Past Speakers (2019)

Lt General Hockenhull was commissioned into the Intelligence Corps in 1986. His early postings were as a platoon commander with KORBR in Northern Ireland and in intelligence appointments in the UK, Cyprus and Berlin.  Between 1991 and 2003 he served for eight years on operations over three tours in Joint Support Group (Northern Ireland) as Detachment and then Company Commander and finally as Commanding Officer. These tours were separated by attendance at the last Army Command and Staff College course and a tour in the Ministry of Defence as SO2 Long Term Plans in Army Resources and Plans.  He was posted in 2003 as the British Exchange Instructor at the United States Command and General Staff College in Leavenworth, Kansas; this tour included 6 months teaching at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California. In December 2005 he deployed to Headquarters Multi-National Force Iraq (HQ MNF-I) as Chief Campaign Plans and wrote the 2006 HQ MNF-I Campaign Plan and Campaign Assessment.  Returning to the Ministry of Defence as Deputy Director Force Development in August 2006 he was responsible for tri-service future force structure planning.  On completion of the Higher Command and Staff Course in early 2008 he was Chief Plans HQ ARRC and subsequently deployed to Afghanistan. In 2009 he promoted to Brigadier and assumed the appointment of Director ISTAR at Headquarters Land Forces, which later developed into Head Information Superiority. In September 2011 he returned to the Ministry of Defence as Head Military Strategic Planning and in June 2012 he promoted to Major General and deployed to Kabul as Director of the Ministry of Defence Advisory Group. After a 3-month spell in late-2014 as Deputy Chief of Defence Intelligence (covering this gaped civilian 2 Star billet as incumbents changed over) he took up post as Director Cyber, Intelligence and Information Integration (DCI3) in March 2015. In 2018 he was promoted to Lt General and Chief of Defence Intelligence, UK MoD. Honours and awards from his operational tours include the MBE, QCVS, OBE and the Bronze Star.

Upon the decision made by the Cyprus Republic’s Council of Ministers on March 31, 2017 Lt. General Ilias Leontaris took over as Chief of General Staff of National Guard.

Lieutenant General Ilias Leontaris was born in Pournari - Domokos, Greece.

He entered the Hellenic Military Academy in 1977 and graduated in 1981 as an Infantry Second Lieutenant.

He has successfully completed all Infantry courses and he graduated the Greek Army War College and the National Defence College. Furthermore he has attended the Greek Military Police Officers, the Joint Electronic Warfare and the Strategic Intelligence Courses. Also, he has attended the US Army Military Police Officers and the US Army Instructors Training courses, in Fort McClelan, AL as well as various NATO courses, in Germany. Lt General Leontaris holds a Master Degree in Strategic and Diplomatic Studies and he is a CFE Treaty qualified Inspector.

As junior officer, he served as Platoon Leader and Company Commander in various Infantry Units and Formations, including the Hellenic Force in Cyprus and the Army Military Police. As senior officer, he commanded the 566th Mechanized Infantry Battalion and served as Staff Officer at the 98th Infantry Division and the Hellenic National Defence General Staff, as Chief Logistic Programs & Support section to NATO HQs AFSOUTH, in Naples, as Logistics Support Coordinator at the 3rd Army Corps/NATO Deployable Corps-GRC and as Defense Attaché at the Embassy of Greece, in Washington DC, USA.

As general officer, he assumed the command of the 31st Mechanized Infantry Brigade, the Hellenic Military Academy, the 3rd Army Corps, the NATO Rapid Deployable Corps HQs, Greece (HQs NRDC GR), the 1st Hellenic Army/EL EU OHQ. He assumed duties as Chief of Staff of the HQs NRDC GR and was assigned Director of the Doctrine Directorate at the Hellenic Army General Staff.

He has been awarded with all national medals-decorations of his rank as well as with NATO medals for his services in Peace Support Operations in Bosnia-Herzegovina (SFOR), in the former Yugoslavia (KFOR) and in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. He has also been decorated with the USA Legion of Merit Medal, the Medal of Defence Forces of Armenia, the Joint Commendation Medal of the General Defense Staff of Italy and the CISM Order of Merit.

Martins Liberts is the Director of the Latvian Geospatial Information Agency, the main mapping and geodesy authority in Latvia. The Agency products are used for civilian and military purposes. The colonel is the first military in charge of this institution, but by using his more than twenty-seven years of military experience, he is dedicated to provide the most accurate products to support the Agency’s costumers. His military career includes assignments at tactical, operational and strategic level of which the most significant are the Chief of JOC for National Armed Forces, the Commander of Latvian infantry brigade and the Deputy of MILREP in NATO. The colonel has OIF and ISAF operational experience. Martins Liberts is a graduate of the Baltic Defence College and the US Navy War College. He holds a Postgraduate Diploma in psychology from the Latvian National Defence Academy and a Master’s degree in International relations from the Salve Regina University RI. USA.

Kadaster plays a key role in safeguarding legal certainty in the property market. Ever since Kadaster was founded in 1832, it has been collecting information about the owners and locations of parcels of land. Kadaster delivered about 24 million digital products of information in 2017 as requested by notaries, local authorities, businesses, financial institutions, individuals and other interested parties. In addition, Kadaster has an active role in issues of land planning and demands regarding specific geo-information. The total turnover of Kadaster was € 265 million in 2017. The organisation has 2000 employees.

Anthony serves as the Director of Government & Aerospace Solutions at Mapbox, helping customers solve problems using the robust libraries, SDKs and APIs Mapbox has to offer. This often includes providing feedback to engineering, ensuring customer success, and optimizing go-to-market to maximize brand awareness. Anthony is also external adviser at the North Carolina State University Center for Geospatial Analytics serving as a representative from industry who is actively involved in open source geospatial development.

Rafal Modrzewski is the Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of ICEYE. Since co-founding the project in 2012, which became the company in 2014, with Pekka Laurila, Modrzewski is responsible for overseeing the organization’s strategic direction and implementing ICEYE’s overall vision. Modrzewski brings with him deep domain expertise in engineering through his years as a researcher. Prior to co-founding ICEYE, Modrzewski researched innovative products at VTT (Technical Research Centre of Finland) in the RFID and wireless sensing group. He attended Warsaw University of Technology in Poland, where he studied Electrical Engineering and co-founded the Multimedia Technologies Science Group. Modrzewski continued his studies in Radio Science and Engineering at Aalto University where he led the on-board data handling team working on Aalto-1, Finland’s flagship satellite project.

In August 2018, Scott was appointed Director Australian Geospatial-Intelligence Organisation where he is a leader of the Defence Geospatial Domain. Previously he performed the role of acting Deputy Secretary Strategic Policy and Intelligence from April to August 2018. Mr Dewar had stewardship of the Defence intelligence agencies, and lead responsibility for Defence’s strategic, international and industry policy. Prior to commencing his current role, Mr Dewar held the position of First Assistant Secretary International Policy from September 2014 to March 2018, where he was responsible for managing Australia's international defence relationships and providing high level policy advice to government on matters of international concern. Mr Dewar joined the Department of Defence in late 2014, having worked in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade for 20 years. He was Consul-General Honolulu from August 2011 to September 2014. He has had postings to the Australian Embassies in the Republic of Korea (1996-1999) and China (2003-2007). During his time at DFAT, Mr Dewar worked on regional security, trade and economic relations with Asia, and nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament. In 2007 he was the department's speechwriter. Between February 2008 and September 2010 he was an adviser on international, defence and national security issues in the Prime Minister's Office. From November 2010 to May 2011 Mr Dewar was seconded as a Visiting Fellow to the Australian Centre on China in the World at the Australian National University. Mr Dewar holds a Master of Arts in Foreign Affairs and Trade from Monash University and a Bachelor of Arts with honours from the University of Melbourne. He speaks Japanese, Korean and Mandarin. He is married with three sons.

Ms Schnarre is responsible for defining the strategic direction of the agency and implementing that strategy.  She provides oversight, synchronization, guidance, and development of NGA, National System for Geospatial Intelligence, and Allied System for Geospatial Intelligence strategic direction, future resource programming, capabilities planning and acquisition, innovation, research, and the adoption of new technologies supporting GEOINT requirements.

Brigadier General Corneliusson's current position is Director of Intelligence Directorate of the European Union Military Staff. His present duties are to provide leadership and management to ensure that the tasks and responsibilities of the Intelligence Directorate are executed professionally and efficiently. He also supports the Director General and Deputy Director General in carrying out their mission and functions. Prior to assuming his current position Brigadier General Corneliusson was the Military Advisor to the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In that capacity he contributed to Sweden's EU operational planning cycle and prepared key planning documents on behalf of the ministry. Brigadier General Corneliusson has served in the Swedish Armed Forces since 1978. After having graduated from the Swedish Coast Artillery School in 1983, he has not only been serving as a marine officer, acting as an instructor and commander within the Swedish marine forces, but he has also contributed as an author to leadership manuals and articles covering naval strategy. Through missions and appointments in areas such as Europe, Central Asia and North America he has also gained a lot of international experience. Having served both within NATO and UN, he has a thorough understanding of operational environments. This understanding constitutes the foundation of his intelligence experience expertise. Identifying and ensuring the operational need for purposeful and timely intelligence is a skill which he masters. Appointments within the Swedish Military Intelligence and Security directorate, lastly as Head of Intelligence Division, have also contributed to his extensive understanding of the intelligence branch. Brigadier General Corneliusson is a fellow of the Swedish Royal Academy of War Sciences and Royal Society of Naval Sciences. He is married to Ingegerd (midwife) with whom he has two adult children: Emma and Jacob. The family has an extensive international network after their years abroad. In his free time, Brigadier General Corneliusson enjoys running and sailing.

Prior to becoming the Commander, Canadian Forces Intelligence Group Colonel Babij served as an intelligence officer with diverse experience at the tactical and strategic levels. Previous roles include troop commander in an Electronic Warfare Squadron, unit intelligence officer for The Royal Canadian Dragoons, All-Source Cell Platoon Commander in 2 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group (2 CMBG) Headquarters as well as the Brigade G2 Plans and G2. 

Mr. Pascal LEGAI has been the Director of the European Union Satellite Centre since 1st January 2015 and after four years as Deputy Director. Brigadier General LEGAI, was an intelligence officer in the French Air Force since 1988. He was appointed as a geographer in the French Air Force staff in Paris (1994-1999). He was also the Head of the French Imagery Intelligence Centre (2004-2006), Human Resources advisor of the French Air Force (2006-2008) and the Commanding Officer of the Air Force Base in Grenoble (2008-2010). He holds a PhD in International Relations, a law degree, a master degree in Imagery Processing and in British Civilization and an Engineer Diploma in the field of the geographic sciences.

