GEOINT 2015 Sets Record for Largest Number of Attendees and Exhibitors for the Symposium's 11th Year

Rob Zitz, Leidos; Maj. Gen. Roger W. Teague, U.S. Air Force; Thoman Webber, U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command; Mark Choiniere, NGA; Dr. Gordon Roesler, DARPA — Rob Zitz, Leidos; Maj. Gen. Roger W. Teague, U.S. Air Force; Thomas Webber, U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command; Mark Choiniere, NGA; Dr. Gordon Roesler, DARPA (USGIF Small-Satellite Working Group, Assuring Space Resilience Panel)

The 11th Annual GEOINT 2015 Symposium set the record for the largest number of attendees and exhibiting organizations throughout the history of the symposium at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center.

As announced by the United States Geospatial Intelligence Foundation’s (USGIF) CEO Keith Masback, 5,498 attendees and 294 exhibiting organizations attended GEOINT 2015. Among the attendees were 1,478 government personnel representing more than 250 federal, state, and local agencies, offices, and organizations from 28 different countries.

“Geospatial intelligence has now transcended the national security and government spaces and is moving into a competitive intelligence arena alongside business intelligence,” said 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.”

The pre-symposium science and technology-focused day, GEOINT Foreword, saw an attendance of approximately 890 people, doubling last year’s Symposium training with more than 80 hours available and 1,100 participants. This year featured the Symposium’s first ever education units accredited by the International Association for Continuing Education and Training

As part of USGIF’s Universal GEOINT Credentialing program, GEOINT 2015 provided attendees with free pilot exams. Although the program is still being developed for launch this fall, more than 100 GEOINT individuals participated in 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,” added Masback.