AI & Science: From Geospatial to Convergence
Student Center West, University of Illinois Chicago
Chicago, Illinois, USA
August 3-7, 2026
Forum 2026 Home HDR Ecosystem Conference Joint Agenda Registration Workshops Keynote Speakers Venue & Accommodations Sponsor
Monday August 3, 2026: I-GUIDE Forum
Time (Central) |
Activities |
|---|---|
| 9:00 am | Registration and Check-in |
| 10:00 am - 12:00 pm | Workshops (2-hr)
Chair: Carol Song, Purdue University
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| Mid-day | Lunch (provided) |
| 1:00 - 3:00 pm | Workshops (2-hr)
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| 1:00 - 5:00 pm | Workshop (4-hr)
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Tuesday August 4, 2026: I-GUIDE Forum
Time (Central) |
Activities |
|---|---|
| 8:00 am | Registration and Check In
Continental Breakfast (provided) |
| 8:45 am | I-GUIDE Forum Welcome and Greetings
Shaowen Wang, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign |
| 9:00 am | Keynote: The State of I-GUIDE
Chair: Michael Goodchild, University of California Santa Barbara Presenter: Shaowen Wang, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign |
| 10:10 am | Break |
| 10:30 am | Paper Session: Spatial AI, Cyberinfrastructure & Geospatial Applications
Chair: Mohan Ramamurthy, Unidata/UCAR
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| 12:00 pm | Lunch (provided) |
| 1:00 pm | Spatial AI Challenge 2025-26: Winners Showcase
Chair: Diana Sinton, University Consortium for Geographic Information Science
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| 2:00 pm | Keynote: Spatial Analytics: From the Margins to the Mainstream
Chair: Efi Foufoula-Georgiou, University of California Irvine Presenter: Luc Anselin, Stein-Freiler Distinguished Service Professor of Spatial Data Science, University of Chicago |
| 3:00 pm | Break |
| 3:30 pm | Panel: Challenges and Benefits of Becoming a Convergence Scientist
Moderator: Michael Goodchild, University of California Santa Barbara Panelists: Yoonjung Ahn, The University of Kansas Kelvin Droegemeier, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Peter Kedron, University of California, Santa Barbara Yue Lin, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign |
| 5:00 pm | Conclude for the Day |
Wednesday August 5, 2026: I-GUIDE Forum + HDR Ecosystem Conference
Time (Central) |
Activities |
|---|---|
| 8:00 am | Registration and Check-in
Continental Breakfast (provided) |
| 8:45 am | HDR Conference Welcome and Greetings
Shaowen Wang, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign |
| 9:00 am | Keynote: Data Challenges and Impact
Chair: Shaowen Wang, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Presenter: Chaitan Baru, Emerging Technologies in the Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships (TIP) Directorate, National Science Foundation (NSF) |
| 10:10 am | Break |
| 10:30 am | Panel: Exploring Frontiers in Spatial AI and Data Science
Moderator: Mark Neubauer, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Panelists:
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| 11:45 am | I-GUIDE Forum & HDR Ecosystem Conference Group Photo |
| 12:00 pm | Lunch (provided) |
| 1:00 pm | Panel: Industry and Partnership
Moderator: Aaron Addison, World Geospatial Industry Council (WGIC) Panelists:
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| 2:15 pm | Paper & Discussion Session: AI Literacy, Education, and Workforce Development
Chair: Elif Ertekin, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Guiding question: What should AI-era education and workforce development look like for data-intensive discovery and innovation? Talk (20 mins)
Position statements (5 mins each)
Breakout groups (45 mins):
Report backs (20 mins) |
| 3:45 pm | Break |
| 4:15 pm | Lightning Poster Introductions
Chair: Diana Sinton, University Consortium for Geographic Information Science |
| 5:00 pm | Reception & Joint Forum/HDR Poster Session
Chairs: Diane Boghrat, The Ohio State University |
| 7:00 pm | Conclude for the day |
Thursday August 6, 2026: HDR Ecosystem Conference
Time (Central) |
Activities |
|---|---|
| 8:00 am | Registration and Check-in
Continental Breakfast (provided) |
| 8:45 am | Highlights from Day 1 of the Joint Conference
Tanya Berger-Wolf, The Ohio State University Elif Ertekin, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign |
| 9:00 am | Plenary Talks: HDR Institute Presentations
Chair: Jianwu Wang, University of Maryland, Baltimore County Title TBA (A3D3) |
| 10:10 am | Break |
| 10:30 am | Paper & Discussion Session: Responsible and Trustworthy AI for Science
Chair: Shih-Chieh Hsu, University of Washington Guiding Question: What does trustworthy AI-enabled science require in practice? Position Statements (5 minutes each)
Breakout Group Discussions (45 minutes)
Report Backs (20 minutes) |
| 12:00 pm | Lunch (provided) |
| 1:00 pm | Paper & Discussion Session: Convergence Science for Disaster Resilience
Chair:Tanya Berger-Wolf, The Ohio State University Guiding Question: How do we build AI that generalizes and holds up under real-world scenarios? Position Statements (5 minutes each)
Breakout Group Discussions (45 minutes)
Report Backs (20 minutes) |
| 3:00 pm | Break |
| 3:30 pm | Paper Session & Discussion: AI-Ready Data Infrastructure
Chair: Vandana Janeja, University of Maryland, Baltimore County Guiding question: What makes data genuinely AI-ready and who is responsible for making it happen? Position Statements (5 minutes each)
Breakout Groups (45 minutes)
Reporting Back (20 minutes) |
| 5:00 pm | HDR Conference Concludes for the Day |
Friday August 7, 2026: HDR Ecosystem Conference
Time (Central) |
Activities |
|---|---|
| 8:00 am | Registration and Check-in
Continental Breakfast (provided) |
| 8:45 am | Highlights from Day 1 of the Joint Conference
Vandana Janeja, University of Maryland, Baltimore County Shih-Chieh Hsu, University of Washington |
| 9:00 am | Plenary Talks: HDR Institute Presentations
Chair: Anand Padmanabhan, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Title TBA (Imageomics) |
| 10:15 am | Break |
| 10:30 am | HDR Panel: The Future Directions of the HDR Ecosystem for Science
Moderator: Clifford Jacobs, Clifford A. Jacobs Consulting, LLC Panelists:
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| 12:00 pm | Lunch (provided) |
| 1:00 pm | HDR Conference Adjourns |