Strong turnout for first Washington, D.C., Symposium
Herndon, Virginia (July 20, 2015)—The United States Geospatial Intelligence Foundation (USGIF) hosted a record number of attendees and exhibiting organizations at its GEOINT 2015 Symposium, June 22-25, at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C. This was the 11th GEOINT Symposium and the first to be held in Washington, D.C.
GEOINT 2015 drew 5,498 attendees and 294 exhibiting organizations, USGIF CEO Keith Masback announced during the Foundation’s July 14 GEOINTeraction Tuesday networking event. Among the nearly 5,500 Symposium attendees were 1,478 government personnel, including the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. This incredible turnout also included employees representing more than 250 federal, state, and local agencies, offices, and organizations as well as strong international participation from 28 countries.
“Geospatial intelligence has now transcended the national security and government spaces and is moving into a competitive intelligence arena alongside business intelligence,” Masback said. “We know what our focus is, and we see this tremendous opportunity for our entire membership to go beyond that. These numbers are only valuable if there were good exchanges in the exhibit hall, meaningful engagement in the training events, and great content presented on the main stage and government pavilion stage.”
GEOINT 2015 training, education, and professional development offerings also received considerable interest. Nearly 890 individuals attended GEOINT Foreword, the pre-symposium science and technology-focused day. Training sessions doubled from last year’s Symposium with more than 80 hours available and 1,100 participants. This year, many training sessions offered for the first time continuing education units accredited by the International Association for Continuing Education and Training.
GEOINT 2015 also provided attendees the opportunity for free to take two pilot exams as part of USGIF’s Universal GEOINT Credentialing program, which is being developed for launch later this year. More than 100 GEOINT professionals sat for the GIS and remote sensing-focused exams.
“As technology advances and tradecraft evolves, the next step in the maturation of the GEOINT discipline is to provide professional certification for the workforce,” Masback said.
In addition to its other programs and activities for the community, USGIF is already preparing for the GEOINT 2016 Symposium. GEOINT 2016 will be held May 15-18, 2016, when it returns to the Gaylord Palms Resort & Convention Center in Orlando, Fla.
About USGIF
USGIF is a nonprofit educational foundation dedicated to promoting the geospatial intelligence tradecraft and developing a stronger GEOINT Community with government, industry, academia, professional organizations, and individuals who develop and apply geospatial intelligence to address national security challenges. USGIF executes its mission by building the community, advancing the tradecraft, and accelerating innovation. The GEOINT Symposium is hosted annually by USGIF.
For more information, please visit www.USGIF.org and follow USGIF on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter.