Leading international and Bulgarian experts will present the latest technological news, trends, and best GIS practices for various sectors at the World GIS Day in Bulgaria.

On November 15 at 9:00 a.m. at Grand Hotel Millennium, Sofia, Bulgaria will celebrate World Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Day with a conference titled “With GIS, we create a more sustainable world together.” After three years in an online format, the largest GIS event in the country will gather proven international and Bulgarian experts in person who will demonstrate the latest developments, solutions and good practices in geospatial technologies and their application in various industries: cadastre, environment, utilities, renewable energy, local government, spatial planning, security, transportation, healthcare, education, and more.

The official Bulgarian organizer of this prestigious forum is Esri Bulgaria, and this year’s edition of the event is held in partnership with a record 50 organizations.

One of the main highlights of the conference is the participation of Philip Mott, CEO of Esri Europe. He will present the latest GIS trends for more sustainable climate-resilient cities, transportation connectivity in Europe, innovation-driven competitive airports, fair energy transition, and other emerging powerful GIS practices.

In honor of World GIS Day in Bulgaria, Catarina Clemente, an esteemed member of the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex) will attend the conference. In her capacity as the head of a distinguished team of GIS experts at Frontex, she will demonstrate the myriad applications of geospatial technologies within the context of the integrated management of European borders.

The conference will feature dozens of live demonstrations showcasing the latest technological advancements in the realm of GIS. Among these, one can expect to witness cutting-edge functionalities of desktop and cloud-based GIS solutions, digital twins and reality capture, GIS for photogrammetry and image processing, machine learning and geospatial artificial intelligence (GeoAI), GIS-BIM integration, and much more.

During the forum, significant GIS projects implemented across various sectors in Bulgaria over the past year will be demonstrated. Among these, the newly developed Water Management System in the Iskar River Basin (WMS-IRB) by the Ministry of Environment and Water (MoEW) will be featured. The system provides real-time monitoring of water levels and alerts for flood risks or tendencies toward drought. The innovative system offers swift access to the Iskar River watershed information, real-time data processing and visualization, improved communication between stakeholders, and many other benefits.

Conference attendees will have the opportunity to learn more about the extensive GIS project “Development of Specialized Spatial Data Information Systems at the Geodesy, Cartography, and Cadastre Agency (GCCA),” which integrates the agency’s current systems into a unified new information system.

As part of our GIS Day celebration this year, the National Educational Competition “Exploring the World with GIS” is being held under the patronage of the Ministry of Education. The participants’ projects will be featured in a virtual exhibition accompanying the conference. On the same day, at a formal ceremony at the Grand Hotel Millennium Sofia, the best maps, Story maps, and other GIS projects in the competition, created by teachers, students, undergraduates, and doctoral students from across the country, will be awarded.

“For over 20 years, we at Esri Bulgaria, together with our partners, have been developing and establishing the GIS Day in our country. The event, where all of us, including experts from various fields come together to share experiences, best practices, and ideas on how to effectively tackle challenges and apply the increasingly rich capabilities of GIS to create a more sustainable world together,” commented Evgenia Karadjova, Managing Director of Esri Bulgaria.

Pre-registration is required.