The CGA is gearing up for this year’s GIS Day Wednesday, November 18! Here is the lineup of what we have planned:
3:00 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. Meet and Greet Come meet the CGA staff, view the posters, grab some CGA swag, and enjoy coffee and snacks.
3:30 - 4:00 p.m. Presentations Hear the latest on GIS resources from the CGA, Harvard Libraries, and the Graduate School of Design.
4:00 - 5:00 p.m. Keynote Presentation by Professor Dani Arribas-Bel, University of Liverpool
Title: Embeddings, satellites, and more: GIS things to be (cautiously) excited about in '26
Abstract: In this talk, we will highlight trends in GIS for which you should feel excited about, whether you are a GIScientist or simply a user of these systems. GIS is currently at an inflection point. Many of the tools, technologies, and even the very ideas on which much of it relies are being reshaped by the rise of AI and adjacent developments. To help frame these shifts, we will start with a historical perspective that connects GIS, GIScience, Geographic Data Science, and newer terms such as GeoAI. We will then dive into the areas where the action is today, and discuss why these should get us excited. And we will end the talk by arguing we should exercise such excitement with caution, for there are several nontrivial unknowns on which this positivity rests. What are these? Why are they important? And, how can I help make a difference? Come and find out for yourself!
Speaker Bio: Dani Arribas-Bel is interested in computers, cities, and data. He is Professor in Geographic Data Science at the University of Liverpool, and director of Imago, the Smart Data Research UK Imagery Data Service. From 2022 to 2025, he was Deputy Programme Director for Urban Analytics at The Alan Turing, where he also held a joint Turing/ESRC fellowship from 2020 to 2023. Dani’s research combines modern computation with new forms of data to shed light on the spatial structure(s) of cities. His research is published in journals such as PLOS ONE, Demography, Geographical Analysis, or Environment and Planning (A/B/C). Together with Serge Rey and Levi Wolf, he is the author of “Geographic Data Science with Python”, published by CRC Press in 2023. Dani currently serves as co-editor of the journal “Environment and Planning B - Urban Analytics & City Science”, where he co-founded the Urban Data/Code section, and hosts the GLaD Podcast.