Women in Geospatial 2026 Event
- Time:
- 10:00am - 4:00pm
- Date:
- 2026-03-10 10:00:00
- Venue:
- Hartley Suite, Southampton
Event details
This event aims to celebrate the achievements of women in the geospatial industry and provide a platform for networking, mentoring and learning.
A member of the Southampton Geospatial team shares their experiences of this event held to mark International Women's Day:
In the context of International Women’s Day, Southampton Geospatial held the third edition of its annual event, Mapping Success: Women in Geospatial . This year’s theme, Connecting Knowledge with Real World Impact, brought together 12 speakers from diverse backgrounds across the geospatial sphere.
From chemistry and electronics to aeronautics, ecology and mathematics, our varied group of speakers showed the audience that there is no single or straightforward path into a geospatial career or into the wider geospatial community. The event highlighted that every journey is unique and equally powerful and that, in the end, we are all participants and active contributors to this growing field.
The event was divided into four parts. The first focused on career pathways and featured speakers ranging from established academics to members of graduate schemes. They reflected on their motivations, values and the well-known question of “why” they chose a career connected to geospatial work.
The second part was dedicated to our keynote speaker, Debbie Wilson from Ordnance Survey. Her presentation highlighted the many different routes that professional development can take, while also emphasising the passion and sense of purpose that have shaped her own career in data architecture.
The third part focused on industry partners and included representatives from the health sector, satellite applications and research programmes. They demonstrated how, where and for whom geospatial methods, techniques and data are being used, while also explaining how they reached their current roles and what makes their sector exciting. From the distribution of GP consultations to the use of data in understanding health issues and coastal change, this section showcased the breadth and diversity of geospatial applications.
Finally, the event included a dedicated panel discussion on Responsible Geospatial AI. This is an essential discussion in today’s landscape of data sharing and information trustworthiness. The panel explored a range of issues, from recognising bias in the creation and publication of data and raising awareness of its responsible use, to avoiding the amplification of existing spatial inequalities and addressing data protection and privacy concerns. The discussion then moved to the question of how innovation can be promoted while also developing frameworks that support traceability and transparency in the use of AI, particularly for data generation and classification. In the context of International Women’s Day, the panel also reflected on the role of women in industry and academia in this area, how that role has evolved and how their contributions have increasingly been recognised over time.
In the words of Debbie Wilson, “Geospatial acts as a glue for multidisciplinary interaction” and this event served as a space for discussion and mutual exchange, where a diversity of career paths was highlighted and celebrated.
To conclude, these events matter not only because they celebrate achievement but because they create the conditions for meaningful connection, professional visibility and future collaboration across academia, industry and the public sector. Women in Geospatial has become a valuable space where ideas are exchanged, relationships are built and new partnerships can begin. Southampton Geospatial remains committed to supporting this momentum and to strengthening an inclusive geospatial community through continued dialogue and shared opportunity. Building on the success of this year’s event, we look forward to developing the fourth edition in 2027 and to creating an even stronger platform for networking, inspiration and future collaboration.