Join us for the first session in our ‘Locate Connect’ online learning series! Hear from Scott Dewar, Director, Chris Hewett, Assistant Secretary GEOINT Capability and Development & Phil Shears, Director DEF799 Phase 2.

In this session from 1300 – 1400, the Australian Geospatial-Intelligence Organisation (AGO) will be launching the Defence Geospatial-Intelligence (GEOINT) Strategy, a document that addresses how the Defence GEOINT Community will transform to meet the future needs of the Australian Defence Force. The AGO Executive will also provide an update on their GEOINT projects and announce upcoming opportunities for industry and discuss how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the organisation.

Then from 1430 – 1545, AGO, along with Frontier SI will describe how The Analytics Lab Program (AGO Labs) fits into the bigger picture of AGO capability and summarise the outcomes of their 2019 activities. AGO Labs, coordinated through FrontierSI, is investigating a number of ways to better engage and work with industry. Specifically, the AGO is keen to attract a wider pool of companies and technologies to draw on for automated geospatial intelligence. The primary focus of this program is to address AGO capability challenges through a small number of short-term industry projects, with a focus on machine learning and analytics for producing automated imagery analysis, including automated object classification. AGO will announce a new 2020 program of challenges hoping to find innovative solutions through their partnership with FrontierSI.

The US National States Geographic Information Council (NSGIC) Annual Conference is the place to enhance geospatial excellence and collaboration for state, local, tribal and federal GIS policymakers and coordinators, private sector partners and other leaders in the geospatial ecosystem.

Providing critical and timely networking opportunities, the conference also offers the chance to connect, collaborate, and share with colleagues and partners.

The agenda will comprise:

Roll Call of States — Where state representatives will share a snapshot of achievements, challenges and upcoming activities.
Plenary Sessions — Presentations by and for the NSGIC community exploring challenges, successes and new approaches for collaboration in the geospatial ecosystem.
State Caucus — A roundtable discussion with state and local government representatives to talk frankly about current pressing issues.
GIO Academy — Leadership sessions and networking for state government GIOs and equivalents only (separate registration is required).
Speed Networking — A fun and fast-paced activity where sponsors, who have allocated points, will rotate to complete the circuit of visiting with state reps.
Annual Business Meeting — Including the election of new board members and leadership transition.
Awards Reception — Recognising exceptional work through the Geospatial Excellence Awards & NSGIC Service Awards.

The Ocean Optics Conference attracts a diverse audience of active practitioners in the field, including oceanographers, marine ecologists, limnologists, optical engineers, marine resource managers and policy professionals from around the world.

Conference presentations will include the science of optics across all aquatic environments, research, and applications, including (but not limited to) biogeochemistry, environmental management and applications, instruments, techniques and observational systems, remote sensing, phytoplankton ecology, radiative transfer and optical theory, global change, and benthic processes.

Attendees will attend plenary presentations during the day and interact with colleagues during scientific poster session receptions held in the exhibit/poster hall in the early evening. In addition to invited and contributed oral and poster presentations, the conference will provide the opportunity for community-wide discussions.

NASA Earth Observatory image by Joshua Stevens, using Landsat data from the U.S. Geological Survey.