The 4th China Digital Earth Conference Held in Qingdao, China

The 4th China Digital Earth Conference was successfully held from 5th to 7th June in Qingdao, China. The three-day conference, themed “Digital Earth Supporting Global and China’s Sustainable Development,” was jointly organized by the International Society for Digital Earth (ISDE) and the Qingdao Municipal People’s Government. The event was hosted by the Chinese National Committee of the International Society for Digital Earth (CNISDE), the Institute of Oceanology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (IOCAS), the International Research Center of Big Data for Sustainable Development Goals (CBAS), and the Aerospace Information Research Institute of CAS. The conference brought together more than 1,300 scientists, policymakers, and industry leaders to explore how Digital Earth technologies can support sustainable development in China and around the world.

Group photo

Dr. Richard Simpson, President of ISDE, addressed the opening ceremony. Reflecting on the increasingly interconnected challenges facing the world today, he emphasized that these issues are not separate, but rather threads in one complex living system. “Digital Earth gives us the means to see that system whole, giving science a wider field of vision, policy a stronger evidence base, and society a deeper capacity to act with foresight. That is the power, and the promise of a Digital Earth,” said Dr. Simpson.

ISDE President Dr. Richard Simpson addressed the opening

The opening ceremony featured a series of highlights, including the Celebration of the 20th Anniversary of the Chinese National Committee of ISDE, the conferment of the inaugural ISDE China Fellows, the release of the CBAS Global Data Products, and the unveiling of LangYa 2.0, a large AI model for global ocean phenomenon forecasting independently developed by the Institute of Oceanology of CAS.

The CBAS Global Data Products have been independently developed and continuously refined based on Big Earth Data theory and intelligent remote sensing interpretation technologies. Covering key domains including land, atmosphere, oceans, cities, and the carbon cycle, they represent a practical application of Digital Earth in supporting sustainable development.

Release of the CBAS Global Data Products

Unveiling of LangYa 2.0 AI Model for Full-blown Marine Phenomenon Forecasting

In his keynote presentation, Academician Huadong Guo, the Honorary President of ISDE and the President of the Chinese National Committee of ISDE, reviewed the development of Digital Earth in China over the past two decades. He noted that the release of the 1999 Beijing Declaration on Digital Earth at the 1st International Symposium on Digital Earth in 1999 marked the transition of Digital Earth from a scientific vision to a global initiative. He further underscored China’s commitment to advancing international data collaboration through the provision of standardized, high-quality Big Earth Data products and services, enhanced integration and sharing of multi-source data, and stronger data support for evidence-based policymaking and sustainable development worldwide.

Academician Huadong Guo delivered a keynote presentation

The conference featured invited keynote presentations by internationally recognized scholars, including CAS Foreign Academician Deliang Chen, CAS Academicians Anthony Gar-On Yeh and Bing Zhang, and Prof. Xiaofeng Li of the Institute of Oceanology, CAS. Their presentations addressed topics such as data-driven weather forecasting and climate science, geospatial technologies for sustainable development, intelligent remote sensing for real-time Earth Observation, and advances in AI-enabled ocean forecasting.

Across more than 60 parallel sessions, participants exchanged the latest research findings and practical experiences under four major themes of Digital Earth: frontier methodologies, technological innovation, application and service development, and the advancement of young and women scientists.

At the closing ceremony, the “Qingdao Declaration on Digital Earth: Digital Earth Supporting Global and China’s Sustainable Development” was released. The Declaration outlines five areas of consensus and provides a shared framework for advancing Digital Earth research, innovation, and international cooperation in support of sustainable development.

Release of the Qingdao Declaration on Digital Earth

The conference also featured a Digital Earth Science and Technology Exhibition, where more than ten research institutions and enterprises presented cutting-edge Digital Earth technologies and demonstrated how Big Earth Data is contributing to the achievement of global SDGs.

Digital Earth Science and Technology Exhibition