GeoFutures Advisory Committee Hosts Live Virtual Launch Event
*UPDATED – Members from the GeoFutures advisory committee recently came together to discuss highlights of the GeoFutures Strategic Report. The GeoFutures strategic plan lays out a roadmap for the St. Louis region to become a globally renowned center for geospatial excellence in the next ten years.
The geospatial industry in St. Louis is anchored by the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency West headquarters. The NGA is investing $1.7 billion to construct a state-of-the-art Next NGA West campus, commonly known as “N2W,” on a 97-acre site just north of Downtown St. Louis. The new headquarters is expected to be fully operational in 2025.
“The goal of GeoFutures was to develop a coordinated and strategic approach and to think long term about how we work as one community to be a global leader in this fast growing innovation sector,” said Jason Hall, Co-Founder and CEO at Arch to Park.
The geospatial industry is already responsible for 27,000 jobs and nearly $5 billion in economic impact in the St. Louis region. “We see a future where the city and the geospatial sector work together to ensure everyone has the opportunity to thrive and succeed,” said Otis Williams, Executive Director for the St. Louis Development Corporation. (SLDC)
Target industries for collaboration and innovation include:
- National Security
- Digital/Precision Agriculture
- Transportation & Logistics
- Heath Care Delivery
Lyda Krewson, Mayor of the City of St. Louis also expressed passion for this effort. “We want to ensure the future of geospatial is STL made,” said Krewson.
Efforts to help physically connect GeoFutures to the the community is also underway. Two initiatives to promote community development plans for physical connectivity with NGA West and the rest of the area are Project Connect and the Brickline Greenway.
*Members of the GeoFutures Initiative team, along with esteemed community colleagues, discussed how the strategic plan was derived for GeoFutures, the findings, and the next steps on a webinar held on 7/1/2020.
- Moderator: Andy Dearing, Project Lead, GeoFutures and co-chair USGIF St. Louis Area Working Group (SLAWG)
- Dara Eskridge, Executive Director, InvestSTL
- Tony Frasier, EVP of Global Operations,
- Maxar Sekhar Prabhakar, CEO, CEdge Software Consultants, co-chair USGIF Small Business Advisory Working Group, co-chair USGIF SLAWG
- Otis Williams, Executive Director, St. Louis Development Corporation