Mr. Scott has 35 years of national security planning, intelligence operations, and foreign language education experience. A 1979 USAF Academy graduate, Mr. Scott began his career as an officer in airborne reconnaissance operations. He gained language and culture expertise as an Olmstead Scholar in Spain, and exchange officer to Venezuela and through duties in Japan, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Venezuela, and Qatar. Mr. Scott worked requirements planning, policy, legislative affairs, and strategic targeting on the Joint Staff and the US Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM). Because of his operational background, he was selected to be the Director of Targeting and the Deputy Director of Intelligence at US Central Command (USCENTCOM) for Operations Enduring and Iraqi Freedom. Subsequently, he served as the Assistant Commandant, Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center and led the way to increase DOD capability in foreign languages. His intelligence operations experience and foreign language expertise were key factors in his appointment to lead the Office of Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) Foreign Language Program Office. He also served as the Deputy Chief Human Capital Officer for the Intelligence Community. Currently on a Joint Duty Assignment from ODNI, Mr. Scott leads the National GeospatialIntelligence College in the Human Development Directorate of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA).

Dan Visone has served as the Director of the Geospatial Acquisition Support Directorate (GASD) since February 2009. His directorate is responsible for providing geospatial engineering and domain support to the Army Acquisition Community for implementation of the Army Geospatial Enterprise (AGE). The GASD is directly responsible for developing and maintaining the AGE profile of geospatial standards and formats; creating and maintaining the Army Geospatial Data Model; developing and maintaining a DOD Architecture Framework-compliant AGE architecture; developing and maintaining a list of AGE-compliant Common Applications/Services; and establishing and maintaining AGE geospatial interoperability certification criteria.

Prior to her current role as Director of Analytic Partner Engagement and Communications, Co-Chair of the GEOINT Analysis and Production Subcommittee (GAPSCOM), GEOCOM Monique was Director of the National Geospatial-Intelligence College (NGC), the Executive Agent for GEOINT training and education for the NGA and the National System for Geospatial Intelligence (NSG). Prior to that assignment, Ms. Yates served as the Director, Office of Geography (SG) within the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency (NGA) Source Operations and Management Directorate. She was responsible for developing Topographic, Human Geography, and Political Geography content and tradecraft satisfying warfighter and IC requirements. Ms. Yates also was the Source Equality Executive and the senior champion in educating, mentoring and overseeing the directorate on all aspects of diversity and inclusion. 

A former member of the British military survey Mr Pyatt’s main responsibilities include setting GEOINT strategic direction, policy and standards, future projects and international GEOINT relationships.

Terry Busch serves as the Division chief for DIA’s Integrated Analysis and Methodologies Division within the Directorate for Analysis at DIA. Within his capacity Mr. Busch oversees the development of applied technologies to support innovation in analysis. Mr. Busch is one of DIA’s leading geospatial subject matter experts focused on applying GEOINT based solutions to all-source analysis.
Prior to this Mr. Busch served as a lead for an ODNI Hard Target Strategy from 2012 until 2014. Prior to his he served from 2005 until 2012 as a Senior Intelligence Officer at DIA. Mr. Busch has an extensive background as an intelligence analyst, program manager, and as a Geographer. Mr. Busch has an MS in Geography from George Mason University and lives with his family in Vienna, Virginia.

Mr Exner has had a distinguished career in the Department of Defense, the U.S. Intelligence community, and now with the Department of Homeland Security. During a career in the U.S. Navy, he excelled in demanding operational assignments around the world. He is a renowned expert on all-source fusion, application of GEOINT, and innovative use of open source tools.

Born in Weston-Super-Mare and schooled in Bristol, Neal-Hopes was commissioned into the Royal Air Force in 1990.  He spent his initial Service years as a University Cadet reading Electronic and Electrical Engineering at Salford University, and thereafter undertook officer and engineer training at Royal Air Force College Cranwell, entering his first tour in 1996.  Air Commodore Neal-Hopes has since served in a wide range of Communications Engineer and Intelligence-related appointments, both in the UK and overseas.  Cyber operations, intelligence, information operations and information system engineering, interspersed with tours supporting deployed operations, have characterised his career to date. Neal-Hopes has repeatedly immersed himself in academia, having completed an MSc at Essex University in Computer and Network Security; an MBA with the Open University; and an MA in Defence Studies.  He also served as a lecturer where his interest in network security and malware were put to good use in expanding the practical and theoretical aspects of cyber operations and training.  Neal-Hopes also attended the United States Air Force’s highly regarded School of Advanced Air and Space Studies where he read for an MPhil in Air Power and International Relations.  In anyone suffers from insomnia, his thesis “Preventing a Cyber Dresden: How the Lessons of Air Power can Influence the Development of Cyber Power” has been published in book form. OF5 tours included: command of the Joint Service Signals Organisation; Cyber Joint User / Deputy Head of Cyber Policy where he had responsibility for managing Defence’s Cyber Programme; and a tour as Director Non-Lethal Effects in Iraq as part of Operation Inherent Resolve.  2017 saw Neal-Hopes return to lead the Joint User area as Head Joint User C4ISR and Cyber.

Chris Middleton joined the Royal Marines in 1996.  He served in a range of appointments as a junior officer in Commando Units, and as a specialist Landing Craft Officer. He deployed on operational tours in Northern Ireland and Iraq, and conducted training and advisory deployments across the globe including Malaysia, Oman, USA and Norway as member of either a UK or Netherlands Amphibious Task Group. As a Major he was Operations Officer in 40 Commando Royal Marines, attended ACSC in 2006-7, and completed sub-unit command in the Fleet Protection Group Royal Marines, which included nuclear security duties and Fleet boarding and protection tasks.  As OC S Sqn he developed and operationally fielded the Level 3 ‘Enhanced’ Boarding capability to assist in countering piracy off the Somalian coast, for which he was made an MBE.  In his final OF3 tour he returned to 3 Commando Brigade as SO2 G3 Operations in the headquarters and delivered the transition of the Brigade from Op HERRICK 9 to an emergency contingency force. Following promotion in 2010, as a Lieutenant Colonel he briefly returned to counter-piracy operations as ACOS CJ5 within the EUNAVFOR Op ATALANTA staff, before moving to MOD to undertake a role as SO1 Amphibious Joint Warfare in Navy RP.  He commanded 30 Commando (IX) Group Royal Marines between 2012-14; a period which was dominated by 3 Commando Brigade’s permanent return to a contingency posture, and included numerous amphibious deployments to the Mediterranean and the Gulf.  Thereafter he served on the Director Joint Warfare staff as Chief of Staff Joint User. On promotion to Colonel in 2015 he was appointed to Defence Intelligence in London as Deputy Head DI Operations.  He attended HCSC17, and following the course took command of the Joint Service Signals Organisation in Digby.   He assumed command of the Joint Forces Intelligence Group on promotion to Brigadier in November 2018.

Brigadier General ATHANASIADIS Christos is Commander of the Greek Army Signal Training Centre, Athens since July 2017.He was assigned to the ACOS J6 position at SHAPE  from 30 Apr 15 when he lived up to the emerging and persisting challenges in SHAPE CIS area. On 29 July 2016 he took on the challenging responsibilities of the newly created ACOS JCyber within the CCD Directorate at SHAPE, charged with the build-up of the SHAPE Cyber capabilities. He proved to be pivotal to the success and effectiveness of the JCyber Division upon its provisional activation, in the form of an Interim Working Structure, in July 2016. JCyber had to be developed into a reliable and driving force within the NATO Cyber environment developing inter alia a Cyber Domain Roadmap as a landmark document to operationalize the Cyberspace as a Domain. He was assigned as ACOS J6 in NRDC-GR HQ from 2012 to 2015 contributing to the  HQ efforts to become a NATO High Readiness Force HQ. He has also gained strong experience from successful management of NATO  CIS projects during his employment at NATO C&I Agency (NCIA) as Principal Project Manager from 2009 to 2012 and as C3I advisor at NATO HQ Skopje His military career includes also positions as ISTAR Regiment Deputy Commander, EW Battalion Commander, National Intelligence Service SIGINT Unit Commander and Signal Battalion Commander. He was invited in various conferences to present cyber domain view as a new operational domain in NATO such as NIAS 2015 (BE), CyCon 16 (EST), NIAS 17 (BE), CyCon 17(EST), NNEC 17(ITA), CDANS 17(UK), Cyber course ( GE), PCSS-17 Course Air Marshal Centre (GE), ACO 2018 International Legal Conference(GRC). He graduated from National Technical University of Athens as qualified Electrical and Computer Engineer and he holds a Master in Electrical and Communications  engineering. He has enforced his skills holding also Project Management PRINCE2, ITIL, Network Management, Information Analyst and System Security Certified Practitioner certificates.     

Dr Friedrich Teichmann is the Director of the Geo-Spatial Institute of the Austrian Armed Forces, responsible for providing Geo-Data, Geo-Info-Products and Geo-Services for the Land- and Air-Forces, national and international missions as well as to platforms and weapon/mission/simulation-systems. Before being in charge of the Geospatial Institute he was responsible to build up the ICT (Information- and Communications-Technology) -Innovation Department of the Austrian Armed Forces, focusing on interoperability and testing in the area of C4ISR, Electronic Warfare, IT-Security and Information Management. Until 2011 he worked in the Austrian Ministry of Defence, serving as deputy director of the Information and Communication Technology planning directorate, coordinating the overall planning and management of the ICT services of the Austrian Military. Before working for the MoD, he was the Department Head for Communications and Information Systems of the Austrian Air Force, focusing on modern Communications, Avionic and Command and Control Systems. Prior to working for the Austrian Air Force he was in charge of the geo-spatial section of the Land Component Command, providing national and international mission geo-data. He can look back over 20 years of professional experience in ICT systems, earth sciences, space applications and complex program management. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Rochester in New York as well as Master Degrees from the University of Salzburg (Austria), the University of Maine (USA) and the University of Krems (Austria). He was able to maintain his academic involvement throughout his professional career at the Austrian Military by serving as external lecturer for Space applications, Information Technology, Geo-Sciences and Telematic at four Austrian Universities. Dr. Teichmann is also an international recognized expert for Information Management, IT-Security and Space Technologies and had acted has as national technical expert for the EU GNSS Galileo since 2006. He is a veteran of several international peace support as well as humanitarian disaster relief missions and holds a current rank of Brigadier-General.

