On Monday 8 June 2026, the National Geographic Institute (NGI) will be celebrating its fiftieth anniversary in its current form. At a private event at the Royal Library of Belgium (KBR) with leading national and international partners, the NGI will look back on five decades of expertise and engagement, celebrating the role it plays today and outlining its vision for the future. Minister of Defence Theo Francken, the supervising minister of the NGI, will also be in attendance.

This anniversary provides the perfect opportunity to showcase how the NGI has transformed from a mapping agency to a federal geo-broker and all-round digital service provider in geo-intelligence.

Whereas the paper map was once the central product, this map is now one of many manifestations of a much broader range of services, driven by an accelerating digital transformation in recent decades. Maps have turned into dynamic, continuously updated geodata with strategic value for policy, security and the economy.

Today, more than ever, the NGI is positioning itself as an indispensable partner for government, Defence, emergency services, businesses and citizens, and as an essential link in tomorrow’s digital, secure and resilient society.

A historical connection to Defence and a strategic role for national security

The NGI has existed formally since 8 June 1976, but its origins date back to 1831, when the Dépôt de la Guerre et de la Topographie was created to provide maps for the country and the military. Since then, the Institute has played a central role in the cartography and understanding of the Belgian territory. Important milestones include the demarcation of borders with neighbouring countries, the triangulation that made modern cartography possible, and the publication of the first topographic maps in the 19th century.

The connection between the NGI and Defence has been part of the Institute’s DNA since its inception. An accurate knowledge of the national territory was a strategic necessity for defence and security from the outset. With the 2023 Cooperation Agreement, this partnership took on a new dimension in a context where geographic information is increasingly important for security, crisis management and defence. The NGI supports Defence with geographic data, expertise, and interoperable solutions and by contributing to the development of geo-intelligence.

A central role in today’s society

The NGI is increasingly positioning itself as a federal geobroker: a central hub that collects, integrates and makes available geographic information to authorities, emergency services, researchers, businesses and citizens. In a society that increasingly relies on up-to-date and reliable data, the Institute brings together geographic information from federal, regional and local partners. By aligning and supplementing this data and making it accessible through shared infrastructures and digital services, the NGI supports crisis management, mobility planning, defence, infrastructure management, research and many other societal applications, among others. Thus, with reliable and interoperable geodata, it actively contributes to a more efficient government, better cooperation between partners and a more resilient society.

The NGI also manages Belgium’s geodetic basic reference, which is the foundation of accurate positioning, navigation and time synchronisation. It includes coordinate systems, permanent measuring stations and markers. This unremarkable infrastructure is essential for GPS services, communication networks and the digital economy. By permanently managing, maintaining and further developing these systems, the NGI contributes to the reliability, interoperability and resilience of critical infrastructures in Belgium.

Vision for the future: geodata as a sound foundation for a resilient society

Fifty years after its establishment, the NGI is firmly anchored in its heritage and fully prepared for the future. The transformation from paper maps to geo-intelligence illustrates a broader societal role: not just describing, but understanding, interpreting and anticipating.

In the coming years, the NGI intends to further strengthen its role as a national reference partner for geographic information and as a federal geobroker. The Institute continues to invest in the production, integration and accessibility of reliable official geodata as a solid foundation for policy, security, mobility, crisis management and digital innovation. The focus here is on up-to-date, high-quality reference data, modern digital services, interoperable solutions and a high-performance federal geographic data infrastructure ready for tomorrow’s societal, technological and security challenges.

The NGI will additionally strengthen its expertise in geodesy, cartography and geo-intelligence and remains committed to innovation, collaboration and knowledge sharing, both nationally and internationally. Strategic partnerships with Defence, crisis management services and other federal partners are also being expanded. At the same time, the Institute is investing in talent development, high-performance services and a forward-looking organisation to enable it to continue to contribute to better decision-making, a more efficient government and a more resilient society in the decades to come.

In an increasingly complex world, from climate risks to urban growth to geopolitical challenges, the NGI is and will continue to be an indispensable link. Thanks to reliable, up-to-date and accessible geographic information, policymakers have a solid foundation from which to make decisions that will shape our future.

Dive into the history of our country

See with your own eyes how the landscape has changed: the new edition of Ferraris’ maps from 1777 and the current topographical atlas of Belgium, realized in collaboration with Lannoo and the Royal Library of Belgium, will be published soon.

If you can’t wait until then, then be sure to take a look at the new Topoferrarisviewer, which allows you to put Ferraris’ well-known 1777 map next to the 2026 one. In addition to these oldest and newest maps of Belgium, those from various other times in history are also available in the viewer, allowing you to observe the evolution of the landscape over the centuries. The viewer is available as a web application and as a mobile app in Google Play and the App Store.

Further information and links

Anniversary website https://ngi.be/en/50yearsngi/home/: all about the history of the NGI and the publications and events marking this anniversary year.

Website of the National Geographic Institute https://ngi.be/en/

Publications

Topoferrarisviewer

 

Download the press release here.

Applications

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