Report on the XXV ISPRS Congress in Toronto, Canada (4-11 July 2026)
Report and photos by Arnadi Murtiyoso
The 2026 ISPRS Congress was held between the 4th and the 11th of July 2026 in the Metro Convention Centre, Toronto, Canada. This congress, organized every four years, brings together remote sensing, photogrammetry, and spatial sciences experts from around the world for a week of scientific exchange and networking.
ISPRS is, together with ICOMOS, one of the parent organizations of CIPA-HD. This means that the presence of CIPA-HD members during the congress was also substantial. Several scientific sessions were organized related to cultural heritage and chaired by CIPA-HD members.
Lena Halounova, outgoing ISPRS President, opens the Congress
There is a scientific tendency, seen during this congress, in the use of novel radiance-fields based methods such as Gaussian splatting for the documentation of cultural heritage. Many presenters and posters highlighted both the potential and the limitations of this new technology.
Another emerging trend from the scientific side is the use of the term digital twins. However, it remains to be seen how the definition of the term is made by the different authors and researchers. In this regard, a proper standardized definition of digital twins, especially in the context of cultural heritage, may be an important point to be addressed by the CIPA-HD community in the near future.
Research on the use of AI for geospatial data is prevalent during the congress
The ISPRS congress is also a moment of passing from one president’s mandate to the next. Outgoing president Lena Halounova (Czechia) formally passed the baton to new president Nicolas Paparoditis (France) during the closing ceremony. In the new period, CIPA-HD’s point of contact with ISPRS remains within Commission II (Photogrammetry), to be chaired by Uwe Sörgel (Germany). However, the exact means of liaison will be determined in the coming days as the Commission President organises his Working Groups (WG) and consults other Commission Presidents on planned Inter-Commission Working Groups (ICWG).
Another important news is the decision to hold the congress, which traditionally is held once every four years, annually starting from 2029. The mid-term symposia traditionally organised by each Commission as well as the ISPRS Geospatial Week will therefore no longer be held, to be replaced by the annual congress. In 2029, Sydney (Australia) will hold the inaugural version of this annual congress, followed by Incheon (Republic of Korea) in 2030. The ISPRS Geospatial Week will hold its last event in 2027 in Warsaw, Poland.
Incoming ISPRS Council composition (2026-2030)
