‘Events are back!’ – GEO Business makes successful return after two-year break

15 Dec 2021

Business was booming once again at GEO Business, which returned last month (24 – 25 November). The UK’s largest geospatial event moved to its new home of ExCeL London for its comeback show – the first to run in over two years after the pandemic caused the closure of in-person events.

Ollie Hughes, Event Director, comments: “After an unprecedented time of uncertainty, we can finally say that events are back! We missed not seeing you all in 2020, but I’m thrilled to say that GEO Business 2021 was a huge success.

“It was incredible to see the geospatial community reunite at our new home at ExCeL London last month, reinforcing our place as the must-attend event for geospatial professionals.

“The success of the event is a testament to the resilience of the people that make it and the importance of face-to-face events for bringing people together and driving innovation.

“Thank you to all our wonderful supporters, partners, visitors, exhibitors and team members who pulled together to make this an unforgettable show.”

GEO Business

The latest geospatial innovation

It was an action packed two days at GEO Business this year, with lots of amazing tech, products and services on display. The show floor buzzed with activity as visitors gathered to try out the most recent innovations shaking up geospatial being demonstrated around the show.

Among them were Boston Dynamic’s Spot, mounted with the Leica BLK ARC autonomous laser scanning module, which traversed the show floor and turned heads. Over at the Mobile Mapping display companies including 3D-Radar, KOREC, Hexagon Geosystems and 135 Geographic Squadron showcased vehicles mounted with the latest cameras, sensors and lidars that collect geospatial data, right on the show floor.

Other offerings ranged from cutting-edge autonomous laser scanning solutions, to UAV systems for aerial surveying and the latest USVs (unmanned surface vessels) for hydrographic surveying.

Seminar highlights

GEO Business’s seven free-to-attend theatres – all brand new to the show this year – also drew crowds throughout the two days. There were packed out sessions on earth observation, building information modelling (BIM), remote monitoring, mobile mapping, smart cities, geospatial data ethics – just to mention a few of the hot topics discussed in the theatres.

Harriet McQuade (Atkins), Illia Ovcharenko (Intetics), Steve Thorpe (British Geological Survey) Alison Watson MBE (Class of Your Own), Ann Allen (Chartered Institution of Civil Engineering Surveyors), Dr. Tim Farewell (Terrafirma IDC), Lucy Kennedy, (Spottitt Ltd), Gary Young (Historic England), Martin Jones and Anne-Laure Beck (Argans), Peter Ter Haar (Cyclomedia Technology) and Ralph Coleman (Bluesky International) were just some of the speakers who delivered standing-room-only sessions.

GEO Business

Crowds gathered at the Main Stage, which was chaired by Dr Vanessa Lawrence CB and hosted high profile speakers. Sessions were delivered by industry leaders including Allan Jamieson (Ordnance Survey), Denise McKenzie (AGI), Holger Kessler (Geospatial Commission), Lt. Col. Alex Harris RE (42 Engineer Regiment (Geographic)), Elaine Ball (Get Kids Into Survey), Charles Davis (Earth-i), Olivia Powell (Geospatial Commission), and many others.

Glowing testimonials

The two-day event has been heralded a major success. Despite the COVID restrictions, visitors flocked to ExCeL London, eager to ‘get back to business’, and many attendees were full of praise for GEO Business’ comeback show.

Rachel Tyrrell, Secretary General at the Survey Association, comments: “Attending GEO Business after such an unexpected hiatus was something of a venture into the unknown, but once we were face-to-face again it was like no time had passed.

“ExCeL is a great venue, yes it is big, but it allows us to really flex our geospatial muscle and embrace a vision for something which befits an amazing profession. I look forward to returning to the traditional May slot and seeing even more people!”

Nick Bamber, Managing Director of NTB Survey, comments: “Superb event, introducing us to new products, demos of potential purchases, networking and a good old catch up.

Mathew Davies, Commercial and Operations Director of Cadarn Consulting Engineers Limited, comments: “Brilliant show, fantastic facilities and stands. Left the show very excited as to the way our business can now develop further with the technology that’s available.”

‘Great to meet so many people’

Many exhibitors were thrilled with the result of the show and praised the quality of visitors and strong leads over the two days.

Mike Davies, Director of MD3D Ltd. says: “A very well organised event with a good focus that attracts the profile of visitors we all want to meet.”

Alex McKee, Geospatial Outreach Officer at Geospatial UK/Newcastle University, comments: “It was great to meet so many people in the geospatial sector and discuss how we can support the next generation of geospatial experts.”

GEO Business is back next May

Ollie Hughes continues: “For those of you who couldn’t join us at GEO Business last month, there’s no need to worry as you won’t have long to wait. We’ll be returning to our normal dates in Spring next year, with the next edition of GEO Business taking place in just six months’ time on 18 – 19 May 2022. We’ll also be collocated once again alongside Digital Construction Week (DCW).

“The team are already on the hunt for speakers for the 2022 show, with the call for speakers due to launch in the new year. If you’re interested in taking to the stage to share your expertise, then sign up to our newsletter to be kept up to date when the call for speakers launches.”