GEO Business Speaker Spotlight: Belen Soria Campos, HOT

What first drew me to the geospatial industry was the amazing intersection between technology, science, and our ability to represent the world around us. My older brother is a land surveyor, and when I was younger I was fascinated by the way he used mathematics and trigonometry to measure and understand reality.

Seeing how abstract calculations could become maps, landscapes, and spatial understanding really sparked my curiosity as a teenager.While studying Geodetic Engineering, I started working at a startup that was using Location-Based Services (LBS) for emergency management. It was a very exciting time because the first GPS-enabled mobile devices — PDAs and PNAs — were just starting to appear.

Suddenly, we could use location data to help improve emergency response times, and that felt incredibly meaningful.Later, I moved into the automotive industry, working on digital maps for navigation and autonomous driving at companies like NAVTEQ, Nokia, and HERE Technologies.

As part of the Data Partnerships & Community team, I worked closely with open data and communities , then I saw firsthand the huge potential of collaborative mapping and community-generated data.Today, at Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team, where I work as Corporate Engagement Manager, my perspective on geospatial has evolved a lot.

I no longer see it as just a technical field — for me, it’s really about people, participation, and inclusion. Every day we see how open mapping and community-led data can support disaster response, climate resilience, urban planning, and more informed and equitable decision-making.

What excites me most about the future of geospatial is not only the technology itself, but the fact that more and more communities can actively participate in mapping and representing their own realities, and use that knowledge to address the challenges faced.

Having worked with user communities for more than 15 years, I continue to be fascinated by the richness of information, perspectives, reasoning, and innovation that communities can contribute.

Some of the most meaningful and resilient solutions emerge when people with different experiences and expertise collaborate openly around a shared purpose.

I believe many organisations still underestimate the long-term value of genuine community engagement. Strong partnerships are not only transactional — they are built on trust, shared ownership, and listening.

This connects closely with the Ubuntu philosophy: “I am because we are.”At the same time, there is a growing recognition that no single organisation can solve today’s global challenges alone.

Open collaboration accelerates both innovation and impact — especially when communities are truly part of the process.At HOT we see this in practice constantly.

For example, during Hurricane Melissa, HOT worked alongside Caribbean communities and partners to rapidly produce and validate critical geospatial data that supported emergency response efforts, demonstrating how open collaboration can strengthen resilience and improve decision-making in times of crisis.

I would like visitors to leave with a practical sense of how open, community-driven geospatial approaches can be applied in very tangible ways to real-world challenges.

At GEO Business, we will be showcasing three interconnected sessions: community-driven drone mapping, inclusive GeoAI for mapping, and a collaborative mapathon.

Together, these reflect a simple but powerful idea — that geospatial innovation is strongest when it is open, participatory, and grounded in local knowledge.

From community-led data collection using drones, to more inclusive and responsible applications of GeoAI, to hands-on mapping through collective action, each session highlights geospatial technology is not only about infrastructure and analytics — it is also about empowering people, improving representation, and enabling better decisions for vulnerable communities generating a strong impact in areas such as climate action, resilient communities, and equitable urban development I hope these session inspires more cross-sector collaboration.

The geospatial industry has enormous potential to contribute to social impact, on that sense I I also hope to encourage more organisations to actively get involved — by partnering with HOT to explore different ways of collaboration, whether through corporate mapathons for employee volunteering, supporting grant-funded projects, providing pro bono technical expertise for tool development, or collaborating on community-led data collection initiatives. HOT can act as a partner to help align these efforts with employee engagement and sustainability goals, turning them into tangible contributions to real-world impact.

I hope that the audience members each feel connected to at least one of the panellists, no matter our different levels of experience with AI, and what we have to say makes them excited to move forward.

I want them to feel empowered by, and within, the community and have confidence in their long-term career decisions.

Events like GEO Business are especially important right now because the geospatial industry is at a pivotal moment. Location data is becoming central to how we respond to some of the world’s biggest challenges.

At the same time, the industry is evolving rapidly through AI, Earth observation, open mapping, and real-time data technologies, and data has become less valuable in certain sectors as it becomes more commoditised and widely accessible.

For example, basic location datasets, that once required significant effort to produce are now often readily available through openplatforms or automated pipelines, shifting the value towards interpretation, integration, and actionable insights rather than raw data itself.

In this context, GEO Business is a powerful ecosystem that still helps unlock that value. It brings together people from across the sector — public institutions, private companies, academia, NGOs, and community organisations —bringing different perspectives and creating a place to exchange ideas and build meaningful partnerships.

For organisations like Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team, these conversations are critical because they help ensure that innovation is not only technologically advanced, but also inclusive, ethical, and grounded in real-world community needs.

GEO Business creates space to connect technical progress with social impact, and that is more important than ever.