NEWS
On September 24th, a "Digital Earth" themed parallel session was hosted by the International Society for Digital Earth (ISDE) during the 2024 GEO Symposium and Open Data & Open Knowledge Workshop (ODOK) in Hangzhou, China. The session invited Digital Earth programmes at national, regional, and global levels to share best practices and identify gaps in using Digital Earth to support informed decision-making and the Earth Intelligence for All.
The session was organized by ISDE Vice President Mario Hernandez, and moderated by Andiswa Mlisa, the Digital Earth Pacific Program Manager at the Pacific Community (SPC). Mario Hernandez engrossed the audience with a video presentation titled “Digital Earth today and tomorrow”. The session also featured insightful presentations from Andiswa Mlisa (SPC), Joseph Tuyishimire, the User Engagement Manager at Digital Earth Africa, and Jesarela López Aguilar, an economist from the Autonomous Technological Institute of Mexico. Together, they explored the collective contributions of these programs to the vision of Earth Intelligence for All. A shared commitment to integration was also revealed, aiming to unlock the immense potential of global Digital Earth communities across various regions, with tangible outcomes anticipated.
The 2024 GEO Symposium and Open Data & Open Knowledge Workshop (ODOK), under the theme "From Vision to Action: Crafting GEO’s Post 2025 Implementation Plan", featured 27 sessions, bringing together nearly 400 participants from 68 countries and regions. Attendees included representatives from the GEO Co-Chair and member countries, GEO Secretariat, academia, industry, and 19 international organizations, such as the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific.
As a member of GEO, ISDE has consistently been a strong supporter of GEO, dedicated to accelerating the translation of the GEO Post-2025 Strategy into a detailed and costed Implementation Plan through innovations in Digital Earth technologies. ISDE serves on the GEO Programme Board for two terms: from 2016 to 2018 and again from 2024 to 2026. Importantly, it is one of the 7 Participating Organizations in this effort.
