CNG Forum: Where Data Practitioners Come to Connect
When we surveyed attendees after CNG 2025, 95% told us they’d attend another CNG event. This had been our first big event, and we were honestly surprised by how well it went. It seemed that we should do another event, but we first needed to figure out what went right at CNG 2025.
To find out, we got on a lot of calls with attendees, scoured the survey results, and looked at what people were saying on social media. What we found out corroborated the hunch that led us to start CNG in the first place: geospatial data practitioners across government, academia, and the commercial sector need more opportunities for collaboration.
Read on to find out what made CNG 2025 so special and how you can get involved with CNG 2026.
A community united by data
The majority of our community is made up of geospatial data practitioners. CNG 2025 convened attendees from big tech companies, small consulting firms, startups, governments, and nonprofits – all united by a desire to make geospatial data easier to access and use.
This is a practical and skeptical audience, and we designed our agenda to make sure no one found themselves sitting through product demos disguised as technical talks. Instead, we encouraged presenters to have honest conversations about real shared problems.
Our attendees seemed to like it:
The team at Element 84 noted it’s rare “to attend a conference where you can feel all of the attendees aligning around shared goals.”
Pete Gadomski from Development Seed told us that CNG 2025 created a “space where we can think unconventionally, talk honestly and kindly, and learn much.”
Brianna Pagán led the “Building Resilient Data Ecosystems” track at CNG 2025 and said that she expected “maybe 10-20 attendees” to attend her sessions and was surprised that they ended up being “standing room only [with] attendees spanning every kind of job title and organization in the geospatial space.”
Frederic Leclercq, from Flanders Marine Institute, found CNG 2025 to be “the most inspiring conference [that he] attended in a long time.” He noted that the “content was top-tier with so many brilliant sessions and speakers that choosing simultaneous talks felt like a real case of choosing is losing.”
José Macchi from Geotekne Argentina shared: “99% of attendees were on the same page – proactive, positive, and really raising the bar. It pushed the whole experience to another level, and I think it’s going to be tough to top it in 2026.”
The zero-fluff promise for CNG 2026
We’re working hard to exceed the bar we set at CNG 2025. Here’s what you can expect at CNG 2026:
Real-world use cases. We’re prioritizing sessions that feature real-world stories of how cloud-native systems can solve problems at scale.
More time for connection. We’re creating more space for open-ended conversations, trust-building, and time for participants to make connections.
Practical skill building. We’re dedicating an entire day to hands-on workshops and a specific track to help people level up their geospatial data skills.
Join us
Get your ticket. Discounted early bird tickets are available until May 15.
Propose a talk. Our call for speakers is open until May 17, 2026. We want your use cases, your lessons learned, your “here’s what actually worked and didn’t” stories. Accepted speakers will be eligible to register at Super Early Bird pricing or receive a refund for the difference in ticket pricing.
Run a workshop. Facilitate a hands-on learning session on our dedicated workshop day (October 6) to showcase your expertise or help participants build skills they need to adapt to cloud-native tech.
Become a CNG member. Joining CNG connects you to our wonderful community and provides opportunities to work on the projects that are transforming the geospatial sector.
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