GeoMundus 2021Geospatial Technologies: Fancy Toys or Tangible Outcomes?

Previous editions have not had a particular thematic focus. However, this year we want to spice up discussions with a guiding theme. As students and members of the geospatial community, we want to engage participants in critical reflection about the goals and motivations of geospatial innovation. Is geospatial innovation driven by a desire for technological advancement (for the sake of technological advancement), or is it driven by a pressing societal need for geospatial solutions? Provocatively we ask the open-ended question: “Geospatial Technologies: Fancy Toys or Tangible Outcomes?”. Recent decades have seen an explosion of creativity in geospatial technologies, applications and methodologies. With these rapid developments we believe that it is important to stop and reconsider the tangible utility of these new innovations, and find out how we can ensure that our professional efforts fit some of the most pressing societal needs. Thus, this year’s conference will focus on and provoke participants to engage in constructive discussion and to ask themselves what the value of their work is in the world.