Colonel David Pendall is an active duty Army Colonel with extensive experience in Europe and within Defense Intelligence. He is a former G2, Senior Intelligence Officer, for the United States Army-Europe and also a former commander of the 66th Military Intelligence Brigade, also based in Europe. He has served as a J2 for NATO-ISAF forces in Eastern Afghanistan and as a senior staff officer in Afghanistan's ISAF Joint Command and the Muti-National Corps in Iraq. He has served over 28 years as a career intelligence officer and has served across all levels of the US Army, the Joint Force and in Defense Intelligence. He has Executive Education Certification from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government in National and International Security, served as a Fellow with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Security Studies Program and was assigned at MIT Lincoln Laboratory as the Senior US Army Liaison. He is also a member of the International Institute of Strategic Studies and the Royal Institute of International Affairs (Chatham House).

Colonel Cockwell assumed his current appointment in August 2016 after nearly 4 years leading the Centre for Intelligence Innovation.  As ACOS J5 for Joint Forces Intelligence Group he is responsible for developing the Group’s long term strategy, medium and short-term plans and for oversight of innovation in Defence Intelligence.  As NCGI Deputy Head – Deployable and Commander Royal Engineers (Geographic) (CRE Geo) he has functional responsibility for all aspects of the Royal Engineer Geographic capability, including some 600 personnel employed across Defence and internationally.

A Royal Air Force officer, Colin Bruce has undertaken a broad variety of intelligence roles in the UK and deployed, including the leadership of intelligence production units and capabilities and intelligence support to joint, air and law enforcement operations. He is currently Chief of Staff and Deputy Head for Analysis at the UK’s National Centre for Geospatial Intelligence. He is also Director of the Joint Intelligence Operations Centre, aligning UK Defence requirements with collection and analytic capacity.

Lieutenant-Colonel (LCol) Albert Mannard joined the Canadian Armed Forces in 1997 and graduated from the Royal Military College of Canada in 2002. He served as an Armour officer in the Canadian Army before transferring to the Canadian Intelligence Corps in 2007. Over the course of his career, LCol Mannard has held a variety of command and staff appointments in the Canadian Army, the Canadian Forces School of Military Intelligence, and the Canadian Forces Intelligence Command. He is currently the commanding officer of the Canadian Forces Joint Imagery Centre (CFJIC) in Ottawa. The role of CFJIC is to provide accurate, timely and relevant defence imagery and imagery intelligence in support of the Canadian defence mandate. LCol Mannard has served in international military operations with deployed NATO forces in Bosnia-Herzegovina, in Afghanistan, and in Italy during the intervention in Libya. He holds Master’s degrees in defence studies and war studies from the Royal Military College of Canada and King’s College London. He is a graduate of the Canadian Forces College’s Joint Command and Staff Programme.

LCol Hopkins completed his Bachelor of Engineering (Civil) degree, from Ryerson, in 1994. After working for a civilian construction company, he joined the CF as a Direct Entry Officer in Jan 1997 as an Engineer Officer. LCol Hopkins has been posted to the National Defence Command Centre as a Senior Watch Officer, the Directorate of Geospatial Intelligence as the Production Manager and subsequently the Plans Officer, and was deployed on Op PODIUM, the CF contribution to the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics as J2 Geospatial Intelligence. LCol Hopkins has served at the Mapping and Charting Establishment as a Troop Commander, Unit Operations Officer, Officer Commanding Geospatial Support Squadron, and DCO. After leaving MCE as the DCO he was posted to ADM(IE) as the DPP Co-ord and then subsequently to CANSOFCOM as the Deputy Director of Special Operations. On 29 March 2018 LCol Hopkins was appointed as the Commanding Officer of the Mapping and Charting Establishment (MCE).

Robert B. Murrett is a retired US Navy Vice Admiral who held a range of senior leadership roles at major government agencies including serving as Director, US National Geospatial Intelligence Agency. Currently he is a faculty member in the Department of Public Administration and International Affairs and serves as the Deputy Director of the Institute for National Security and Counterterrorism (INSCT) at Syracuse University.  He holds a courtesy faculty appointment with the Forensic and National Security Sciences Institute and is on the Advisory Board of the Institute for Veterans and Military Families, both at the University. In 2016, Murrett was the recipient of the Birkhead-Burkhead Teaching Excellence Award and Professorship at the Maxwell School. In addition, he is a staff member at the RAND Corporation and the Institute for Defense Analyses, and chairs the MITRE Intelligence Advisory Board. 

Jonkvrouw (lady) Ingrid H.J. Vanden Berghe graduated as an agricultural engineer at KULeuven,  specialized in soil science. She started as a researcher before joining the public service. She was advisor to the minister of Environment, Public Works, Town and Land Use Planning. and director of the research center of the Christian Democrat parties. In 2002 she was appointed General administrator of the National Geographic Institute. She was President of EuroGeographics from 2012 to 2018, and is a member of the board of several research organizations and visiting professor at KULeuven. She also chairs the G-Cloud Strategic Board, coordinating ICT activities of the federal government. 

Mr Baptista joined the EU SATCEN in 1997 after 15 years of service as an officer in the Portuguese Air Force (POAF). He has a vast experience in the IMINT and GEOINT fields particularly for Defence and Security purposes with more than 20 years of experience in imagery analysis including 6 years’ experience as an Intelligence Officer.

Mr. Lyston Lea joined the National Maritime Intelligence-Integration Office (NMIO) in March 2014. In this position, he serves as the principal advisor to the Director, NMIO on Maritime Domain Awareness and intelligence issues focused on maritime security and intelligence integration challenges. As the senior civilian in the NMIO, Mr. Lea provides continuity to the organization as it improves interagency and international information and intelligence collaboration. A member of the Defense Intelligence Senior Level (DISL), he has worked in the US Intelligence Community (IC) for over 30 years as an analyst and manager. Prior to joining NMIO, Mr. Lea worked for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI). He served in the Analytic Integrity and Standards Office working on comprehensive tradecraft evaluation programs to improve the accuracy of information, in support of reforms following the 9/11 attack and the Iraq WMD Commission report. Before joining the ODNI, Mr. Lea worked in the Defense Intelligence Agency, as a Senior Briefer for the J2’s daily Intelligence Briefing to the Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff. He also served as Deputy Office Chief of the Defense Warning Office, guiding this 120-person strong production center. As Chief of the Futures Division, he directed the Department of Defense Futures Intelligence Program and also implemented the Disruptive Technology Innovations Partnership, focusing innovative science and technology analysis against disruptive threats.

Ian Spencer is Deputy Head of the UK’s National Centre for Geospatial Intelligence, leading delivery of Foundation GEOINT products and services to support all UK Defence capabilities, providing global GEOINT coverage for the Land, Aeronautical, Hydrographic, Meteorological and Oceanographic domains.  Ian is also the Director of the Defence Geographic Centre, the Head of Profession for UK MOD Civilian Geospatial Analysts, and Deputy Head of the UK’s Cross-Government Geography Profession (part of the Government Science and Engineering Profession).  Ian was appointed to his current position in October 2015 and has served in UK MOD geospatial roles for 28 years.  Ian is a Chartered Geographer, Chartered Manager, and Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society.

John F. Teufert is a Principal Scientist in the Joint Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance (JISR) Service Line at the NATO Communications and Information Agency (NCI Agency) in The Hague, The Netherlands. He also serves as the Agency’s Geo-Officer as well as the JISR SL Geospatial Branch Head, leading a team of first class geospatial engineers and overseeing a substantial portfolio of geospatial projects. The geospatial portfolio touches most of NCI Agency’s customer bases and most significant contributions have been made to NATO operations. Furthermore, he is also responsible to provide guidance on geospatial aspects to a large variety of other NCIA projects and programs, when needed. As the senior geospatial expert of NCIA his daily business includes personnel management, portfolio monitoring and execution, customer interactions, development of business plans, business development and last but not least to maintain a team of well trained and motivated experts. He grew the geospatial support portfolio from a 2 man team in 2003 to about 10 staff members and a dozen contractors in 2016. John F. Teufert received the NATO meritorious service medal in 2014 as well as the NATO non article 5 medals for his support to the Balkans and ISAF (Afghanistan) missions. In 2009, he was selected by the Office of the US Secretary of Defence as the JCTD transition manager of the year and in 2009 he won the USGIF Geospatial Intelligence Award in the category “military”. Prior to joining NATO, John F. Teufert spent several years with the Western European Union and the European Union as a researcher and operator in the fields of crisis response mapping and Imagery Intelligence. John F. Teufert has been promoted to Colonel of the German Armed Forces (Res) in 2016. He has been assigned as the commander of the Multinational Geospatial Support Group, a NATO SMART defence initiative which provides exclusive support to NATO and EU lead operations. Once a year John is serving in uniform in this function. This assignment is a perfect match between his Agency duties and his military service and provides great synergies both ways.

Mr. Bret Rodgers is the Senior GEOINT Analyst (SGA) within the S-2 at the Marine Corps Intelligence Activity (MCIA) in Quantico, Virginia. During his 23 years in the geospatial field, his work has focused on various military geography applications such as cross country mobility studies, line of sight analysis, and geospatial support to Marine Corps Schools, forward deployed Marine Corps units, as well as IC, FVEY and international partners.  He has participated in projects with MCIA’s US and international partners as part of a larger effort to boost international collaboration in the human geography community. His background includes manual topographic line map production, aeronautical and nautical chart production, 3D feature and DEM extraction, and remote sensing.  Mr. Rodgers has a B.S. in Geography/Cartography from Pennsylvania State University and he and his wife currently reside in Manassas, Virginia.

Ms. Tara P. Bradburn has been a career civil servant since 1998 and is currently the NGA Lead for Artificial Intelligence, Automation, and Augmentation (AAA) at the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA). As the NGA Lead for AAA, Ms. Bradburn is the Agency’s chief proponent for AAA activities to improve the speed at which NGA provides insight, the precision of assessments, and the scope of the mission. Ms. Bradburn’s efforts are establishing NGA’s AAA framework in coordination and alignment with the Department of Defense (DoD) and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI). Prior to her appointment as a Defense Intelligence Senior Leader (DISL) in August 2018, Ms. Bradburn served as the NGA Office of Eurasia and Africa Chief of Staff. Ms. Bradburn oversaw the business operations support for the Africa and Eurasia analytical mission. From June 2017 to April 2018, Ms. Bradburn was the Acting, GEOINT Mission Manager for Eurasia with responsibility for guiding strategy and priorities for GEOINT across the Eurasia portfolio. During her tenure Ms. Bradburn stood up the first ever Eurasia Mission Lead Team (MLT) that strengthened GEOINT efforts with partner nations. Ms. Bradburn has served two tours of duty in Afghanistan serving as the NGA Senior Command Representative to Special Operations Joint Task Force- Afghanistan (SOJTF-A) and NGA Chief of Operations to Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force –Afghanistan (CJSOTF-A). 

