Trust, not just tech: The importance of the GEO Community in the creation of trusted AI for EO Applications

The fourth edition of the Open Data and Open Knowledge Workshop (ODOK), held as part of the GEO Symposium 2026, reminded us that trusted Artificial Intelligence (AI) is not only about technology; it starts with a strong community. As members of the GEO Secretariat who supported all seven ODOK sessions, we had a unique opportunity to see how discussions across diverse topics came together.

Following the GEO Community way, the ODOK was co-organized by the community under the leadership of the Data and Knowledge Working Group and very rich in content. Themes of the sessions ranged from the GEO In-Situ Data Strategy and National GEO Knowledge Hubs to principles for open data and knowledge, trustworthy AI, Youth and Indigenous engagements, very high-resolution (VHR) EO imagery and new collaboration among GEO Working Groups. Rather than feeling like seven separate sessions, they told one continuous story about building trusted Earth Intelligence.

One idea connected all seven sessions: the distributed, interconnected and wide structure of the GEO Community creates the perfect environment for the development of trusted AI solutions. The GEO Data Sharing and Management Principles provide the foundation for data-driven solutions; the community follows those principles and develops knowledge resources; and Earth Intelligence services can then build AI-based tools on top of curated and organized materials. The ODOK discussions naturally led us to three connected takeaways: AI, data and knowledge management, and community.

AI was the hot topic in almost every session. We had many presentations showing the capacity of the technology. Together with the brand-new possibilities, there are also a number of questions regarding the trustworthiness of such tools. The discussions dwelt heavily on this and related topics: how do we reap the benefits of AI while keeping stewardship, privacy and control in human hands?

The answer lies with good data management, governance, traceability and liability to ensure we are building trusted AI that produces good content based on the authoritative knowledge from the community, rather than guessing or fabricating facts.

Those conversations also highlighted the unprecedented importance of data and knowledge management. The unglamorous work that is so often invisible turned out to be the real center of gravity in a world of AI-based solutions and Earth Intelligence services. For many, it has been treated only as a "bureaucratic step", or "the thing you do because the rules say so". ODOK made it clear that this view is over, and it highlighted something the GEO Data and Knowledge Working Group has been advocating for years: good data and knowledge management is the heart of any data-intensive technology, whether AI or any other fancy new technology that shows up tomorrow.

We were encouraged to see initiatives such as the GEO Data and Knowledge Working Group Dialogue Series helping to build these skills across the community, particularly among young professionals.

If we want to let AI loose on Earth observations, and if we want trustworthy data and knowledge management, we need, more than ever, a strong and healthy community. AI-powered Earth Intelligence needs people and a community that choose to care for the work long after the funding ends. It needs countries running their own knowledge hubs, keeping their data theirs while still sharing it with the world. It needs a real return to good data sharing and data management habits, the quiet work that keeps knowledge findable and alive. It needs young people who build, not just watch. Of course, it needs infrastructure, tools and services that the community owns and shape themselves, made with many voices instead of a few. Without that shared commitment, the AI we are so excited about, and any other new tech, simply will not achieve what we want.

Alone we go fast. Together we go far.

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This blog is also part of a new series based on the GEO Symposium 2026, including regional GEOs sessions summary, Townhall on innovation, GEOGloWS community event, and GEO Mountains community event. Read more about ODOK, including VHR session.