St. Louis Plans to Become a Global Hub of Geospatial Tech

St. Louis stakeholders hope to build on the momentum provided by the arrival of the new western headquarters of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency.

1 minute read

June 25, 2020, 11:00 AM PDT

By James Brasuell @CasualBrasuell


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"A group of St. Louis economic development and civic leaders released a plan Tuesday detailing how the region could turn the geospatial industry into a global hub over the next 10 years," reports Corinne Ruff. 

"The plan, dubbed GeoFutures, outlines next steps for developing the workforce, infrastructure and entrepreneurship needed to attract more companies and investors in the industry," adds Ruff. 

The report is building on the momentum created by the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency's new western headquarters, under construction in north St. Louis. The campus is expected to employ 3,000 people by 2025. 

To achieve its goals of positioning St. Louis as a global hub of the geospatial industry, the GeoFutures recommends five priorities: 1) Scale up local geospatial talent and workforce development, 2) Raise innovation capacity for the commercialization of geospatial applications, 3) Increase entrepreneurship and pools of investor money, 4) Support community-driven development in neighborhoods around the new NGA West, and 5) Brand St. Louis as a global thought leader in geospatial technology.

According to the article, the GeoFutures plan is "one piece of a much larger city-backed initiative to bring economic equality and growth to St. Louis."

Tuesday, June 23, 2020 in St. Louis Public Radio

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