2026 Geospatial Trends Through the Eyes of the 1Spatial Team

Andrej Mocicka – Country Manager 1Spatial Australia  

I am not one to put much faith into crystal ball gazing or trying to predict what the future holds.  With over 45 years of experience in the spatial industry I have seen many changes, some predictions have come to fruition, others have appeared and vanished as quickly as they appeared. In all the cases where new innovations have been successful the underlying truth to their success has been that they have saved money.  Without a benefit of saving money, innovations do not work, people do not continue to invest in them. Early adopters move onto the next innovation and that becomes the new thing that is talked about on social media and in the industry circles 

So, what does 2026 have install for the spatial industry?  AI, LLM, AI Agents are front and centre in all conversations to-date... will it be the revolution that computers, the internet, mobile communications, WiFi was and is?  

I believe it will be. 

It is already with us and occupies so much of our society, from the medical profession to marketing to undertaking so many of the mundane tasks that we do. Will it replace people?  Only if we let it, AI is a wonderful tool, it saves time, makes things easier and quicker and provides a font of knowledge to reference.  

Putting 100% faith into what AI provides is fraught with danger... the fundamentals of what makes bad decisions by humans are still there with AI... incomplete and inaccurate data, providing answers when not all the information is known. The test for humans is to know what is a “sensible” answer and what is not.  

AI is a tool to assist us in our decision making, not the decision maker. 

One thing is abundantly clear, that while the spatial industry has been around for centuries, from building the Pyramids, to the creation of cities and the enablement of the industrial revolution. The spatial industry has, and is, a fundamental part of decision making in our society. This is repeatedly identified in reports from the United Nations to organisations undertaking research and preparing reports for various reasons.  

Spatial data is fundamental in any if not all decisions that are being made. Where it is, where it happens and where we want it to be are all requiring spatial data. 2026 and future years will be where the spatial industries challenge, is to move from the back room and come front and centre to show society our true value. 

Zinnia – Business Development Manager 1Spatial Australia 

One of the strongest trends I’m seeing in conversations with customers is the growing focus on automation and data governance. Teams have historically relied on a mix of manual processing, custom scripts, and one-off fixes to move and validate spatial data between systems. Increasingly, organisations are moving away from these approaches and build automated, repeatable workflows that are reliable and scalable. At the same time, there is a strong push to future-proof spatial environments — taking both a top-down and inside-out view of how data flows across systems and building strategies that will work not just today, but long term. 

Alongside automation, data governance is becoming essential. As spatial data is used more broadly across organisations, there is a growing need for trusted, reliable datasets and processes that ensure data is validated, consistent, and fit for purpose. Governance frameworks and automated validation are helping organisations not only manage their data better today, but also produce better data going forward. 

But ultimately, it all comes back to the same thing: data. Integrations, automation, analytics, and even AI are only as good as the data behind them. No matter how advanced the tools become, the value they deliver will always depend on having clean, trusted data going in. 

Michael Studdert - Presales Consultant & Account Manager, 1Spatial 

“One trend I’ve seen gaining real momentum is the integration of spatial systems with CRM platforms — particularly Salesforce. While Salesforce is traditionally seen as a nonspatial, commercial CRM, many public sector and non-commercial organisations are now using it to manage internal cases, assets, and operational workflows.spatial, commercial CRM, many public sector and non-commercial organisations are now using it to manage internal cases, assets, and operational workflows.spatial, commercial CRM, many public sector and noncommercial organisations are now using it to manage internal cases, assets, and operational workflows. 

By leveraging attributes like addresses or latitude and longitude within Salesforce accounts and cases, this information can be spatially linked to datasets in GIS and other systems. That means spatial features representing customers, assets, or incidents can be enriched with Salesforce data, creating far more context and insight. 

While this isn’t an entirely new concept, the appetite for integrating Salesforce with spatial formats and databases has grown significantly over the past year. Tools like FME, with native Salesforce connectors, are making these integrations much easier — enabling organisations to automate workflows, flatten complex data, and unlock greater value from both their spatial and business systems.”

Nigel Conolly - Sales Consultant 

“Geospatial is moving from manual map‑making to AI‑driven automation that strips out repetitive processing and accelerates data validation, so teams can focus on higher‑value analysis. We’re also seeing digital twins evolve from one‑off visualisations into connected, operational systems that support day‑to‑day planning and monitoring. As datasets scale and diversify, data governance has become non‑negotiable—reliable, well‑managed data underpins compliance and ensures spatial outputs can be trusted across the business. And finally, real‑time analytics are gaining serious traction: organisations want decisions informed by what’s happening now—across asset monitoring, mobility, and emergency response—rather than relying solely on batch processes. In short, 2026 is about trustworthy data, automated workflows, and live insights powering smarter operations.” 

Seb Lessware - UK Chief Technology Officer 

In 2026, geospatial data APIs are really becoming the backbone of how organisations share and use trusted location data. Once this information is made available through solid, well-structured APIs, it becomes so much easier to turn early prototypes or hackathon ideas into real services that support planning, asset management, emergency response—you name it. We’re also starting to see Earth Observation step up from simply spotting changes on the ground to actually helping automate the upkeep of authoritative datasets, which means fresher, more reliable data for everyone. 

On the policy side, moves like NUAR becoming an official national register show that governments are doubling down on interoperability and high-quality data services. All of this sets the stage for careful, early use of agentic AI—but grounded in trusted, authoritative data delivered through these APIs. Overall, 2026 is shaping up to be the year where the combination of automation, strong governance, and reliable data services really starts to pay off. Read more