The 18th ISDE International Lectures Concluded

The 18th ISDE International Lectures, with the theme of "Unlocking Space and Time: Towards SpaceTemporal Foundation Models", successfully took place on 5 November 2025. This session focused on the latest advancements in spatio-temporal intelligence, establishing a crucial theoretical and technical foundation for developing urban Digital Twins and generalizable SpatioTemporal Foundation Models (GeoFMs) in the future.

Prof. Tao Cheng, Founder of the SpaceTimeLab of the Department of Civil, Environmental and Geomatic Engineering, University College London, Britain, delivered a presentation titled "Unlocking Space and Time: Towards SpaceTemporal Foundation Models." The lecture traced the evolution from addressing specific urban challenges, such as traffic and crime prediction, to the current focus on building Spatio-Temporal Graph AI (STGAI) foundational models. The presentation highlighted innovative methodologies designed to overcome key obstacles, including fusing heterogeneous "big" and "small" data streams and simulating rare network events to enhance model robustness. The significance of this work lies in laying the groundwork for powerful Geo-Foundation Models that can enhance Digital Twins and provide deeper, more predictive insights into the complex dynamics of cities and the broader environment.

The event was moderated by Prof. Changlin Wang, Vice President of ISDE, and attracted over 3,500 participants from around the world through platforms such as Zoom and the ISDE Bilibili channel.

The ISDE International Lectures are organized by the International Society for Digital Earth (ISDE) and supported by the International Research Center of Big Data for Sustainable Development Goals (CBAS). It is a series of online events which feature invited lectures by well-known international experts in the field of Digital Earth. The purpose of the events is to bring international scholars in the relevant research fields of Digital Earth together to exchange academic perspectives, share research results, and disseminate the most cutting-edge concept of Digital Earth.