For the first time in the Baltic Sea region, the international conference Big Data from Space 2025 (BiDS2025) took place in Riga – one of the most significant European events dedicated to space data and technology, held biennially. This seventh edition brought together more than 520 on-site participants from 44 countries worldwide, including scientists, technology experts, entrepreneurs, and policymakers from across and beyond Europe. The event demonstrated that Latvia is increasingly strengthening its position within Europe’s space and innovation ecosystem by hosting a large-scale international conference.
Over five days, from 29 September to 3 October, the University of Latvia’s Academic Centre and the National Library of Latvia were buzzing with innovation and ideas. BiDS2025 participants had the opportunity to visit 23 industrial exposition stands, take part in 18 satellite events, watch 21 presentations in the demo zone, and attend 14 dynamic lightning talks, as well as listen to three keynote speeches and participate in six birds of feather sessions that encouraged the creation of new solutions and collaborations for future technologies.
The conference’s topics highlighted that the combination of space technologies and big data provides tangible benefits not only for society but also for the economy and national security. Discussions and presentations emphasized that satellite data and their analysis make a crucial contribution to monitoring and predicting climate change, reducing the risk of natural disasters, and strengthening cybersecurity and the protection of critical infrastructure. They also enable solutions in agriculture, transport, healthcare, and other sectors. Satellite data are becoming an important tool for policymakers, entrepreneurs, and society, providing precise and reliable information for decision-making.
Since 2020, Latvia has been an Associate Member of the European Space Agency (ESA), which has created new opportunities to strengthen its science, education, and innovation ecosystem. For a relatively small country like Latvia, its greatest asset lies in knowledge and international cooperation. Investments in the space sector bring tangible benefits to society and the economy – from creating new jobs and fostering sustainable growth to introducing advanced technologies in business, developing education and skills for future generations, and addressing both everyday and global challenges with the help of satellite data.
Representatives of both public and non-governmental sectors, including the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development, the Ministry of Defence, and the Ministry of Economics, actively participated in the discussions, reaffirming that the use of space data and technologies is an interdisciplinary field that requires cooperation across sectors.
At the conclusion of BiDS2025, it was emphasized that the use of big data from space is not an end in itself but a means of ensuring societal well-being – from predicting natural disasters to driving innovation in medicine, transport, and energy. The ideas and cooperation initiatives generated in Riga will continue to shape the European and global space industry, strengthening security, resilience, and innovation capacity.
The conference was organized by the European Space Agency (ESA), the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC), and the European Union Satellite Centre (SatCen), in collaboration with Latvia’s partners – the Ministry of Education and Science, the University of Latvia, the Investment and Development Agency of Latvia, and the Latvian Space Industry Association.
