From the Desk of the President: Where We Have Been and What the Future Holds

December 22, 2011

During this time of year, just after Thanksgiving, ramping up for the other holidays, we often reflect on the things for which we are thankful while we enjoy what is usually a slow(er) time around the office. We at USGIF certainly have a great deal to be thankful for.

We recently finished closing out our largest event of the year, the GEOINT Symposium. The symposium, which is the nation’s largest intelligence event, grew even larger again this year. We saw record attendance, with more than 4,450 total attendees from the defense, intelligence and homeland security communities. These attendees also were able to explore our most expansive exhibit hall ever, which featured technologies and solutions from more than 250 exhibitors. It truly was an amazing turnout from across academia, industry and government. What made the overall growth in attendance even more gratifying was the increase in our government attendance, which climbed to almost 1,000.

Even with this wonderful increase, we understand it is simply impossible and unrealistic for every person who should be at the GEOINT Symposium to attend. So, USGIF, in the spirit of our status as a nonprofit educational foundation, has invested in an online video library so that everyone can watch—free of charge— all of the keynote speeches, panel discussions and breakout sessions on http://geointv.com.

This online archive also houses highlights from the daily GEOINTv news program as well as past and present speeches, panels and breakout sessions. GEOINTv has had more views in the last 60 days than in its history, and selections like the GEOINT 2011 opening video have been viewed and shared in significant numbers. I encourage you to take a look if you haven’t already.

In addition to record attendance and exhibits, other notable highlights from GEOINT 2011 included a sold-out Allder Golf Classic, which raised $25,000 for the USGIF Scholarship Program, and another successful Young Professionals Group (YPG) GeoHunt service project. With the help of almost 50 USGIF YPG members, the GeoHunt educational experience taught 50 local 5th- and 6th- grade students the basic principles of remote sensing and the geospatial information in an effort to excite them about a future in geospatial intelligence.

GEOINT 2011 was also the stage for the announcement of the annual USGIF Awards Program recipients as well as the latest presentation of the Arthur C. Lundahl Lifetime Achievement Award, which was given this year to Lieutenant General Paul E. Menoher (Ret.).

Another high point of the week was USGIF member Sotera’s initiative to raise money for the Fisher House Foundation. GEOINT 2011 attendees bought $3,700 worth of raffle tickets from Sotera for the chance to win an original, patriotic painting from renowned artist Stephen Fishwick. USGIF promoted the event and offered to more than match that amount in order to give Fisher House a total of $10,000. This will be allocated to the construction of a new Fisher House facility in San Antonio, Texas.

USGIF is truly thankful for the continued success of the GEOINT Symposium and other foundation events. We couldn’t have produced such a valuable GEOINT 2011 without the support of our USGIF members, exhibitors and sponsors. Naturally, I’d be remiss if I didn’t also note that we couldn’t accomplish all that we do without our steadfast, hard-working volunteers. Volunteers are the lifeblood of a nonprofit organization, and we appreciate all the great efforts of our volunteers.

The GEOINT Symposium is just one of the many programs USGIF produces annually. Next year we will again host the NGA Tech Showcase West as well as GEOINT Community Week, which includes AGIC, Tech Days, the USGIF Invitational and the NGA Tech Showcase East at NGA’s new headquarters in Springfield, Va. Our staff, committees and volunteers are also working on plans for Emerging Technology Workshops, GEOINTeraction Tuesday, GEOINT 101, additional accreditation programs, Young Professionals Group events and service projects, a new series of thinker’s dinners, chairman’s events and much, much more.

In fact, as I write this month’s column I am in Amsterdam meeting with Geospatial Media and Communications to assist in the planning of the April 23-27 Geospatial World Forum. The international community also understands the unique power of GEOINT, and so we’ve teamed up with Geospatial World Forum organizers to use their superb conference to engage with a broader set of GEOINT users.

In addition to this new global opportunity, USGIF is partnered with the Open Geospatial Consortium to launch a new event called WhereCon. Taking place April 10-12, 2012, WhereCon is a three-day interactive discussion focused on location-based policy for both government and private sector entities. WhereCon will focus on national and international issues affecting the “power of place” with innovative keynote speakers, panel sessions and exhibitors. This is a critically important topic right now, for the future of the nation, and so we are hosting at the convention center in downtown Washington, D.C., to make it easily accessible for the decision- and policy-makers who need to be there.

I am very excited about our involvement in these two new events and ongoing potential for the USGIF Community to expand. I know the topics we will cover originate from our 200 sustaining member organizations, and I believe both events will be very successful based on the feedback we are getting from our members and our partners.

As we grow and change, so do our relationships with some of our partners. After several great years with KMI Media Group publishing Geospatial Intelligence Forum as the official publication of USGIF, we mutually decided to part ways with regard to our formal relationship. Having GIF as our official publication has been successful collaboration. However, both of our organizations have grown, and while we both remain committed to supporting the GEOINT Community, our respective objectives have changed. We are proud of what we accomplished with GIF and the products we produced with KMI, and we look forward to continuing our relationship, albeit in another, less formal manner.

The arrival of a new year brings with it many exciting opportunities. I wish you a safe and happy holiday season, and we look forward to another successful and exciting year for USGIF, our members and our partners. I pledge that our commitment to supporting national and international security remains as strong as ever, and we will remain true to our mission to build the community, accelerate innovation, and advance the tradecraft.

Sincerely,

Keith J. Masback
President
USGIF