The inaugural Cesium Developer Conference landed in Philadelphia this summer, bringing together a global crowd of developers, climate scientists, engineers, game designers, and space technologists. Over three days, they explored how open 3D geospatial technology is transforming the way we understand and interact with the world—from city streets to outer space.
Hosted by Bentley Systems, which acquired Cesium in 2024, the conference featured nearly 90 sessions covering digital twins, aerospace and defense, AI, and climate resilience. Speakers from NASA, Google, NVIDIA, Epic Games, and the Open Geospatial Consortium shared how tools like CesiumJS and 3D Tiles are powering real-time, immersive environments for everything from disaster response to helping NASA prepare for its next giant leap.
The message was clear: geospatial tech is becoming foundational infrastructure—interactive, data-rich, and open by design. With the industry projected to hit $1.2 trillion by 2030, the Cesium community is shaping how we build, plan, and explore in the physical and digital realms.
Watch the highlights and meet the developers building the future, one digital tile at a time, and read the full reportage from the conference.
Tomas Kellner is Bentley’s chief storyteller.
