Thousands of leaders from the geospatial technology sector will make their way to St. Louis October 5-8 to attend GEOINT Symposium 2021, the largest annual gathering of industry leaders in the country. This marks the first time GEOINT Symposium is being held in St. Louis, and it is scheduled to return in 2023 and 2025, highlighting St. Louis’ rapidly increasing prominence as a national center for geospatial technology.
“We are excited to show off St. Louis and our geospatial ecosystem to the rest of the country,” said Jason Hall, CEO of Greater St. Louis, Inc. “With the rapid growth of our geospatial sector and the commitment of our entire region, attendees at GEOINT Symposium 2021 will see that the future of geospatial technology is being built right now in St. Louis.”
Part of what is being built is Next NGA West, the $1.75 billion new home of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency currently under construction north of downtown St. Louis. The new facility will feature unclassified space, allowing NGA staff to collaborate with private sector businesses and academic institutions on solutions for the future.
The St. Louis geospatial ecosystem, in alignment with the strategic priorities outlined in the GeoFutures Strategic Roadmap, is also building:
– An expanded workforce and talent pipeline to meet the needs of the growing geospatial sector.
– A network of collaborative research universities to collaborate with existing industry sectors on research and applied projects.
– A robust startup ecosystem to drive innovation and research capacity in location sciences.
– Alignments with major industry sectors to connect geospatial companies with the region’s established corporations for synergistic growth with advanced industries.
– A thriving investor and support network to fuel the growth of dynamic startups with venture capital, accelerator programs, and other forms of startup support.
– A true community with support from business, government, academia, and the community.
– An inclusive and equitable industry ecosystem through industry commitments to expanding inclusion and equity and support for neighborhood-led revitalization.
“We hope that after seeing the growth, activity, and collaboration taking place in St. Louis’ geospatial sector, attendees at GEOINT Symposium will realize that if they aren’t here now, they really should be,” said Andy Dearing, Project Lead for GeoFutures.
