The conference-goers seemingly least likely to have trouble finding America’s Center will converge there today, as the nation’s geospatial industry descends on downtown.
Its marquee annual gathering, the GEOINT Symposium, organized by the nonprofit United States Geospatial Intelligence Foundation, kicks off this morning at America’s Center. The event’s website lists 227 exhibitors and multiple keynote speakers, including St. Louis’ own U.S. Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Missouri) and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard.
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According to Mark Munsell, the newly-retired chief artificial-intelligence officer of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, GEOINT is a big deal for the sector, which he describes as fairly tight-knit; the nightly socials, sometimes called “mappy hours,” are well attended. “New products, breakthroughs, innovations—you can see that stuff on the floor, and you can hear it in a presentation,” Munsell says, “but for people to get together, exchange those ideas, and have that human interaction is probably the highlight of the conference.”
As for attendance, USGIF officials say that registrations are on pace with 2023—the last time St. Louis played host, and a conference that drew more than 4,000, by its accounting.
On the convention floor, the local delegation will cluster inside the “Greater St. Louis Pavilion,” where institutions such as Greater St. Louis Inc. and the Taylor Geospatial Institute will have booths alongside various sector-specific companies with a St. Louis presence. Bill Conroy, the CEO of one such company, Semaphore Maritime Solutions, says GEOINT is crucial for meeting not just government officials but also other vendors—“peple you can synergize with not just personality-wise but capability-wise. This will be the third GEOINT I’ve been to, and every time you go in there, you leave with a lot of excitement, even if not everything pans out.”
Why It Matters: St. Louis is trying to become a national hub for the geospatial industry as the 97-acre, $1.7 billion Next NGA West facility north of Downtown nears completion. Federal employees are scheduled to start moving in this fall after six years of construction. The facility also has a shot at hosting a federal pilot program to develop a geospatial workforce; Schmitt championed that legislation in Congress last year.
What’s Next: The convention floor opens at 10 a.m. Monday. Schmitt’s speech is scheduled for that same time, followed by Gabbard’s speech at noon.