In September 2016, Mr. Mark Munsell was named Deputy Director, CIO and IT Services Directorate at the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. In this role, Mr. Munsell oversees the directorate’s IT-related capabilities and services and encourages innovative development aimed at streamlining and modernizing NGA’s IT infrastructure to better serve its GEOINT mission partners and corporate customers. Prior to this assignment, Mr. Munsell served as the Director, Office of Targeting and Transnational Issues in NGA’s Analysis Directorate. Mr. Munsell began his federal career with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in Norfolk, Virginia in 1990. Serving in a professional, multi-disciplinary role as photogrammetrist, cartographer, and surveyor, he demonstrated an aptitude for digital transformation and was subsequently transferred to NOAA headquarters in 1993 to work on various system developments. In 1995, Mr. Munsell was awarded the NOAA Bronze Medal for his software engineering work transforming the nation’s nautical charting production system. A native of St. Louis, Missouri, he was offered the opportunity to return to the area in 1996 through a transfer to one of NGA’s predecessor agencies, the Defense Mapping Agency, to work systems development issues, specifically, as the lead software engineer on transforming the agency’s aeronautical production systems. After successfully designing and fielding the new system, Mr. Munsell left the agency to work for Northrop Grumman TASC where he continued to be the lead engineer on several system developments for NGA. In March 2000, Mr. Munsell founded Internet Marine and Aviation Planning Services (IMAPS, LLC), which began offering flight and maritime planning services to individuals, industry, and government via the Internet. With Mr. Munsell as president, the company grew quickly and started offering software development and production services to a variety of customers including NGA, Department of Defense, Department of Interior, the Experimental Aircraft Association, and many others. SAIC acquired IMAPS, and subsequently, in 2006, Mr. Munsell returned to federal service working for NGA’s eGEOINT office, where he promoted Web Services and the adoption of Service Oriented Architecture throughout the agency. In late 2006, Mr. Munsell was assigned as the Technical Executive of the Office of Global Navigation, and managed over 30 projects to increase efficiency, interoperability, accessibility, and improve quality for the office. In 2008, Mr. Munsell deployed to Iraq, serving as the team lead and representative to the Multi-National Corps Iraq in Baghdad, earning the Joint Civil Service Achievement Award. In 2009, Mr. Munsell was assigned as the Deputy Chief, Precision Engagement Division, Office of Targeting and Transnational Issues (NGO-T). In 2015, he was assigned as Deputy Director, Aeronautical Navigation Office, Source & Management Directorate. Mr. Munsell is a graduate of Southeast Missouri State University with a degree in Geography, and a minor in Aerospace Studies.

Mr. Stith began his current assignment as the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency senior representative to the U.S. Africa Command in July 2015. In this role, he ensures the command has access to the full spectrum of NGA's Geospatial Intelligence (GEOINT) products and services. He similarly advises the commander and key staff on broader GEOINT issues and partnerships. Throughout his tenure with NGA, Mr. Stith also held leadership roles in the areas of GEOINT community functional management, expeditionary operations, and financial management. During a U.S. Intelligence Community (IC) rotational assignment, he also served as the Deputy Assistant Director of National Intelligence for Resource Management, managing the IC's National Intelligence Program (NIP). Mr. Stith was externally assigned in 2011-2014 with the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan where he led international coalition efforts to develop, reform. And sustain the Afghan Ministry of Interior and the operational Afghan National Police forces that it supported. He similarly coordinated the efforts of numerous non-ISAF international partners in developing organic, enduring Afghan capabilities. Prior to joining NGA's civilian workforce in 2004, Mr. Stith served as a career Marine Corps intelligence officer. He first enlisted in July, 1978 and held a wide range of staff and command assignments including service with Marine Expeditionary Forces headquartered in Camp Lejeune, North Carolina and Okinawa, Japan and with joint commands located in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii and Suffolk, Virginia. Mr. Stith earned a Master of Arts degree in National Security Affairs / Intelligence from the Naval Postgraduate School and a Bachelor of Arts degree in History from the University of Central Florida.

Mr. William Mark Dial assumed the role of Chief, NGA Support Team, United States European Command (USEUCOM) in July 2015, Mr. Dial serves as the geospatial-intelligence (GEOINT) functional manager forward and leads a diverse team of civilian and military analysts, staff personnel, and contractors in the European Theater.

From 1997 to 2015, Mr, Dial served in a number of GEOINT management positions in the Office of Counterproliferation, Office of Southwest Asia, the NGA Waming Center, and in support of operations in the Balkans, From 1986 ta 1997, Mr, Dial held staff and analytic positions that supported the LS intelligence community and military forces.

Mr. Dial began his intelligence career in 1982, following graduation from Virginia Tech. After reserve military assignments in military intelligence and infantry units, Mr. Dial joined an NGA predecessor organization in 1986 as  an imagery analyst.

Captain Bartosz Franciszek Woźniak was born in Poland and immigrated to Canada in 1982.  Attending the University of Toronto in 2001, Capt Wozniak graduated as a Bachelor in Industrial Engineering and Systems Management with a major in Information Engineering.  Joining the Canadian Forces in 2002, Capt Wozniak underwent training until his posting to Ottawa in 2008 where he began his career working with All Source Intelligence Cells in coordination with the National Research Council of Canada.  In 2011 Capt Wozniak was transferred to the Directorate of Information Management Engineering Integration where he is currently employed working on C2ISR Business Intelligence Decision Support databases and applications.  As part of continued professional development Capt Wozniak obtained a Masters in Business Administration majoring in Financial Management from Carleton University in 2011 and became licensed as a Professional Engineer in Ontario, Canada as of 2012.  Capt Wozniak was awarded the Canadian Forces decoration in 2014 for 12 years of loyal and dedicated service.

John left the British Army to join Ordnance Survey in 2013. His experience spans a range of engineer, geospatial, intelligence and operational roles, including commanding 42 Engineer Regiment (Geographic). He served in Central America, Africa, Balkans, Cyprus, Afghanistan and across the Middle East, developed government policy and strategic direction for geospatial information, and furthered the role of geography on international military and stability operations, disaster relief and London’s Olympics. He now helps maintain Ordnance Survey as a world leading national geospatial agency, contributing to global initiatives such as the new United Nations Integrated Geospatial Information Framework and working with governments to understand the benefits geospatial brings and the means to deliver these. With this international exposure, John is well placed to steer discussion at DGI once again in 2019.

Neil had a long and distinguished career in the Canadian Forces with more than 35 years in various command and staff positions in the defence, civilian and international intelligence communities.  These included a secondment to the Privy Council Office and a Branch Chief on the International Military Staff at NATO Headquarters.  He was the first Commanding Officer of the Canadian Forces Joint Imagery Centre and was a Defence Attaché in the United Kingdom. He completed his career as the Director of Geospatial Intelligence where he was responsible for all aspects of Geospatial Intelligence in the Canadian Armed Forces.  In that capacity he was responsible for Military Mapping, Charting, Imagery (from space based, UAVs and handheld) and all Meteorology Services for the Forces. Neil was also one of the founding members of the Allied System for Geospatial-Intelligence (ASG), the Five Nation group formed by Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the UK. During his career, he was appointed as an Officer of the Order of Military Merit.  He also received the Owen Kenyon Award and the United States of America National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency Medallion for Excellence and awards from the US Defense Intelligence Agency and other US Intelligence Agencies.

Dr. (Lt Col Ret) Michael L. Thomas is currently assigned to the Air Force Cyber College as a Professor of Cyberwarfare Studies, stationed at Maxwell Air Force Base, AL. Immediately prior to the current assignment he was working ISR related projects for SPAWAR LANT in Charleston, SC. In this capacity he was responsible for the design, implementation and fielding of major network projects initiated by the Navy, sister services and other US government customers. From 2005-2016, he served in the SPAWAR Europe’s Office supporting EUCOM and HQ USAREUR in Geospatial Engineering. Activated in March 2007 to September 2010 he was on detached special duty and served tours at the Pentagon, as a Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) LNO to the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), and lastly was assigned to the Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT) as an instructor teaching Cyberwar courses. He also currently serves as faculty at Penn State University World Campus teaching GeoInt Courses in the graduate school.

Lt Col Kerr assumed his current appointment in August 2016. As Head of the Centre for Intelligence Innovation (CII) in Defence Intelligence, he is responsible for developing and delivering innovative solutions to improve Defence Intelligence’s outputs. Having previously served in a wide variety of posts across Defence his more recent appointments have seen him focusing on Joint Forces Intelligence Group concepts and the procurement and delivery of deployed GEOINT capability. CII consists of 42 staff drawn from Dstl scientists, Civil Servants and all three military Services. CII staff are formed into four mutually supporting teams comprising: Operational Research, Applied R&D, Rapid Exploitation and Transition & Support. The primary aim this year is to demonstrate an agile approach to delivering Artificial Intelligence for Defence Intelligence.    

Major Ric Tearle took command of 16 Geographic Support Squadron following a two year exchange working for the Defence Intelligence Agency in the USA. 16 Squadron provide a variety of specialist geographic support functions from it’s four troops.  Pathfinder Troop provide geospatial analysis support to Joint Forces Intelligence Group and wider Defence Intelligence. The Special Support Team (SST) provide at readiness, deployable support to UK Chemical, Biological, Radioactive, Nuclear and Explosive (CBRN-E) response and other resilience tasks. Field Support Troop provide technical equipment support, data management and capability development to all Royal Engineer (Geographic) units.  In addition, Echelon Troop provide transport, maintenance and communication support to the deployable geographic elements of 42 Engineer Regiment (Geographic).

Major Patrick Snow assumed his current appointment in August 2018 on completion of Intermediate Command and Staff College (Land).  He is responsible for demonstrating innovative solutions that could address Defence Intelligence problems.  He commissioned in 2008 and commanded a troop in Oman and Afghanistan with 39 Engineer Regiment (Air Support).  After completing the Cranfield MSc (GeoInt) he deployed to Afghanistan again as SO3 Geo to Task Force Helmand.  A stint as 42 Engineer Regiment (Geo) Operations Officer was followed by a role as a divisional GeoInt lead within the Ministry of Defence, responsible for support to current operations and for GeoInt capability development.

