From 29th September to 1st October 2026, Sofia, Bulgaria hosted the 10th International Conference on Smart Data and Smart Cities. Our conference was part of the wider GeoSofia 2026 programme that also included the 21st International Conference on 3D GeoInfo and the 14th International FIG Workshop on LADM & 3D LA. The conference was hosted by the GATE Institute in Sofia.
The conference this year demonstrated the maturity of the research community; it featured 56 contributions including 36 ISPRS Annals papers, 16 ISPRS Archives papers and 4 presentation-only submissions. These contributions involved 232 authors from 95 organisations, representing 23 countries across the five continents. These numbers indicate the wide spectrum of the conference in an environment that is increasingly international, collaborative, and applied to real urban challenges. The works presented in Sofia showed that the integration of geospatial intelligence, machine learning, 3D modelling, semantic data structures and digital twins helps decision-makers better understand the urban complexity and therefore, generate solutions according to the current needs of our society.
We would like to highlight two contributions:
- “A digital twin to improve the sustainability of neighbourhood scenario planning” by Rakibun Athid, Mila Koeva, Pirouz Nourian and Ulla-Britt Krämer.
2. “Future Urban Heat Risk Assessment in Sydney: Integrating Satellite-Derived UTCI with Population Projections” by Akihiko Nishino, Sisi Zlatanova, and Naohiko Kohtake
These publications received the Best Paper recognition by the scientific committee. These papers illustrate the importance of smart data methods for shaping healthier, more resilient and more sustainable cities.
We extend our sincere thanks to all authors, reviewers, session chairs, keynote speakers, organizers, partners, and participants who contributed to SDSC 2026. Special thanks go to the conference chair, Dessislava Petrova-Antonova, whose leadership, dedication, and extensive organisational work were central to the success of the event.
As the conference closes, we hope that the conversations started in Sofia continue in publications, collaborations, future projects, and the next generation of tools and methods for understanding cities.
Благодарим на Институт GATE и на град София за гостоприемството и подкрепата.
