The General Authority for Surveying and Geospatial Information concluded on Wednesday, November 19, 2025, in Riyadh the event of the “National Geospatial Platform 2025” forum, which was held over the course of one day, with the participation of an elite group of leading figures, experts, specialists, and representatives of government agencies concerned with the geospatial data and information field. Representatives of the United Nations Committee of Experts on Global Geospatial Information Management (UN-GGIM), the UN-GGIM: Arab States, the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC), and the University of Melbourne in Australia also attended the Forum. This event is considered as part of GEOSA's role and the on-going efforts for organizing the surveying & geospatial information sector and the promotion of national integration work in the field.
The forum agenda was starting with opening remarks including the speech of H.E the President of the General Authority for Geospatial Information , representatives of international and regional organizations and followed by four main plenary sessions that addressed topics such as National Geospatial Governance, the National Geospatial Ecosystem-Establishment Phase, awareness of the importance of geospatial information, and a session scheduled to the Award of Excellence in National Geospatial Governance for Government Agencies. This contributed to reviewing the integrated National Ecosystem for the management and organization of geospatial data, highlight the role of the National Geospatial Platform in consolidating data across the government sectors and enabling the exchange of such data with high authenticity, increased cost-effectiveness, avoiding duplication, supporting sustainable planning and development, and enabling informed decision-making based on reliable geospatial data and information.
At the conclusion of the event, the winners of the “2025 National Geospatial Governance Excellence Award” were announced, which including the Ecosystems of the Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture, Sharqia Development Authority, Al-Madinah Al-Munawwarah Municipality, Riyadh Region Municipality, and the Royal Commission for Makkah City and Holy Sites for their outstanding performance in adopting geospatial governance, activating the National Geospatial Platform, and delivering qualitative initiatives that contributed to raising business efficiency, improving services, and enhancing the positive impact of using geospatial information in the benefitting sectors.
The forum also included two specialized workshops on geospatial leadership and open geospatial software, focusing on building leadership and technical capabilities in the field of geospatial information along with possible ways and means of expanding the adoption of open geospatial software, and transfer and localize knowledge in partnership with a number of international and academic institutions
The forum also celebrated the launch of the Geospatial Awareness Initiative under the theme of "Your Awareness... Amounts to Protecting the Place." The aim is to establish a steadfast culture of knowledgeable use of geospatial information across all walks of society, government agencies, the private sector, academia, and the non-profit sector, as well as shedding light on the role of geospatial information in the management of resources, emergency response, service improvement, improving the quality of life, and supporting the goals of the Kingdom's 2030 Vision.