University Consortium For Geographic Information Science

Name

University Consortium For Geographic Information Science

Legal name

University Consortium for Geographic Information Science

Website

https://ucgis.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1988

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Geographic Information Science Education

NAICS

Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools (611310)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Public Research Universities with Multi-Campus Systems (EDAHAAAI)

akta.pro secondary industries

Public Research Universities with Major Extension & Outreach Missions (EDAHAAAG), Land-Grant Public Research Universities (EDAHAAAB)

Keywords

• Geographic information science
• Academic research consortium
• Body of knowledge platform
• GIS education resources
• Higher education membership

Headquarters

HQ city

Chesapeake

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. University Membership Dues: UCGIS generates revenue through annual membership fees from universities. Universities join to access member benefits including the GIS&T Body of Knowledge, symposium participation, professional development discounts, and community networking within GIScience higher education.
2. Event Registration Fees: The annual UCGIS Symposium generates revenue through attendee registration fees for workshops, plenaries, panels, paper sessions, poster sessions, and lightning talks.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

UCGIS is a university membership consortium that operates the GIS&T Body of Knowledge (BoK), a curated reference for geographic information science. It provides digital platforms including the Living Textbook Platform, Visualization & Search Tool, and BoK Tools for accessing GIScience knowledge, and hosts annual symposiums for the academic community. Revenue is generated through university membership dues and event registration.

Product overview

UCGIS offers the Geographic Information Science & Technology (GIS&T) Body of Knowledge (BoK) as its primary product—a comprehensive open-source knowledge platform for GIScience research and education. The BoK portfolio consists of three interconnected digital offerings: the Living Textbook Platform for structured topic access with knowledge graph visualization, the Visualization & Search Tool for discovery across the full BoK collection, and the BoK Tools Platform providing additional specialized functionality. UCGIS also organizes the annual UCGIS Symposium as a community convening service. The Living Textbook software was developed by Faculty ITC at the University of Twente, Netherlands.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• GIS&T Body of Knowledge: The Geographic Information Science & Technologies Body of Knowledge - a collection of educational materials managed by UCGIS
• Living Textbook Platform
• GIS&T BoK Visualization & Search Tool
• BoK Tools

Products and services

• GIS&T Body of Knowledge (BoK)
• Living Textbook Platform
• Visualization & Search Tool
• BoK Tools Platform
• UCGIS Annual Symposium

Quantifiable outcome

• Annual symposium convenes hundreds of GIScience researchers, faculty, and students

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered major and core.

• University of GeorgiamajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 7 June 2027The University of Georgia will host the 2027 UCGIS Symposium in Athens, Georgia from June 7-10, 2027. The symposium theme will be 'GIScience at a Turning Point,' inviting community reflection on how AI and other transformative forces are impacting the field.
• University of Maryland, College ParkmajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 15 June 2026The University of Maryland hosted the 2026 UCGIS Symposium, welcoming the symposium community and supporting the event. Located near Washington, DC, the location drew on regional strengths including discussion of federal geospatial work and policy context.
• Faculty ITC, University of Twente, NetherlandscoreTechnology or IntegrationFaculty ITC from the University of Twente developed the Living Textbook software platform for the GIS&T Body of Knowledge. This represents a significant technical partnership that built the foundational technology for accessing and navigating BoK content.

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Esri: Esri is the dominant GIS software vendor and runs an extensive education program including the Esri Academy, MOOCs, and user conferences. It serves the same GIScience academic community and competes for educational content share, though as a commercial vendor.
• American Geophysical Union (AGU): AGU is a large scientific society supporting geophysics and earth sciences. While broader in scope, it intersects with UCGIS in geospatial sciences, runs major conferences, and serves many of the same research universities.

Direct peers

• GIS Certification Institute (GISCI): GISCI administers the GISP professional certification for the GIS community. It shares UCGIS's audience of GIS professionals and academics and addresses an adjacent need (certification standards vs. knowledge curation).
• Urban and Regional Information Systems Association (URISA): URISA is a membership association for GIS and geospatial professionals, providing conferences, certification (GISP), and educational resources. It overlaps directly with UCGIS in serving the GIS professional and academic community.
• American Association of Geographers (AAG): AAG is a scholarly society and membership organization for geography professionals and academics. Like UCGIS, it serves the geography/GIScience academic community through conferences, publications, and member benefits, with overlapping member institutions.
• International Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ISPRS): ISPRS is an international scientific organization advancing photogrammetry, remote sensing, and spatial information sciences. It parallels UCGIS as a scholarly consortium running congresses, working groups, and educational initiatives.
• North American Cartographic Information Society (NACIS): NACIS is a professional society for cartographers and GIS practitioners, running annual conferences and supporting cartographic education. It serves an overlapping community of academics and practitioners in geographic information.

Regional players

• GSDI Association: GSDI Association promotes international cooperation in spatial data infrastructure. While globally focused, it parallels UCGIS in advancing geospatial knowledge sharing through conferences and working groups.

Emerging players

• Open Source Geospatial Foundation (OSGeo): OSGeo is a non-profit foundation supporting open-source geospatial software. It overlaps with UCGIS around open-source geospatial education and community-driven knowledge sharing, though focused on software rather than curricula.
• GeoTech Center: GeoTech Center is a NSF-funded center supporting geospatial technology education at two-year colleges and workforce development. It overlaps with UCGIS in the GIScience education space, though focused on community college curricula.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/UCGIScience
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/ucgis

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about University Consortium For Geographic Information Science