GeoAI

Planet-scale objectives, including the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), need to rely on globally consistent datasets. Yet today, producing accurate Digital Surface Models (DSM) and Digital Terrain Models (DTM) at the global scale remains a major issue, as expensive airborne LiDAR surveys are not available everywhere. The GeoAI challenge addresses this need by supporting the creation of a dataset of global ground cover information derived solely from open satellite imagery.

The mission

Under the theme “Reaching new heights with GeoFM embeddings”, use embeddings from state-of-the art Geospatial Foundation Models (e.g., Alpha Earth, TerraMind, Tessera, Thor) to perform multi-task learning, such as segmentation (assessment of cover type) and regression (height estimation of building and vegetation).

Go beyond single-location optimisation: train on a limited set of regions and demonstrate global generalisation by performing well on unseen areas.

The data

Participants will be provided with pre-computed embeddings from multiple geospatial foundation models and tasked with developing models that can effectively merge and utilize these embeddings to perform 3D semantic segmentation of buildings and vegetation, and predict building and vegetation heights.

You are encouraged to experiment with innovative architectures, feature engineering approaches, and data fusion strategies to effectively combine the embeddings and achieve strong performance.

The prizes

Your work matters and is rewarded. The three winning teams will receive a cumulative cash prize of over 9000 EUR, made possible by ITU and ESA and distributed in CHF (ITU) and EUR (ESA).

• 1st place: 1500 CHF + 3000 EUR
• 2nd place: 1000 CHF + 2000 EUR
• 3rd place: 500 CHF + 1000 EUR

But there’s more: the top-three winning teams will have the opportunity to present their solutions during the AI for Good Summit 2026, which is hosted from 7 to 10 July 2026 in Geneva, Switzerland. On this occasion, the winning teams are expected to participate online and present their respective solutions in a pitch-style manner of ca. 10 minutes per team with the use of a short pitch-deck (for example, in the form of a PowerPoint presentation).

The timeline

• Announcement: 1^st April 2026
• Launch: 8^th April 2026
• Educational webinar: 8^th April 2026, 14:00 CET
• Closing: 30^th June 2026
• Award ceremony (AI for Good Global Summit): 7^th –10^th July 2026

Our partner organisations

The ESA Philab is proud to present the GeoAI Challenge as part of ITU’s ongoing series of AI for Good Challenges

ITU is the United Nations specialized agency for digital technologies (ICTs). ​The Organisation is made up of a membership of 194​ Member States and more than 1000 companies, universities and international and regional organizations. Headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, and with regional offices on every continent, ITU is the oldest agency in the UN family and has been connecting people for over 160 years. ITU facilitates international connectivity in communication networks. We allocate global radio spectrum and satellite orbits, develop the technical standards that ensure networks and technologies connect seamlessly, and work to improve access to digital technologies in underserved communities worldwide. ITU works to bring digital connectivity to everyone, providing a trusted, multilateral platform to broker international agreements and standards, share knowledge, build capacity, and work with members and partners to spread access to technology around the world.​

AI for Good is organized by ITU in partnership with 50 UN Sister Agencies. The goal of AI for Good is to identify practical applications of AI to advance the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and scale those solutions for global impact. It’s the leading action-oriented, global & inclusive United Nations platform on AI.

The Group on Earth Observations (GEO) is a global partnership of more than 160 organizations including governments, academia, business, United Nations and civil society. Established to improve the availability, access, and use of Earth observation (EO) data for societal benefit, GEO coordinates international efforts to address global challenges such as climate change, disaster risk reduction, and sustainable development. Through its post-2025 strategy, Earth Intelligence for All, GEO aims to transform the rapidly growing EO data streams into actionable intelligence while expanding global participation in the use of EO. Within this framework, the Artificial Intelligence for Earth Observations (AI4EO) Enabler aims to accelerate Earth Intelligence for All through the integration of AI and Earth Observations. The initiative fosters collaboration among AI researchers, data scientists, and Earth observation experts across the GEO community.  By promoting  the development of  advanced methods for analyzing large, multi-dimensional datasets, AI4EO transforms raw EO data into actionable intelligence, enabling more efficient environmental monitoring, enhanced predictive capabilities, and the innovative solutions necessary to address climate change, disaster risk reduction, and sustainable development.