Paul is a serving member of the Corps of Royal Engineers.  His career began in 1991 as a Field Surveyor and Data Technician, but in more recent years he has specialised in Geospatial information management and exploitation.  During his 27-year career he has seen active service in Bosnia, Macedonia and Afghanistan, with visits to various austere locations such as Sardinia, Falkland Islands, Madagascar, Oman, Svalbard, Norway and Egypt.  Academic study with the Open University led him to complete a Science Bachelors Degree with honours in 2008.  In 2010 he completed a Science Masters Degree programme in Information Systems and Computer Science at the University of Sheffield where he graduated with Distinction.  In January 2013, he had an academic paper published in the Journal of Information Science titled ‘Is it the end of the road for paper maps in the Digital Age?’.  Finally, in 2018 rounding of his most recent academic achievement he graduated from the University of Northampton after completing an MBA. Paul left the ranks after selection for Commissioning in May 2014 this was followed by an assignment to the Headquarters Allied Land Command (LANDCOM) based in Izmir, Turkey.  As the first Geospatial Officer at LANDCOM his principle responsibilities included the provision of Geospatial advice and products to the command staff and the many subordinate NATO Corps.  The defining experience of this assignment was realised through his development and delivery of geospatial ground assessments that contributed to the five NATO HQ approved Graduated Response Plans (GRPs).  More recently he completed the residential Intermediate Command and Staff Course at the Defence Academy in Shrivenham.  Currently Paul is the Senior Instructor of the Geospatial Information Management Wing at the Royal School of Military Survey where he oversees the design, delivery and assurance of specialist Geospatial training to Defence.

Dr. Todd S. Bacastow is a Professor of Practice for Geospatial Intelligence in Penn State’s College of Earth and Mineral Sciences. His primary focus is teaching analysts serving with the U.S. Intelligence Community and business community. He maintains an active research program aimed at improving the training and education of the geospatial analyst. Todd is the author of the Massive Open Online Couse (MOOC) titled The Geospatial Revolution and Geospatial Intelligence, which was delivered to over 25,000 students in 190 countries. He has served as an expert witness in several patent infringement cases. Before joining Penn State in 1994, Dr. Bacastow retired from the United States Army as a major after serving in a variety of infantry, engineer, and geospatial intelligence assignments and positions.  His first Army assignment was with the U.S. Army Berlin during the peak of the Cold War and included on occasion guarding Hitler’s Deputy Führer, Rudolf Hess. He was previously an Assistant Professor in the Department of Geography and Computer Science and an Associate Professor in the Department of Geography and Environmental Engineering at the US Military Academy. He holds a BS in Engineering from the United States Military Academy (1974), and a MS (1983) and PhD in Geography (1992) from Penn State University. 

Sqn Ldr Chris Page is the Mission Manger for the Advanced Geospatial Intelligence and Contingency Reachback Mission Teams within the National Centre for Geospatial Intelligence (Analysis). He is responsible for the delivery of GEOINT analytical support to a wide range of Defence Intelligence customers, and for the development of advanced techniques to enhance the working practices and output of GEOINT analysts. 

Dr. Emlyn Hagen is the former lead of the USAID funded Disaster Risk Reduction Program in Afghanistan (2015-2018). He was the principal architect and manager of the Afghanistan Spatial Data Center (ASDC), the most comprehensive and advanced Geo-Information platform for Afghanistan. The ASDC was officially launched at the US Embassy in Kabul by the USAID Mission Director and the Minister of Disaster Management. The program primary goal was to provide support the National Security Council, governmental institutions, UN agencies, NGOs and embassies. Since 2007, Emlyn has supported the NATO CI Agency Geospatial Services unit as a scientist and consultant. He worked both in theater support specifically for Bosnia, Kosovo and Afghanistan as well as on various NATO GIS/RS internal research projects. The design and execution of the “Afghanistan Flood Hazard Map” project was highly visible. The work was nominated for the World Future Foundation (WFF) award 2011. For 5 years Emlyn was the Lead Geographic Information Manager for the Shell Oil operations in Jordan. The 6-person unit provided Geo-services to 40 geo-staff located in Houston and Amman.  His work on "Communication Access and Proximity Maps" was nominated for the Shell CEO Global HSSE Award. This resulted into effective and safe operations for the 300 staff exploring on an area of 22,720 km2, the drilling of hundreds of wells and more than 4 million km driven without incidents in hostile desert environment. Additionally, he was the Geomatics Technical Adviser of a 1.2 Billion US$ project. Since his initial research at the DLR (German Aerospace Center) and CRISP (Remote Sensing, Singapore), Emlyn has continued to provide innovative GIS solutions for Security and Disaster Management. He has published two books and multiple peer reviewed scientific papers. Emlyn was born in Belgium and currently lives in Augsburg, Germany; he acquired his PhD at the NUS Singapore and MSc at the University of Munich.

Mr Bjorgo started working for the United Nations in 1999 when he joined the UN High Commissioner for Refugees to work on the integration of new solutions into UNHCR operations, including the use of GIS, GPS and satellite imagery. He joined the UNOSAT team in 2002.

Ferdinando DOLCE is Project Officer Space of European Defence Agency from 2017. He is an Aerospace Engineer who was Head of Aero-Space System Engineering Group of Flight Test Center of Italian Air Force and Head of the Italian SST Operational Centre. He got a PhD in Mechanical Engineering with a Master by research at University of Bath (UK) and a Master’s Degree in Advanced Communication and Navigation Satellite Systems at University of Rome Tor Vergata (IT). He supported from 2009 to 2016 the NATO Science and Technology Organization. He attended the 19th Joint Service Staff College in Rome before starting his mandate at EDA and he published several technical papers for national and international journals and conferences.

Guy Thomas is with the US Department of Homeland Security Science & Technology (DHS S&T) as their subject matter expert (SME) for Maritime Domain Awareness and Commercial Earth Observation Space Systems, Guy is the former US Science & Technology Advisor for Maritime Domain Awareness (2003-2012) and creator of both space-based AIS & C-SIGMA, (Collaboration in Space for International Global Maritime Awareness).  He also serves as the technical/academic advisor to the Multinational Maritime Security Center of Excellence. Guy has been involved in surveillance operations and systems in the Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard, industry, Johns Hopkins’ Applied Physics Lab (JHU/APL) as well as the Department of Homeland Security and its operational elements.

Glen Hart is a Principal Scientist at Dstl specialising in GEOINT.  By background he is a Computer Scientist but has sent many years working with Geospatial data, first within the Research Group at Ordnance Survey, Great Britain’s National Mapping Agency, and more latterly at Dstl.   His research interests include Geographic Ontologies, the Semantic Web and Place Geography.   He currently leads Dstl’s engagement with the Alan Turing Institute, the UK’s National Centre for Data Science and AI. He is co-authored of the book Linked Data: A Geographic Perspective.

Gordon Campbell has been working for ESA since 1999 on defining and implementing actions to expand the uptake and use of Satellite Earth Observation data. This involved working on a range of public sector domains including environment, natural resources, law enforcement/ security and transport. Gordon Campbell is also working to expand the use of satellite derived information in the International Development context in partnership with entities such as World Bank, Global Environment Facility and Inter-American Development Bank. At the same time, he is working to effectively exploit new ICT developments (such as state of the art cloud based high performance computing capabilities with very large EO datasets) to effect a step change in the impact of using satellite derived information in Earth science and public policy support.

Mr. Jeff Moulton is the Executive Director of Stephenson’s National Center for Security Research and Training and the Transformation Technologies and Cyber Research Center at Louisiana State University (LSU) and the President & CEO of LSU’s non-profit applied research and development corporation – Stephenson Technologies Corporation (STC). He provides strategic direction and leadership and is responsible for focusing research, business development, building technical teams, and coordinating information operations across the university and institute. Mr. Moulton has in-depth experience within the intelligence communities assessing and defining corporate-level and globally deployable network security solutions. Mr. Moulton actively participates in numerous National and International Cyber Forums. Most notably he has been appointed to the ODNI/NSA Computational Cyber Security in Compromised Environments (C3E); the Secretary of the Air Force’s Cyber Vision 2025 (CV2025) Committee; the AFCEA International Cyber Committee, and the IEEE Homeland Security Technologies (Cyber Panel) Committee, and Governor John Bel Edwards’ Louisiana Cybersecurity Commission. His technical certifications include: Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP), International Information Systems Security Certification Consortium (ISC2), Project Management Professional (PMP), Project Management Institute, National Security Agency (NSA) Information Assurance Manager (IAM), National Security Agency (NSA) INFOSEC Evaluation Methodology (IEM), Open Source Professional Security Analyst (OPSA), and Malware Forensics Investigator (MFI), Wetsone. Prior to LSU, Mr. Jeff Moulton served as the Director of Program Development and Information Operations for Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI). At GTRI, Mr. Moulton established GTRI’s first cyber lab, recruited and hired the technical team, and grew GTRI’s newest laboratory into the largest of GTRI’s eight labs. Before joining GTRI, Mr. Moulton served as the Information Assurance Assistant Program Manager at the Naval Surface Warfare Center. In this role he established an Information Assurance (IA) Division for the Deployable Joint Command and Control (DJC2) Joint Program Office. He provided leadership and direction for all information assurance facets of the $566M Joint Program of Record and managed the many facets of a major DoD acquisition program. He recruited and built the first joint integrated IA team across government and military service branches, with members from DIA, NSA, SPAWAR, NETWARCOM, OSD NII, JITC, USJFCOM, USPACOM, USEUCOM, USSOUTHCOM, and other Department of Defense (DoD) IA stakeholders. Mr. Moulton authored the DJC2 IA Strategy, Technology Readiness Assessments, Analysis of Alternatives, and other DoD acquisition documents required by public law. Mr. Moulton continues to represent the DJC2 Joint Program Office as the IA subject matter expert with DoD intelligence agencies. In addition, Mr. Moulton serves on the Department of the Navy Network Warfare Command (NETWARCOM) IA Working Group. Prior to his position with the U.S.Navy, Mr. Moulton served as the Executive Director, Integrated Solutions Division (ISD) at Concurrent Technologies Corporation (CTC), a 501(c)3 non-profit research and development company. He was responsible for contract performance, business development, human resources, financial performance, and organizational development for the ISD. This included operational responsibility for over 350 employees, 8 major offices and multiple operating locations. Focus areas included: communications/network engineering, software/systems engineering, visualization, battlefield situational awareness, advanced technology prototyping, C4ISR systems, information assurance, logistics decision support systems, supply chain integration, and general information technology (IT) development. Preceding his assignment at ISD, Mr. Moulton served as the Director, Information Assurance Programs at CTC where he provided overall leadership on multiple multi-million dollar programs and directed the organization’s personnel. His programs ranged from improving network security and developing unique solution sets for advanced network security problems utilized throughout the Department of Defense, to designing high-speed systems and modeling and simulating these network architectures. Mr. Moulton established the National Attack Sensing, Warning and Response (ASW&R) Laboratory. This National asset is currently hosted and operated by the National Security Agency (NSA).

Kari J. Craun is the Director of the U.S. Geological Survey, National Geospatial Technical Operations Center (NGTOC).  This Center performs a wide range of functions in support of maintaining a seamless, current, nationally consistent coverage of base geospatial data for the United States, including development of digital and graphic products such as U.S. Geological Survey topographic maps.  In addition, the Center manages several broadly-scoped contract mechanisms for acquisition of geospatial products and services through the commercial sector. She is a Past-President of the American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ASPRS) and the Cartography and Geographic Information Society.  She received a B.S. degree in Geology from the University of Missouri-Kansas City in 1984 and an M.S. degree in Photogrammetry from Purdue University in 1987.  She is currently pursing a Master of Science degree in Geospatial Information Science through an on-line program at Northwest Missouri State University.

