Announcements

In July 2026, the ISPRS Congress 2026 successfully concluded in Toronto, Canada. As one of the most influential international events in the fields of photogrammetry, remote sensing, and spatial information sciences, this congress brought together researchers, industry experts, government representatives, and academic institutions from around the world to discuss cutting-edge developments and technological innovations. MDPI’s journals in the remote sensing and geoinformation fields—ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information (IJGI), Remote Sensing, Nitrogen, Earth, Geomatics, Geosciences, Optics and Smart Cities—participated as academic publishing sponsors. Through booth exhibitions, editorial board meetings, keynote speeches, and award ceremonies, MDPI engaged with global scholars face-to-face to promote open science concepts and share publishing expertise.

Booth Exhibition: Building Bridges for Offline Academic Dialogue

MDPI Booth

From 6 to 9 July, MDPI set up a dedicated communication space at Booth #210 in Exhibit Hall F. During the exhibition, MDPI representatives provided one-on-one consultations for attending scholars regarding submission processes, peer review, and open access policies. They also collected feedback and suggestions from authors, reviewers, and academic editors on journal services. Compared to online communication, these in-person interactions fostered warmer connections between the journals and scholars, helping attendees gain a more intuitive understanding of MDPI’s publishing services.

MDPI Representatives at Booth #210

Editorial Board Meetings: Building Consensus for Journal Development
On the morning of 7 July, MDPI held consecutive editorial board meetings for IJGI and Remote Sensing in Room 602A.
The IJGI Editorial Board meeting was chaired by Editor-in-Chief Prof. Wolfgang Kainz. More than ten editorial board members, including ISPRS Council members, attended both online and in person. Experts engaged in constructive discussions regarding the journal’s annual performance and future development plans, building consensus to drive high-quality growth.

Photo: MDPI CEO Stefan Tochev with IJGI Editor-in-Chief Wolfgang Kainz (left)

Photo: Group photo with MDPI representatives, IJGI Editorial Board members, ISPRS President Lena Hanouva (second from right), ISPRS Secretary General Jiang Jie (sixth from left), IJGI Editor-in-Chief Wolfgang Kainz (fifth from right), and MDPI CEO Stefan Tochev (sixth from right)

Photo: MDPI representative presenting journal work at the IJGI editorial board meeting

The Remote Sensing Editorial Board meeting was chaired by Section Editor-in-Chief Prof. Dr. Jie Shan. Adopting a hybrid format, over ten editorial board members joined across different time zones. The meeting reviewed the journal’s annual work and featured in-depth discussions on core topics, including journal development, expanding impact, Special Issue planning, and fostering collaboration with early-career researchers, further solidifying consensus and clarifying future directions.

Photo: Group photo of Remote Sensing offline editorial board members and MDPI CEO Stefan Tochev (first from right)

Award Ceremony: Honoring Outstanding Contributions to Geoinformation Science
During the morning plenary session on July 7, the ISPRS Jack Dangermond Award ceremony took place as scheduled. MDPI CEO Stefan Tochev attended as a special guest and presented certificates to the award recipients.

Photo: MDPI CEO Stefan Tochev with the representative of the award winners (center)

Award details
The Jack Dangermond Award, sponsored by MDPI and ESRI, was established to encourage and stimulate the submission of high-quality scientific papers by individual authors or groups to the journal, to promote and advertise the journal, and to honor the outstanding contributions of Jack Dangermond to research on and the development of geospatial sciences.

The award, which consists of an ISPRS certificate and a grant of USD 10,000, will be presented every four years to the author(s) of an outstanding paper on one of the topics included in the scope of the journal. The recipient(s) of the Jack Dangermond Award can only receive the award once.

Learn more about the award: https://www.mdpi.com/journal/ijgi/awards/1266.

Keynote Speeches: Three Decades of Open Peer Review, Driving High-Quality Development of Open Science

At this congress, MDPI CEO Stefan Tochev delivered two keynote presentations, sharing insights into AI-empowered academic publishing informed by industry trends and MDPI’s practices.

During the Lightning Talk on the morning of 8 July, Mr. Stefan Tochev presented “The AI Revolution in Publishing – Challenges, Innovations, and MDPI’s Vision”. He noted that since 2015, total paper publications have increased by 62%, while annual reviews per researcher have grown by only 27%, underscoring AI’s role as an essential tool for sustainable academic publishing. He highlighted MDPI’s practical applications of AI for manuscript-journal matching, scope checks, and detection of ethical compliance. He emphasized the “human-in-the-loop (HITL)” principle—adhering to a “human-led, AI-assisted” approach where all AI-generated outputs undergo mandatory human verification. This human-AI collaboration model safeguards academic quality, preserves research integrity, and clearly defines accountability.

That afternoon, during the Industry Tech Session, Mr. Tochev delivered a presentation titled “MDPI at 30: Reflections and the Road Ahead,” systematically reviewing MDPI’s three-decade journey, open-science mission, and future strategic plans. The presentation reaffirmed MDPI journals’ long-term commitment to ensuring academic quality and serving the global research community.

Additionally, Ms. Carla Aloè from MDPI’s Society Department delivered a brief presentation during this session. She introduced the society journal IJGI, outlining its profile and potential pathways for collaboration with scholars, thereby further strengthening ties between the journal and the academic community.

Although the ISPRS Congress 2026 has concluded, MDPI’s efforts to advance open science and academic exchange continue unabated. Looking ahead, we will keep supporting researchers in remote sensing and geoinformation worldwide with enhanced services. We look forward to seeing you again at the next congress in Sydney, Australia, in 2029!