Interim CEO, Steve Oswald: On behalf of the USGIF Staff and Board of Directors, my thoughts are with you and your loved ones during these unprecedented and challenging times.

Like most of you, the USGIF staff are currently working from home. While we can’t meet in person, we still hold regular meetings through video conferencing and our cadence has not missed a beat. We remain only a phone call or email away from each other and the rest of the community. Click here for our staff directory. We encourage members to reach out to staff for assistance.

While much of USGIF staff’s time has been diverted to navigating through canceling this year’s premiere event, the GEOINT 2020 Symposium, we continue to partner with the community. We are working on providing online education and training as well as exploring virtual tradeshow options to replace the live GEOINT 2020 event.

While the virus is impacting all timelines, we are looking ahead to our summer and fall events. The May GEOINTeraction Tuesday will be postponed to a virtual event in the summer. All fall events remain as scheduled… at least for now. Please stay tuned for updates.

Our Working Groups and Committees are meeting virtually to continue their important work for the community. Each working group and several committees meet regularly to discuss their focus areas and to help drive positive change in the community through a variety of mechanisms. If you would like to join us for one or more of the upcoming working group meetings, please contact workingroups@usgif.org. For a list of Working Groups and Committees, click here.

Professional Certification is an important service provided by USGIF. Given the “in-person” nature of our professional certification(s), testing has necessarily been placed on hold due to COVID-19 social distancing mandates. We continue to offer our fully online, asynchronous GIS & Analysis certification boot camp. Please contact camelia.kantor@usgif.org if interested in registering for up to three (3) months access to the boot camp. A Certificate of Completion and CEUs are being awarded upon successful completion.

The geospatial intelligence community, our country, and the world have been dramatically affected by this pandemic. We have all been dealt a serious blow, but we will be back and smarter on the other side. Our community is strong and will remain so. I look forward to seeing you again in person; until then, stay safe and stay healthy.

Very best wishes,

Steve Oswald
USGIF Interim CEO