The 4th ISDE Academic Salon, themed "Automated Generation of 3D Building Models for Applications in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)," was successfully held at Beijing Normal University on May 28. The event was co-organized by the International Society for Digital Earth (ISDE) and Beijing Normal University, fostering academic exchange on cutting-edge geospatial technologies.

This salon featured Prof. Hongchao Fan from Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU). By illustrating some Norwegian city models, Prof. Fan explained the concepts and applications of 3D city modelling, and shared his views on the AI algorithms and deep learning technologies. He also introduced VGI3D, an interactive platform that combines geographic data from many sources, and put forward the prospect of realizing 3D modelling of buildings on a global scale, which sparked strong interest among the participants.

With expertise in 3D city modeling, photogrammetry, and laser scanning, Prof. Fan has held prominent roles, including leading the 3D Data Infrastructure Group at Germany’s Heidelberg University and serving as a professor at Wuhan University. He currently contributes as Associate Editor for Geo-spatial Information Science and Big Earth Data, in addition to editorial roles in several other SCI-indexed journals.

Launched on Nov 20, 2023, the ISDE Academic Salon series has established itself as a dynamic platform for international scholarly dialogue. Building on past successes, the initiative continues to strengthen academic collaboration among universities and research institutions worldwide.

Source: Official Website of ISDE