DRONELIFE heads to INTERGEO for a look at the mapping, lidar, photogrammetry, AI and digital twin technologies shaping the next generation of drone operations.
INTERGEO 2026 takes place September 15–17 at Messe München, bringing together the international geospatial community for three days of exhibits, technical sessions and industry discussion.
For commercial drone professionals, INTERGEO offers something different from a traditional drone show. The event focuses on the wider geospatial ecosystem, including surveying, GIS, positioning, remote sensing, digital twins and data analysis. The exhibition and conference are organized separately across the Messe München complex.
That broader perspective matters as drones become increasingly integrated into professional mapping workflows. The aircraft may collect the data, but the value often comes later, through processing, analysis, modeling and integration with other geospatial systems.
Mapping Beyond the Flight: Some of the Sponsors and Friends to Watch for on the Floor
Flyability and Ouster will highlight the role of lidar in mapping difficult or hazardous environments. Flyability’s collision-tolerant Elios 3 is designed for confined and GPS-denied spaces where conventional survey methods may be difficult to use. Paired with Ouster lidar, the platform can support 3D mapping and inspection in environments such as industrial facilities, mines and infrastructure assets.
The partnership illustrates a growing theme in drone mapping: expanding data collection into places where people or traditional equipment cannot easily go. Find Ouster and Flyability at B5/B51018.
SimActive represents the processing side of the workflow. Its Correlator3D software is used to process imagery and geospatial data from drones, aircraft and satellites. For mapping organizations managing large datasets, processing speed and workflow efficiency can become just as important as the aircraft or sensor collecting the information.
At a show centered on geospatial technology, that distinction is important. Drone mapping does not end when the aircraft lands. The data still needs to be processed into useful mapping products. Find SimActive at B6/B6A014.
Blue Marble Geographics‘ geospatial software, including Global Mapper, supports the visualization, analysis and management of spatial data from a wide range of sources.
For drone operators working in surveying, construction, infrastructure or natural resources, the software can provide the link between raw aerial data and the information customers ultimately use. Find them at B5032M/BM.
Together, the exhibitors demonstrate the broader mapping chain: collect data in challenging environments, process large datasets, and turn the resulting information into usable geospatial products.
Sessions to Watch
The INTERGEO conference covers a wide range of geospatial topics, with sessions presented in both German and English. For DRONELIFE readers, several stand out.
On September 16, “From Land to Shallow Waters: How UAV LiDAR is Redefining Geospatial Intelligence” will explore UAV lidar applications ranging from vegetation and infrastructure mapping to coastal and shallow-water environments. Morgane Selve of YellowScan will discuss the convergence of topographic and bathymetric surveying. The presentation is scheduled for 11:40 a.m. in the Application Dome.
That session reflects how rapidly drone lidar is moving beyond traditional terrain mapping. New sensors and workflows are extending aerial surveying into increasingly complex environments.
Another area worth watching is the growing role of artificial intelligence in geospatial workflows.
On September 16, the “Agentic AI Meets Geodata and BIM” session will examine how AI agents may work with geospatial and building information. The English-language presentations include “Agentic Geo-AI – Fundamentals and Research,” “Agentic Geo-AI for Urban Digital Twins,” and “BIMgent: Generating Building Models via Computer-use Agents.”
For the drone industry, the significance is straightforward. As organizations collect more imagery, lidar and 3D data, the challenge increasingly shifts from acquiring information to extracting useful insights from it.
INTERGEO also includes a dedicated UAS-focused conference block on September 17. Topics include agricultural drone applications and the use of UAS data in urban digital twins. Those presentations are listed in German, with translation available in Room C54.
A Broader View of the Drone Mapping Market
At a dedicated drone event, the aircraft naturally sits at the center of the conversation.
INTERGEO offers a different view.
Here, drones are part of a much larger technology stack that includes sensors, positioning, photogrammetry, lidar, GIS, AI, BIM and digital twins. For commercial drone professionals, that perspective can be especially valuable.
The next stage of drone mapping may depend less on simply capturing more data and more on what organizations can do with that data once they have it.
DRONELIFE will be reporting from Munich throughout INTERGEO 2026, looking at the technologies, companies and ideas shaping that next stage of the market.
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Miriam McNabb is the Editor-in-Chief of DRONELIFE and CEO of JobForDrones, a professional drone services marketplace, and a fascinated observer of the emerging drone industry and the regulatory environment for drones. Miriam has penned over 3,000 articles focused on the commercial drone space and is an international speaker and recognized figure in the industry. Miriam has a degree from the University of Chicago and over 20 years of experience in high tech sales and marketing for new technologies.
For drone industry consulting or writing, Email Miriam.
TWITTER:@spaldingbarker
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