GIScience News Blog

  • The Heads behind the Climate Action Team

    The Heads behind the Climate Action Team

    At HeiGIT, the recently established Climate Action team is a group of dedicated professionals of diverse backgrounds and areas of expertise working together to drive impactful environmental solutions. The climate crisis is one of the most urgent challenges for society, and its impacts are becoming increasingly severe. However, there is a large gap between awareness…

  • GIScience Colloquium by Pedram Ghamisi on responsible AI on 23 October 2024

    GIScience Colloquium by Pedram Ghamisi on responsible AI on 23 October 2024

    We are very pleased to soon host guest speaker Prof. Dr. Pedram Ghamisi, head of the machine learning group (FWGE-L) at Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf, Germany (HZDR) & visiting full professor at Lancaster University, UK. Prof. Dr. Pedram Ghamisi will give a lecture on ´Balancing Innovation and Responsible AI Practices in Earth Observation: A Few Examples´. The…

  • New Paper: GeoAI for Science and the Science of GeoAI

    New Paper: GeoAI for Science and the Science of GeoAI

    GeoAI integrates AI, geospatial big data, and high-performance computing for solving data- and computation-intensive geospatial problems. This field has gained continuous momentum, driven by strong demands in geography and the rapid advancement of AI. Wenwen Li´s paper “GeoAI for Science and the Science of GeoAI”, published in the latest edition of the Journal of Spatial…

  • HeiGIT at XP Days Germany: Insights into Working in Floating Teams

    HeiGIT at XP Days Germany: Insights into Working in Floating Teams

    Two of our colleagues, Johannes Link and Jakob Schnell, are set to attend XP Days Germany 2024, where they’ll be sharing their insights on working in floating teams at HeiGIT. XP Days Germany is a community-driven, participatory conference for software developers, designers and testers, offering a space to exchange ideas and experiences. The conference will…

  • Quality Assessment for World Bank GEEST Methodology

    Quality Assessment for World Bank GEEST Methodology

    A workgroup of the World Bank is researching and evaluating the key spatial factors affecting women’s employment opportunities in the renewable energy sector. Their research aimed to develop an analytical tool, the Gender Enabling Environments Spatial Tool (GEEST), designed to assess localities based on how supportive they are in enabling women to access employment or…

  • New Paper: “UAV-Assisted Municipal Solid Waste Monitoring for Informed Disposal Decisions”

    New Paper: “UAV-Assisted Municipal Solid Waste Monitoring for Informed Disposal Decisions”

    Solid waste pollution is the cause of many environmental and health risks, especially in areas where waste is generated in large quantities but cannot be properly disposed of. Knowledge of the size and location of dump sites is required to keep waste management efficient and low-cost. When the extent of these dump sites needs to…

  • Digitalizing Paper-based Participatory Risk Mapping with the Sketch Map Tool – IDRiM 2024. Cartagena, Colombia

    Digitalizing Paper-based Participatory Risk Mapping with the Sketch Map Tool – IDRiM 2024. Cartagena, Colombia

    HeiGIT, the Colombian Red Cross (CRC), Colombia’s National University in Manizales (UNAL) and UBDC successfully ran the international workshop “Digitalizing Paper-based Participatory Risk Mapping with the Sketch Map Tool” at the IDRiM 2024 in Cartagena, Colombia on 29th of September 2024. This was the first time the conference was held in South America, with over…

  • New Paper: “Enriching building function classification using Large Language Model embeddings of OpenStreetMap Tags”

    New Paper: “Enriching building function classification using Large Language Model embeddings of OpenStreetMap Tags”

    Rapid global urbanization is placing immense pressure on planners to make informed decisions that promote sustainable growth. A crucial aspect of this challenge is understanding how urban buildings are used. Traditionally, classifying the function of buildings—such as residential or commercial—relies on costly and subjective on-site surveys. However, advances in AI are poised to transform this…

  • Analysis of OSM building data completeness using new data

    Analysis of OSM building data completeness using new data

    With thousands of people mapping in OSM every day, missing building data in urban centers is steadily decreasing. Since OSM is a widely used source for projects researching urban phenomena around the world, a good data quality and an even distribution are important factors. If a spatial bias is present but not accounted for, researchers…

  • HeiGIT at State of the Map in Nairobi, Kenya

    HeiGIT at State of the Map in Nairobi, Kenya

    State of the Map is the annual event for all mappers and OpenStreetMap users. In 2024 the State of the Map conference will be taking place from September 6 to 8 in Nairobi, Kenya as well as online. The conference programme contains talks, workshops, discussion rounds and more. Four talks as well as a workshop…

  • World Humanitarian Day – How Maps can Help Aid Workers

    August 19th marks World Humanitarian Day (WHD) to recognize the efforts of humanitarian workers and to advocate for the survival, well-being and dignity of people affected by crises, and for the safety and security of aid workers. One of many factors that are essential for effective humanitarian response and the security of people on site…

  • Join The Team: Studentische Hilfskraft (m/w/d) im HeiGIT Team Support

    Liebe Studierende,wir suchen am HeiGIT baldmöglichst eine studentische Hilfskraft (32-40h/Monat) zur Unterstützung in administrativen und organisatorischen Tätigkeiten. Die HeiGIT gGmbH ist ein gemeinnütziges Start-up mit dem Ziel des Technologietransfers und der angewandten Forschung im Bereich der Geoinformatik, insbesondere in Bereichen der humanitären Hilfe oder anderen gemeinnützigen Zwecken zum Wohle der Gesellschaft und der Umwelt. Aufgaben:…

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