The United States Geospatial Intelligence Foundation (USGIF) is a non-profit organization in Virginia

Virginia

The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...

 dedicated to supporting the geospatial intelligence tradecraft

Tradecraft

Tradecraft is a general term that denotes a skill acquired through experience in a trade.The term is also used within the intelligence community as a collective word for the techniques used in modern espionage...

. The organization's mission is to provide a forum to exchange ideas, share best practices, and promote the education and importance of a national intelligence agenda. USGIF works through its GEOINT Symposium, USGIF Academy, annual Tech Days Event, and other programs to provide the community with the opportunity to collaborate with senior-level officials across the multiple communities and support the future of the tradecraft.

History

The United States Geospatial Intelligence Foundation was created in January 2004 by a group of tradecraft professionals recognizing the need for a forum where they could work together——outside their own organizational and corporate interests——toward a mutual goal of improving national

National security

National security is the requirement to maintain the survival of the state through the use of economic, diplomacy, power projection and political power. The concept developed mostly in the United States of America after World War II...

 and homeland security

Homeland security

Homeland security is an umbrella term for security efforts to protect states against terrorist activity. Specifically, is a concerted national effort to prevent terrorist attacks within the U.S., reduce America’s vulnerability to terrorism, and minimize the damage and recover from attacks that do...

. The idea for the Foundation started with an event, Geo-Intel 2003, which drew enough interest to solidify the group’s notion that the tradecraft community needed a forum. This event drew more than 1,000 intelligence professionals. Just months later, USGIF was created, officially announcing its launch on May 12, 2004.

Structure

The United States Geospatial Intelligence Foundation (USGIF) is a Virginia-based nonstock, nonlobbyist, not-for-profit 501(c)(3) corporation. The Foundation is governed by a Board of Directors, giving direction to not only the Foundation itself, but also the Committees consisting of USGIF members. In turn, the Committees give direction for events such as GEOINT, Tech Days, the USGIF Speaker Series, and Chairman’s Events.

Committees

The USGIF contains five committees. The Strategic Advisory Committee, which oversees four subcommittees, advises the Foundation on strategic direction. The Planning Committee takes charge of Foundation events and programs. The Technical Committee, which oversees three subcommittees, keeps an eye on emerging technical trends to help keep USGIF advised and educated in new technical developments within the trade. The Academic Committee provides academic outreach to universities and colleges as well as promoting the aims of USGIF in government and industry. The Outreach Committee communicates with the public as well as policymakers about the trade and oversees USGIF Awards.

GEOINT Symposium

Carrying the torch of Geo-Intel 2003 as an official organization, USGIF rebranded the event as GEOINT Symposium. In November 2004, USGIF held the first GEOINT Symposium in New Orleans and attracted more than 1,500 participants. The annual event has since been hosted in San Antonio, Texas (2005 and 2007), Orlando, Florida (2006), and Nashville, Tennessee (2008), with growing attendance annually.

The GEOINT Symposium was described in 2008 by Tim Shorrock

Tim Shorrock

Tim Shorrock is a writer and commentator on US foreign policy, on US national security and intelligence, and East Asian politics.The son of missionary parents, Shorrock grew up Japan shortly after the US occupation following the Second World War. He has written articles for several notable...

 as "one of the few open windows into the thinking at the highest levels of US intelligence", as it "has become the nation's showcase for intelligence contractors and agencies alike...". In his book Spies for Hire: The Secret World of Intelligence Outsourcing, Shorrock recounts several notable events at GEOINT Symposiums. Among them, in 2004, the Symposium featured the directors of the CIA, the National Security Agency and the NGA speaking at a public session at the same time—the only occasion during the presidency of George W. Bush

George W. Bush

George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....

 when such a public collective gathering would occur. He also notes that, in 2005, Deputy Director of National Intelligence for Collection Mary Margaret Graham

Mary Margaret Graham

Mary Margaret Graham was the United States Deputy Director of National Intelligence for Collection .-Education:Mrs. Graham is a graduate of Marywood College in Scranton, Pennsylvania and obtained a Masters degree in Russian Studies at The Maxwell School of Syracuse University.-Honors and Awards:Ms...

 inadvertently revealed the amount of money spent by the US government on national intelligence, the first time the budget amount had been revealed since 1998.

In 2006, the GEOINT Symposium featured then Director of National Intelligence John D. Negroponte as keynote

Keynote

A keynote in literature, music, or public speaking establishes the principal underlying theme. In corporate or commercial settings, greater importance is attached to the delivery of a keynote speech or keynote address...

 speaker. In 2008, the address was delivered by Negroponte's successor, Mike McConnell, whose speech was picked up by multiple media outlets. The GEOINT stage has drawn additional contributors, among them Donald Kerr

Donald Kerr

Donald MacLean Kerr, Jr. is the current Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence. He was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on Thursday, October 4, 2007. He most recently was the Director of the National Reconnaissance Office. He was sworn into that position July 2005 by Secretary of Defense...

