mainly to promote in-depth cooperation between enterprises, universities, and research institutes, inspire enterprises to shoulder the responsibility of scientific and technological innovation, comprehensively enhance independent innovation capabilities, seize the high ground of scientific development, become the backbone of China's economic take-off, and jointly build the Chinese Dream."

Host Handover: 20th Anniversary of University GIS Forum to be Held in Wuhan

At the closing ceremony, Professor Yu Bailang from East China Normal University delivered a concluding summary, noting that the forum had achieved historic breakthroughs in multiple aspects, advancing its further development. During the handover ceremony, a video review highlighted the forum's twenty years of accumulation and development, witnessing the innovation and growth of the geographic information industry. In 2026, the University GIS Forum will be jointly undertaken by its original initiators – China University of Geosciences (Wuhan) and Wuhan University. Professor Xie Zhong from China University of Geosciences (Wuhan) and Professor Tang Luliang from Wuhan University received the forum flag and expressed a warm welcome to experts and scholars to attend the 2026 University GIS Forum in Wuhan, contributing to the new future of China's GIS education and industry development.

The 13th University GIS Forum 2025 concluded successfully in Shanghai. The 14th University GIS Forum, coinciding with its 20th anniversary, will meet everyone in Wuhan – a hub for technological innovation, talent cultivation, and industrial application of China's geographic information industry. Wuhan is home to several internationally influential universities focused on GIS technological innovation and discipline construction, as well as numerous leading industrial enterprises. It is believed that the 20th-anniversary forum in Wuhan will usher in a brand new chapter for the next twenty years of Chinese GIS!