Mekisha Marshall serves as the Chief Science and Technology (S&T) Advisor at the National Maritime Intelligence-Integration Office (NMIO) on Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA) and intelligence.  In this capacity, she advises the Director of NMIO by engaging academia, think tanks, the private sectors, and foreign governments to understand the implications of emerging technologies that have the ability to produce new threats or challenges in the maritime environment; or, conversely, those that offer new opportunities to improve maritime security.  

Mr Brooks has served as the Director of the Center for Interdisciplinary Geospatial Information Technologies at Delta State University since 2005.  In this capacity, he acts as the department chair, reporting directly to the Dean, College of Arts and Sciences.  Mr. Brooks teaches at the undergraduate and graduate levels, conducts sponsored research and development activities, performs service to the University and profession, and administers all aspects of the Center.  Moreover, Mr. Brooks is responsible for the creation of geospatially-oriented academic and training programs.  In this role, he has created the first master's degree program for geospatial technologies accredited as an applied science (Southern Association of Colleges and Schools). Mr. Brooks serves as the Chief Engineer at the Bolivar County (MS) Volunteer Fire Department, where he has volunteered since 2005.  In addition, he has served in a variety of Emergency Services positions in both a volunteer and career capacity since 1986.  He was hired as an Instructor at the National Fire Academy in 2011, serving as an instructor and course developer.  Mr. Brooks has been a career firefighter, volunteer firefighter, medic, and a U.S. Army Reserve Medical Service Corps Captain.  Mr. Brooks has volunteered his services, time, and effort for significant events and crises such as the April 2011 tornado outbreak in Mississippi, the 2011 Mississippi flood, the 2011 Tohuku Tsunami, the 2010 Haiti earthquake, and Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005, among many others.

Jon served for 27 years in the Royal Air Force, initially as an Aerial Reconnaissance Photographer, then from 2001 as an Intelligence Analyst (Imagery) until retiring from the service in 2014. Serving in both the UK and abroad he deployed numerous times in support of operations to Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Kosovo and Afghanistan amongst others. He graduated from Cranfield University in 2005 with a Masters Degree in Geographical Information Management. Since joining Defence Intelligence in 2014 he has taken roles in developing IMINT policy, professionalisation of the IMINT discipline and most recently GEOINT Analytic Modernisation. In this current role he is responsible for the coordination of UK efforts in developing capabilities for the National Centre for Geospatial Intelligence in the areas of activity modelling (AM), structured observation management (SOM) and activity based intelligence (ABI). He sits as the UK Principal on several collaborative international groups with the focus on achieving greater interoperability of GEOINT data, policy, capabilities and analytical methods.

Duncan has over 20 years experience in GEOINT, working in both Operations and CIS.  He has been Design and Develop Team Lead for three years and is focused primarily on the removal of information barriers.

Ms. Jennifer Faraon is currently serving as an NGA International Liaison Officer in Europe, to advance NGA’s international foundation mission. She was formerly the Deputy Division Chief for the Source GEOINT Transformation Office at the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. As Deputy Division Chief, she was responsible for guiding NGA’s transformation in visualization services, NGA acquisitions of web and mobile applications, including NGA advancements in mobile technology. Previously, Ms. Faraon deployed to US Fifth Fleet NSA Bahrain, leading GEOINT technology transition activities. In the span of her career, she has served as the NGA Liaison to OPNAV N2N6 and supported the Chief of Naval Operations, US Navigator of the Navy and the Deputy Director for Naval Intelligence. Ms. Faraon provided critical liaison support during the USS Guardian(MCM-5) grounding and she was also the NGA Liaison to US Southern Command, supporting Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief Operations. In this role, she was responsible for supporting GEOINT disclosure and release activities for relief efforts during the Haiti and Chile Earthquakes, both occurring in the year 2010. Early in her career, Ms. Faraon was assigned to the NGA International Office, supporting numerous international partner engagements. She has served as an Intelligence Specialist in the US Navy at US Pacific Command and has a Bachelor’s Degree in International Relations with a concentration in Psychology. She speaks 3 languages and has received military and civilian awards which include the Joint Service Achievement Medal, two ODNI Meritorious Unit Citations and the Secretary of Defense Global War on Terrorism Civilian Service Medal.

Al Di Leonardo is an experienced intelligence and special operations officer who utilized his military training to successfully found and sell two companies in the private and public marketplaces. He is widely recognized as a subject matter expert in analytical tradecraft. With more than 25 years of combined government experience with concentration in the Intel Community, he retired out of Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) as a career United States Army Intelligence Officer. Prior to JSOC, Al specialized as a Signals Intelligence Officer and spent almost a decade inside the National Security Agency (NSA). He earned the Bronze Star Medal from U.S. Special Operations Command for his work in Afghanistan and Iraq. He served as the Director of U.S. Special Operations Command’s first big data geospatial analytics and innovation cell named Skope, where he became widely known across the Intel Community for his special operations intel team’s success with geospatial analytics. He also served overseas in support of operations in Afghanistan, Iraq, Kuwait, Africa, Korea, and the Balkans throughout his career. Al retired from the Army and founded HumanGeo, an innovative software and analytics company focused on technical solutions at the intersection of big data, social media, and geo-location intelligence that enabled change in the government marketplace.  He served as CEO, creating the vision and path to grow the team from a start-up to a recognized technology brand name within the Defense and Intelligence sector. HumanGeo was routinely recognized as a Best Places to Work in Virginia, Best Places To Work for Millennials. The Radiant Group acquired HumanGeo, and Al led the integration of several disparate organizations into a more seamless company while rebranding the team as “Radiant”. As President of Radiant, Al executed the integration of operational technical capabilities while simultaneously implementing the mission and vision across all five business units prior to selling Radiant to DigitalGlobe. Currently, Al is a partner in private equity ventures with The Boundary Group and is in the process of creating new service offerings in 2019 for the U.S. Government for mission application development, commercial application implementation, and machine learning capabilities with a new company called Black Cape. Al holds a Master’s in Business Administration from Loyola University and a Bachelor of Arts from Fordham University.  Al serves as a board member on the following non-profit boards: The American Geographical Society, The United States Geospatial Intelligence Foundation, The Global Special Operations Foundation, The National Cryptologic Museum Foundation, and The George Washington University’s Data Analytic Masters program. Originally from Connecticut, Al, his spouse Melissa, and their two daughters reside in Arlington, Virginia.  

Mr. Simmons leads the OGC Standards Program. In this role, he coordinates member-driven standards development activities and ensures that all OGC standards progress through the organization’s consensus process to approval and publication. Preceding his time as a member of the OGC staff, Mr. Simmons was an active member of OGC, promoting best practices in 3D Information Management (3DIM) as chair of the OGC 3DIM Domain Working Group and chairing or participating in numerous OGC infrastructure, mobility, and web services working groups. His OGC-related research has focused on data lifecycle management, integration, and dissemination. Mr. Simmons was formerly an Executive Director for CACI International, Inc. (CACI). At CACI, Mr. Simmons responsibilities included alignment of new business opportunities with fielded or researched capabilities in the geospatial domain. CACI acquired TechniGraphics, Inc. in 2010 where Mr. Simmons was the Chief Technology Officer. From 1993 to 2000, Mr. Simmons worked as a consulting geologist in the areas of structural geology, seismic risk, and geochemistry for GeoSyntec Consultants, where he also founded and managed the firm’s geospatial operations. From 1988 until 1993, Mr. Simmons worked as an exploration and production geologist in the oil and gas industry where he had particular expertise in redevelopment of declining oil and gas fields as well as the practical application of geospatial technology. Mr. Simmons has also served as an Adjunct Professor at the College of Wooster, on the Advisory Board of the GIS Cluster at the Rocky Mountain Innosphere, and as a subject matter expert for seminars at universities and conferences around the World. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Geology from the University of Texas and a Master of Science degree in Geology from Southern Methodist University.

Leanne Sulewski has five years of experience as a spatial analyst for NGA. She obtained her PhD in Geography from the University of South Carolina in 2013, specializing in GIS and Remote Sensing.  Her research interests include developing cartographic visualizations and spatial analytic techniques.

Abi is responsible for developing and delivering new products and services that will be available through European Location Services.

Mr. DeLuca currently serves as the senior NGA representative to JIOCEUR Analytic Center at RAF Molesworth.  In this capacity, Mr. DeLuca provides strategic leadership for a division of NGA and US military GEOINT analysts directly supporting USEUCOM priorities with integrated and innovative geospatial analysis. Previously, Mr. DeLuca served as the Division Chief, Integrated Sciences Division, NGA Office of Sciences and Methodologies.  He was responsible for directing and enabling applied image science support to NGA’s regional and functional offices, and he helped to spearhead innovative solutions to increase analyst efficiency through automation and machine learning.

Ionut Ovejanu is an Imagery Analyst at SatCen, transforming the pixels of the satellite imagery into value-add geospatial intelligence products for the organization´s customers. Previously, Ionut was MAC Information Manager at EUMM Georgia and before was dealing with geospatial analysis applied in the foreign policy at Romanian Diplomatic Institute. Ionut has an extensive academic background with more than 12 years of experience in human and physical geography; holds a Ph.D. in Geography from the University of Bucharest, MA in International Relationship and Security Systems at ¨Lucian Blaga¨ University, BA at University of Bucharest and PSE at "Carol I" National Defence University.

Sean Corbett joined Earth-i as the Director of Defence, Security and Intelligence in May 2018, following a 30-year career as a Royal Air Force intelligence officer, where he attained the rank or Air-Vice Marshal.  He brings with him a wealth of operational experience, having served tours of duty in Northern Ireland, Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia, the Balkans, Libya and Central America.  He commanded at every rank level, including a tour as Commander of the Joint Service Signals Organisation, as the Head of Intelligence at the UK’s Permanent Joint headquarters and as the Chief of UK Intelligence in Afghanistan. Sean has a strong NATO background, having held the influential roles of Principal Staff Officer to the Deputy Supreme Commander, Europe, and as the deputy UK Military Representative to NATO.  Continuing the theme of working closely with allies and partners, his last appointment in the military was two years in Washington DC as the first non-US Deputy Director of a major US Intelligence Agency. Outside of work, Sean is an avid fisherman, enthusiastic amateur photographer and still manages to complete the odd 10k run.                   

