A special highlight awaited the guests even before the dialog began. In short introductory rounds through the Deutsches Museum Bonn, the so-called KI:ckstarts, artificial intelligence could be experienced at first hand.

Stefan Sauerborn then introduced himself for the first time at the opening of the dialog as the new Deputy Head of Economic Development and Head of the Location Development department. He will be in charge of the Geobusiness Region Bonn in the future.

Dr. Jens Riecken from the district government of Cologne and head of the "Geobasis NRW" department kicked off this year's expert input. He began by explaining how geoinformation administrations provide important information for many social issues. The department has been working for some time on developing solutions and products for these issues with the help of data from the EU's Copernicus program and artificial intelligence. Examples include the calculation of sealing areas and the NRW soil movement register.

In the second keynote speech, Milan Kappen and Dario Gogoll presented the rapid development of the start-up "Deep Up" from a business incubator to an internationally active company. Using simple 3D measurements on tablets, the company provides better mapping and an overview of the pipes laid in the ground on many construction sites. Despite the versatile use of machine learning, employees are still required in many areas. Young talent and specialists are therefore still needed and will not be replaced by AI in the foreseeable future.

In the subsequent panel discussion, all speakers and the audience saw great opportunities in the increasing use of artificial intelligence in connection with GIS systems. Above all, this would make it possible to focus human resources on important and complex issues in the future. The GeoDIALOG ended after the discussion with a good and intensive exchange.