, General James Cartwright, Lt. Gen. William G. Boykin

William G. Boykin

Lieutenant General William G. Boykin was the United States Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence. He has played a role in almost every recent major American military operation, serving in Grenada, Somalia, and Iraq. He is currently an author and teaches at Hampden-Sydney College,...

, Lt. Gen. Russel L. Honoré

Russel L. Honoré

Russel L. Honoré is a retired Lieutenant General who served as the 33rd commanding general of the U.S. First Army at Fort Gillem, Georgia. He is best known for serving as commander of Joint Task Force Katrina responsible for coordinating military relief efforts for Hurricane Katrina-affected areas...

, Christopher K. Tucker

Christopher K. Tucker

Christopher K. Tucker is businessman and social entrepreneur active in the geospatial industry and the US national security community, and as Principal of Yale House Ventures, manages a portfolio of technology startups and social ventures....

, retired Gen. Anthony Zinni

Anthony Zinni

Anthony Charles Zinni is a retired four-star General in the United States Marine Corps and a former Commander in Chief of U.S. Central Command...

, Charles E. Allen

Charles E. Allen

Charles E. Allen is an American public servant, notable for his roles at the United States Department of Homeland Security's Office of Intelligence and Analysis and, before that, the Central Intelligence Agency.-Department of Homeland Security:...

, Ambassador Dennis Richardson

Dennis Richardson (diplomat)

Dennis James Richardson AO is an Australian public servant. He is the current Secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade...

, Anthony Tether, Al Munson, Bran Ferren

Bran Ferren

Bran Ferren is a co-founder and Chief Creative Officer of Applied Minds and is an American designer of movie and theater special effects.Bran Ferren is the former president of research and development of Walt Disney Imagineering, as well as the co-founder of Associates and Ferren, a visual effects...

, and Gen. Michael Hayden.

Tech Days

Tech Days is an event at which USGIF Members showcase their technologies without having to compete against speakers or an agenda. This event is held each spring in the D.C. metro area to allow members of US Congress and other government employees convenient access to the latest developments and solutions in geospatial technology. Tech Days is produced in cooperation with the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency

National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency

The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency is an agency of the federal government of the United States with the primary mission of collecting, analyzing and distributing geospatial intelligence in support of national security. NGA was formerly known as the National Imagery and Mapping Agency ...

 (NGA), which hosts a classified technology component as part of the event. Tech Days culminates with the GEOGala black-tie dinner.

Chairman’s Event

In addition to the USGIF Speaker Series, USGIF hosts smaller dinner events where USGIF Strategic Partner Members can listen to and speak with leaders in Government, Defense, Intelligence, Academia, and Industry in a more intimate and casual environment. The event, at times, coincides with a classified briefing or other relevant activities. The Chairman’s Events are open only to Strategic Partner Members, USGIF Board of Directors, and select invited guests.

Supporting Education

USGIF supports education through several programs. It is the only body accrediting university programs in geospatial intelligence, under its Geospatial Intelligence Certificate Program. The first four universities accredited were University of Missouri

University of Missouri

The University of Missouri System is a state university system providing centralized administration for four universities, a health care system, an extension program, five research and technology parks, and a publishing press. More than 64,000 students are currently enrolled at its four campuses...

, Pennsylvania State University

Pennsylvania State University

The Pennsylvania State University, commonly referred to as Penn State or PSU, is a public research university with campuses and facilities throughout the state of Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1855, the university has a threefold mission of teaching, research, and public service...

, George Mason University

George Mason University

George Mason University is a public university based in unincorporated Fairfax County, Virginia, United States, south of and adjacent to the city of Fairfax. Additional campuses are located nearby in Arlington County, Prince William County, and Loudoun County...

 and the University of Texas at Dallas

University of Texas at Dallas

The University of Texas at Dallas, also referred to as UT Dallas or UTD, is a public research university in the University of Texas System. The main campus is in the heart of the Richardson, Texas, Telecom Corridor, north of downtown Dallas...

. The program was launched after several years of planning and community outreach to draft an acceptable set of standards.

It also provides scholarships to college and university students in geospatial-related fields as well as to high school students intending higher education in geospatial-related fields and hosts the USGIF James and Susan Clapper Education Initiative Fund to fund earth-science material for primary

Primary education

A primary school is an institution in which children receive the first stage of compulsory education known as primary or elementary education. Primary school is the preferred term in the United Kingdom and many Commonwealth Nations, and in most publications of the United Nations Educational,...

 and secondary

Secondary education

Secondary education is the stage of education following primary education. Secondary education includes the final stage of compulsory education and in many countries it is entirely compulsory. The next stage of education is usually college or university...

students.

External links

• Official site
• Excerpts from GEOINT Symposium panel, Military Geospatial Technology