Over five days, the international forum brought 3D geoinformation, artificial intelligence, digital twins, smart cities and land administration into a joint discussion
Scientists and experts from five continents took part in GeoSofia 2026 – a five-day international scientific forum that brought together three leading conferences in the fields of geoinformation, smart cities and land administration in Sofia.
From 28 September to 2 October, the GATE Institute at Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski” hosted the 21st International 3D GeoInfo Conference, 10th International Smart Data and Smart Cities Conference (SDSC), and International FIG Workshop on LADM & 3D Land Administration.
The programme featured scientific advances in areas including 3D and 4D modelling, geospatial artificial intelligence (GeoAI), digital twins, urban mobility, climate and environmental analysis, smart urban infrastructure, cultural heritage, energy efficiency, and geospatial planning and analysis.
Key highlights included applications of artificial intelligence for urban analysis and digital twins, the automated creation and enrichment of 3D city models, and the use of geospatial data to support decision-making.
Particular attention was paid to data quality, security, integration and interoperability, as well as to standards and solutions for land administration.
As part of GeoSofia 2026, the digital twin of Sofia, developed by the GATE Institute in partnership with Sofia Municipality and SofiaPlan, was also presented. The digital twin integrates different sources of urban data and enables the visualisation, analysis and simulation of urban processes and phenomena. Such solutions support institutions in policy planning and assessment, while helping businesses develop services and technologies tailored to citizens’ real needs and contributing to a sustainable urban environment.
The three conferences attracted more than 200 scientific papers with authors from over 60 countries. Together with the reviewers of the scientific publications, the forum brought together the efforts of more than 500 people, with Australia, Germany and the Netherlands among the leading participating countries.
Each of the three forums presented three Best Paper Awards. One paper at each conference also received a special cash prize from MDPI, one of the world’s largest publishers of open-access scientific journals.
The 3D GeoInfo Best Paper Award for the best paper and presentation went to research from HafenCity University, Germany, for its contribution to 3D city modelling using large language and vision models.
The SDSC conference concluded with the Best Paper Award for research from the University of New South Wales, Australia, which presented a study on urban heat risk in Sydney.
At the LADM & 3D LA workshop, the Best Paper Award went to researchers from the University of Novi Sad, Serbia, for presenting a concept of a “smart land parcel” in Serbia.
The awards provided a final highlight of the scientific achievements presented during the five-day forum.
The final days of the event also marked the handover of the 3D GeoInfo Conference and Smart Data and Smart Cities Conference to their next host – Morocco. Following Sofia, the two conferences will continue to their next destination, carrying forward the knowledge, ideas and new international connections developed during the forum.
GeoSofia 2026 was organised and hosted by the GATE Institute at Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski” in partnership with Sofia Municipality.