THE THEME

FIG President Diane Dumashie (2023-2026) invites you to attend the FIG Working Week 2025

FIG’s agenda for 2023 to 2026 is driven by the imperative for a sustainable profession that delivers services sustainably, addresses the global sustainable development agenda, and acts decisively on the climate agenda.

The overall theme for the Working Wek 2025 is:

Collaboration, Innovation and Resilience: Championing a Digital Generation

In recent years, several transformative forces have converged, compelling our profession to redefine how we create, deliver, and communicate value within the context of sustainability. Awareness of trends and megatrends fosters preparedness and is the first step towards resilience; however, the next and immediate step in this decade demands action. The digital age will propel us forward, underscoring the urgency to act now.

The theme of the FIG Working Week 2025 is to Champion what is unquestionably a Digital Generation. But for surveyors to remain relevant, and maintain our international impact while providing services not only to our members but also our global partners we will need to be collaborative, innovative and our actions be sustainable in the face of the climate imperative

In the context of International trends, Conference discussions will focus on the foundational issues across Political, Economic, Social, and Technological environmental trends. The survey and geospatial profession have a significant role to play in addressing these trends, and in particular the trends in:

  • New technology: This  will have a huge impact on the industry by providing tools, but also creates the need for global politics and regulation
  • The people factor: We must maintain our professional standards, competencies and appropriate skill, and recruitment and retention.  Above all  to leave no one behind; we must ensure inclusivity, particularly valuing the wealth of knowledge of indigenous peoples
  • Technological advancement: Work to good effect with data and geospatial ecosystem, What, who, how – and why
  • Sustainable planet: The climate imperative forces society to change practices and build resilience. 

Sustainability is everybody’s business. FIG is committed to helping our members create value for sustainability. The conference aims to reframe how members approach sustainability and resilience, placing it at the centre of how value is created, for people, society and the world. Resilience involves both withstanding shocks and thriving despite them.

Sustainability in the context of people is about making sure that we demonstrate equality, diversity and inclusion. We will consider the professional standards, competencies and appropriate skills to ensure competent professionals. We need to ensure that our skills, training and development keeps us relevant, particularly in relation to transformation and technology, is essential across all our disciplines. This will aid in recruiting and retaining young professionals.

A key part of resilience is championing collaboration with indigenous communities, valuing their knowledge and leadership in resilience. Addressing societal and planetary megatrends requires partnership and collaboration. We cannot do it alone, and we are aware that our contribution will be more meaningful if we seek to work in partnership.

FIG Working Week 2025 will align with international trends and domain specific drivers which shape our industry.

The defining factor is the digital generational drivers as highlighted by the conference theme. The conference will seek to be fit for the future within the geospatial market and in the broader digital transformation markets. FIG will focus on maintaining and enhancing its professional relevance for a wider societal benefit, recognising the pivotal role that geospatial data plays as an enabler in land administration, built and natural environments. This is in the context of the UN Sustainability Agenda as well as international trends and emerging geospatial information ecosystem.

Our deliberations will be unpacking the current and potential reach and the impact it can contribute to wider geospatial areas such as Big Data and AI. This is a broad agenda and FIG commissions will each embed this into their dedicated discussion platforms.

Diane Dumashie, FIG President 2023-2026