Nick Davies runs the Intelligence Solutions business area in the Intelligence and Security division of Raytheon UK. His responsibilities include software development and geospatial intelligence programmes. Prior to joining Raytheon, Nick served in the British Army and Joint Forces as a communications engineer, then in the Parachute Regiment, and latterly in appointments in intelligence, cyber and electronic warfare.

Assuming command of 42 Engineer Regiment (Geographic) in August 2017, Lt Col Hammett is directly responsible for the majority of the soldiers and officers within NCGI-Deployable.  His principle remit is to generate the specialist geographic and geospatial capabilities required to support deployed commanders on operations, both the UK and overseas.  Since assuming command his soldiers and officers have deployed on eight operations and over 100 separate defence level exercises. 

Tony Wheeler, the Director Defence Sector for Hexagon Geospatial, is a retired RAF Wing Commander fighter pilot and C4ISR expert with relevant operational experience from the NATO-led conflicts in Libya and Afghanistan.  After leading a C2 Battlelab and helping to develop and exploit C4ISR systems, he deployed to Afghanistan and led the deployment of a new ICC-powered COP that was connected to multiple systems of the Afghan Mission Network.  Tony now supports the development and sales of Luciad technologies that have for years been embedded in NATO and national C4ISR systems.

Richard Elliot joined the Royal Air Force in 1991 and from 2001 executed numerous IMINT leadership roles for UK Defence and associated partners.  Imagery analysis responsibilities were principally COIN focussed, with significant provision of finished IMINT product support to Op BANNER (3 years) and Op HERRICK (4 years).  In addition to overseeing continuous reachback product delivery, Richard was employed for several on years on Tactical IMINT Wing; developing nascent collection and PED capabilities in direct support to operations, both from the Basrah Contingency Operating Base, Iraq and Tornado Deployment in Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar.  Richard’s final RAF position was as the UK’s senior TLAM Weaponeer and Geopositioning Analyst, leading a joint integrated team in support of both contingency and operational tasking in North Africa and the Middle East.

After retiring from military life, Richard joined the Ministry of Defence as a civil servant.  After initially undertaking a Target Systems Analysis function, he was quickly reassigned to the Dynamic Operations Mission Team and became the first senior analyst in the UK’s recently established Time Dominant Analysis Team.  In addition to supporting TDAT, Richard concentrated the wider mission team’s focus on Sub-Saharan Africa; this supported the development of the Operational Collection and Assessment Plan, a process that provided I&W to recently deployed UK troops.

In early 2018 and, after a brief spell as a National GEOINT Officer within Defence Intelligence’s (DI) Middle East Mission Team, Richard was appointed as Head of Profession for UK Imagery Analysis and IMINT Capability Lead for DI.  Richard continues to work in close collaboration with UK partners (NCGI) and partners overseas (NGA, NATO, EUCOM) ensuring the UK’s IMINT focus on resourcing, training, productivity, standards and innovation continues to support both national and international allied priorities.

Jim Dolan is the Vice President, Strategy and Business Development of Illuminate. In this role Jim establishes the vision and strategic direction of Illuminate, a provider of multi-source analytic, visualization and data management technologies and services that accelerate decision-making in dynamic, big-data environments. Previously, Mr. Dolan has held senior leadership positions at Overwatch Geospatial Solutions and General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems, providing geospatial analytic and workflow management systems to the US Defense and Intelligence and Coalition Partner communities. Mr. Dolan is a former Naval Intelligence Officer, serving in assignments as an ISR collection manager and senior intelligence analyst.

Mr. Cemelli is a Senior Director for General Dynamics Information Technology (GDIT) Geospatial Services and Solutions division.  He holds over 20 years of engineering leadership experience in the design and deployment of IT systems that support geospatial services for government and commercial clients.  Over the course of his career, he has supported multiple large-scale solutions for datacenter, cloud migrations, cybersecurity, transport and satellite communications systems.   

Mr. Day has over 30 years of experience in defense and intelligence as both active duty military and as a defense contractor. His military service includes counter-terrorism activities in Northern Ireland, maneuver warfare in West Germany, and geospatial support within an operational NATO Corps headquarters. 

Massimo Claudio Comparini has a Master Degree in Electrical Engineering, Remote Sensing and Radar Systems, University of Rome “La Sapienza”, and a Degree in Strategy at the Graduate School of Business, Stanford University, CA. He began his career in the space industry in 1983 at Selenia Spazio reaching the role of Chief Technology Officer. In Thales Alenia Space, he took up the role of Deputy Chief Technical Officer, CTO and VP for R&D, Technology, Product Policy and IPR. In 2013 he was appointed Chief Technical Officer at Telespazio. He is also the Chairman of Space Innovation in the Italian Technology Platform SPIN IT. In 2016, he has been appointed as CEO of e-GEOS.

Tony served in the British Army for 27 years: initially as a combat engineer, and then as a specialist GEOINT officer. For his last military assignment, he was the Chief Royal Engineer (Geographic), having responsibility for all aspects of the British Army’s GEOINT capability and its personnel across Defence and in international appointments. Latterly, he also served as Chief of Staff of the UK’s Joint Forces Intelligence Group (JFIG). He has seen military and operational service in the Falkland Islands, Angola, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Iraq, and Afghanistan. Leaving the Army towards the end of 2016, he was Esri UK’s Defence Advisor, before joining Esri in June 2017. Working from The Netherlands and the UK, Tony now leads their European National Government Team for business development; particularly covering National Security, Public Safety and Mapping, Statistics, and Land Administration sectors.

Brigham B. Bechtel is a 31 year veteran of the United States intelligence community having served for more than 26 years in the Central Intelligence Agency with experience in leading operations, and in analysis. Mr. Bechtel has tours in field leadership with experience coordinating the work of the intelligence community, law enforcement, and military partners. He has Washington-based leadership tours and experience working with Presidential and Congressional staffs. He spent six years in analysis with both near term and in-depth production. Mr. Bechtel began his career in the intelligence community as a Cryptologic Technician in the United States Navy before joining the CIA. Mr. Bechtel is a Truman Scholar from the State of Maryland for 1987; he is a 1989 graduate of St. John’s College of Annapolis, Maryland.

Mr Barber leads federal strategic partnerships at Planet. He brings over 30 years of military and government experience deploying and supporting combat operations, developing and deploying capabilities, and developing and implementing transformational strategies. He was previously President of Quaestor Federal Consulting, where he consulted clients in the US Army and Office of the Secretary of Defense. Prior to that he was an agency lead and director at the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency.

Erik Winther is a Director at Vricon, with several years’ experience in defense and intelligence-related business development and international sales. He manages a global partner network that supports government clients and helps them gain more value from their existing and future systems by leveraging world-class geospatial products. In 2006, he joined the Swedish Armed Forces and continues his engagement with the military.  Mr. Winther holds a Master of Science in International Business with a minor in Computer Vision.  

Payam Banazadeh is CEO & Co-Founder of Capella Space, a venture backed Silicon Valley company building satellites capable of imaging earth throughout the day and night in all weather and light conditions. Payam graduated Manga Cum Laude with a B.S. in Aerospace Engineering from The University of Texas at Austin and received the 2012 Texas Outstanding Scholar & Leader Award for his superior academic performance and exceptional leadership. While at NASA JPL he received the NASA Mariner Award for his leadership on two multi-million dollar missions and NASA Discovery Award for his outstanding performance in formulating new concepts and projects for NASA. After his career at NASA JPL Payam left to receive his graduate business degree from Stanford University with sponsorship from the National Science Foundation (NSF). While at Stanford Payam Co-Founded Capella Space with William Woods with the hope of monitoring our planet from space and providing transparency into different industries. Most recently Payam was selected to be on the prestigious “Forbes 30 under 30” list in 2017 and Capella has been recognized by New York Times, Bloomberg, and recently Inc magazine as one of the top 25 disruptive companies in the world.

Omar is a Machine Learning enthusiast with 10+ years of experience in Analytics & AI. He’s currently a Director for Artificial Intelligence at ESRI – the global GIS provider, working on the intersection of AI and GIS. Omar cofounded two tech startups that heavily used machine learning for providing smart user recommendations and personalized experience, and served as the analytics lead for other multinational companies.

Lori M. Scherer is vice president of the intelligence portfolios at The MITRE Corporation. In this role, she leads MITRE in applying systems engineering, technology expertise, and innovation to help the intelligence and federal law enforcement communities improve mission effectiveness, integrate across agencies, and drive greater operating efficiency. Scherer previously served as deputy to the vice president, overseeing strategy and integration of seven diverse programs, identifying common approaches to addressing each program's unique mission objectives. Scherer joined MITRE in 1992 as a member of the technical staff and worked in a number of leadership and individual contributor positions across MITRE's operating centers. She worked with the National Photographic Interpretation Center to develop a digital imagery exploitation system using commercially available hardware and software.

Bart Sweerman is a member of the sales leadership team at HERE Technologies and he leads the global Industry Solutions team, which engages customer senior executives on the role of location intelligence to realizing their business objectives. Bart has 25 years of strategy consulting (Monitor Group, A.T. Kearney) and corporate (Cisco) experience, at the intersection of strategy and technology. He holds an MSc in Economics from Erasmus University in Rotterdam and he is a regular guest lecturer at the Rotterdam School of Management MBA program, the VU University in Amsterdam and the INSEAD Executive MBA program in Fontainebleau, France. Bart has Dutch nationality but grew up in the heart of Silicon Valley (Palo Alto, California).  He completed his military service as a Lieutenant in the Royal Netherlands Navy. Bart has worked and lived in the Netherlands, US, UK, Germany, Abu Dhabi and India.  He currently lives close to Amsterdam with his family. He is joined by Axel Borchert, who is European head of Public Safety & Defense in the Industry Solutions team.

Scott is driving several software development initiatives at BlackSky. He’s primarily focused on the BlackSky Global Intelligence Platform - a suite of on-demand web services for Satellite Imagery Management, Multi-Sensor Fusion, and Geospatial Analytics that will become the public face of BlackSky's constellation of 60+ remote sensing satellites. He is also incubating a series of “next-generation” sensor processing and rapid cloud migration concepts. Scott is a passionate Agile Development, Cloud Computing, and High Performance Computing evangelist. Scott is deeply involved in product management, software development, quality assurance, and production operations. But at any given moment Scott is also supporting strategic planning, concept incubation, business development, community outreach & evangelism, customer service, and investment activities. What a cool job! Scott has spent most of his career developing and deploying Imagery Analysis, Sensor Fusion, Knowledge Management, and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) for the U.S. Intelligence Community. Scott works at BlackSky in Herndon, VA and can be reached at SHerman@BlackSky.com

Samuel David Birchett (Dave) began working as an imagery analyst for the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency (NGA) in 2003.  He served in multiple analytic and management assignments between 2003-2017, primarily focusing on WMD and strategic warning issues.  From 2015-2017 he served as an intelligence director in the NGA Operations Center, and in mid-2017 he arrived in London as NGA’s Senior Representative to the UK.  

Albert Momo is Trimble’s Institutional Business Development Director responsible for delivering business growth from opportunities generate through Multilateral Development Banks and other global funding agencies. He provides corporate, management and business development activities connected with data gathering, international competitive bidding tender preparation, contracting, contract execution, and relationship development with foreign government civil servants, foreign military officials, international consultants, and multilateral development banks and agency staff and distribution partners.

Abe Usher is an ex-Google engineer and entrepreneur with deep experience creating innovation technology for Special Operations and the US Intelligence Community. Abe recently served as the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) for DigitalGlobe Intelligence Solutions, and as a Vice President of Radiant Solutions a division of Maxar, where he provided technical leadership to a 650-person business unit.  DigitalGlobe and Maxar are well-known innovators in the realm of artificial intelligence and deep learning -- creating capabilities that allow computers to automatically detect and understand objects in satellite imagery and photos. Mr. Usher provides leadership and technical guidance to DigitalGlobe and Radiant Solutions teams supporting US Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) and to major Intelligence Community organizations including National Geospatial Intelligence Agency (NGA), National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), National Security Agency (NSA) and other government agencies. A former Ranger-qualified Army Officer with deep technology skills, Mr. Usher has traveled extensively to work in direct support of Special Operations Forces (SOF) and National Defense customers at “the mission edge” including overseas travel to the United Kingdom, Germany, Estonia, Lithuania, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Afghanistan, and Iraq. Before his technical leadership role at DigitalGlobe Mr. Usher was the CTO for the Radiant Group, a 450-person technology business that supports the Intelligence Community and DoD with advanced software solutions and machine learning capabilities.  At Radiant Mr. Usher oversaw the integration of technical capabilities across five-member business units and worked to help grow the group's annual revenue over $100M, while expanding its customer breadth to span every US intelligence agency. Prior to the Radiant Group, Mr. Usher co-founded the innovative technology company HumanGeo (later acquired by Radiant).  As the CTO of HumanGeo, he provided technical vision and helped grow the team from start-up stage to a technology powerhouse with $24 million in annual revenue.  While at HumanGeo he was recognized with the Fed100 award, identifying him as one of the top 100 innovative technology leaders in the Federal Government IT sector. Before HumanGeo, Mr. Usher was a senior engineer within Google’s Enterprise Division where he worked on geospatial and search technology in support of the Google Earth and Google Maps team.  His areas of specialty at Google were artificial intelligence and data mining software. Prior to Google, he also has served as a US Government cryptologist at the National Security Agency (NSA), applying machine learning capabilities to large scale data mining.  At NSA, he was awarded a Joint Service Commendation Medal for his new algorithms for advance cyber-geolocation technology. Before working as an NSA cryptologist, he served in the United States Army as a Paratrooper Infantry Officer in the 82nd Airborne Division, earning a Meritorious Service Medal for leadership excellence. Mr. Usher holds a Masters of Science in Information Systems from George Mason University, and a Bachelor of Science from the United States Military Academy at West Point.

A GEOINT MSc qualified specialist Royal Engineer officer, Capt Joe Bass commands the Special Support Team (SST) within 42 Engr Regt (Geo). SST is responsible for providing deployable geospatial support to UK Operations at extremely high readiness, including the ability to operate a number of unique capabilities in contaminated environments. 

John Lowe serves as a Leidos Program Manager across GEOINT programs focused within the Topographic domain. In this role, he leads Geospatial Analysts towards continuous innovation and automation across conflation, feature data extraction, and content enrichment.   Prior to this role, John served as the Aeronautical Lead across several Aero programs to meet critical safety of navigation requirements. 

Barak has more than 20 years of experience in the defense, intelligence and aerospace as both an active duty officer in the Israeli Air Force as well as senior business and management roles in the defense and aerospace industry. Prior to his role at ISI, Barak worked for Elbit Systems Unmanned Systems division where he held management, business development and R&D positions over a period of 10 years. As a Major in reserve in the Israeli Airforce his service included planning and managing counter-terrorism activities as well as active and reserve duties as a RPAS mission commander.

Mr. Ohanian currently serves as the Chief of the Military and Civil Survey and Engineering Branch within the U.S. Army Geospatial Center (AGC), U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) as well as the Product Director, Combat Terrain Information Systems (PD CTIS) (an Army Acquisition program). Within these two roles, Mr. Ohanian leads various activities that include a wide variety of programmatic, research, development and engineering projects for the Corps of Engineers and the Department of the Army to support Military and Civilian end users. Mr. Ohanian possess over 25 years of experience in program and project management, strategic and operational planning, and organizational leadership.  I have expertise with demonstrated success in establishing vision, leading organizations, developing investment strategies, identifying and capturing business opportunities and establishing strategic organizational objectives and plans, formulating and implementing policies, planning and executing programs, and managing resources. His background and experiences are very diverse, having served at strategic, operational and tactical levels, in multiple commercial industries, academia, not-for profit organizations and the Department of Defense. Within USACE, Mr. Ohanian is responsible for the National Inventory of Dams (NID) data base, Inland Electronic Navigational Charts (IENC) program, Civil Survey Training Leads that perform survey training at all districts, USMART survey database to capture and share all USACE surveys in an online tool Further, he is responsible to the Director, AGC for the management of the geospatial engineering programs assigned by the Program Executive Officer, Intelligence, Electronic Warfare & Sensors (PEO IEW&S). In this position, Mr. Ohanian executes a myriad of managerial, programmatic and technical functions to meet the AGC and PEO IEWS priorities and requirements as well as ensure delivery of all required capabilities that meet military survey and recon requirements. Previously, Mr. Ohanian was assigned as the DISA Joint System Engineering Office (JSEIO) Program Manager with responsibility for overseeing the execution of a diverse set of unclassified and classified portfolio of acquisition, business and program activities supporting nuclear command, control and communication capabilities that enabled senior leader decision making. Previous to this position and within DISA, Mr. Ohanian was the Chief of the Business Management Office for the Global Combat and Control System- Joint (JCCS-J) an ACAT 1 AC MAIS program. In this position Mr. Ohanian, lead a large team of business, contract, and administrative staff that managed the budget, contracts, and all required reporting to Congress, DISA leadership the Joint GCCS-J user community. Mr. Ohanian has extensive in-depth technical, managerial and operational experience within the Federal Government, Local Government, Commercial Industry (private and public), Higher Education, and the Utility Industry. Further, he has functional and hands on experience in the development, fielding and management of highly complex technical commercial and government systems used to support Geospatial, Financial, Environmental, and Communication problem sets. Mr. Ohanian has an undergraduate degree from the University of Maryland and a graduate degree from George Washington University, is DAIWA Level IV certified in Project Management. He is married to Dr. Michelle Ohanian, has 2 daughters and resides in Fairfax County.

Joe Drummey is the Senior Director, International Government Programs within the International Defense & Intelligence Division of DigitalGlobe. His responsibilities include working strategically with the 40 or so friendly governments and alliances that depend on DigitalGlobe for national security-related imagery data.  Prior to DigitalGlobe, Mr. Drummey was a U.S. defense intelligence senior executive with 32 years of experience in a variety of analytic, leadership, and policy positions at several intelligence agencies and Combatant Commands.  In his last USG assignment, he served as the Director of National Intelligence & Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence Representative to NATO in Brussels, Belgium where he was responsible for all U.S. intelligence policy and sharing guidance, strategy and planning, and capability development.  He also served for almost five years as NGA’s Director of International Affairs leading the agency’s international partnerships, and geospatial-intelligence policy and sharing guidance.  Mr. Drummey began his career as an imagery analyst and deployed twice in support of U.S. military operations.

Terry Busch serves as the Division chief for DIA’s Integrated Analysis and Methodologies Division within the Directorate for Analysis at DIA. Within his capacity Mr. Busch oversees the development of applied technologies to support innovation in analysis. Mr. Busch is one of DIA’s leading geospatial subject matter experts focused on applying GEOINT based solutions to all-source analysis.
Prior to this Mr. Busch served as a lead for an ODNI Hard Target Strategy from 2012 until 2014. Prior to his he served from 2005 until 2012 as a Senior Intelligence Officer at DIA. Mr. Busch has an extensive background as an intelligence analyst, program manager, and as a Geographer. Mr. Busch has an MS in Geography from George Mason University and lives with his family in Vienna, Virginia.

Dr. Philip RITCHESON currently serves as NGA's Deputy Associate Director for Enterprise. In this Agency-level senior leadership position he: enables the Geospatial Intelligence (GEOINT) Functional Manager's execution of authorities; develops the requirements for future GEOINT capabilities; synchronizes NGA's mission activities with strategic priorities, planning and programming guidance; and he leads the day­ to-day operations and responsibilities associated with the Enterprise Directorate.Prior to this assignment, Dr. Ritcheson served as the Deputy Director, International  Affairs at NGA. His responsibilities included leading the day-to-day operations of lA, the operationalization of NGA's 100 international activities, and he led the DNI's Commercial Remote Sensing Working Group. Prior to this, Dr. Ritcheson served as the Director, Source Strategies Office at NGA. He was responsible for conducting global collection management of all geospatially-relevant sources against world-wide targets in peace, crisis, and war.  He was also responsible for implementing a transformative  effort that developed the first integrated collection strategy teams. Prior to joining NGA, Dr. Ritcheson served as the senior military intelligence officer at NATO HQ as the Director for Intelligence, the Director of the NATO Intelligence Warning System and as Chairman, Military Intelligence Committee.  He increased the quality and quantity of all-source analysis, was a key leader in developing NATO's Joint ISR capability, and increased the relevance and impact of NATO's 28 Directors of Military Intelligence.  Prior to his NATO assignment, Dr. Ritcheson served in seniorleadership positions at the NRO. He was responsible for providing operational support to forward forces and identifying rapid acquisition requirements and then was selected to establish the Office of Polic and Strategy, solidifying the NRO's lead role in the IC for space policy-related issues.

Neil became Interim Chief Executive Officer in June 2018 and has held key senior roles at Ordnance Survey since joining in 2001, including Acting Director General and CEO from April 2014 to June 2015. He is responsible for leading strategic growth for both GB and international markets, as we deploy ongoing investment in new data and services. He also develops propositions for Managed Services in Geospatial Production, Land Administration and Infrastructure. Previously, as Chief Operating Officer, he led information gathering, maintenance and updates to our digital mapping database and was responsible for the cartographic production activity within the business. Neil was previously employed by the GPS and location-based services company Trimble® as their European, Middle East and African (EAME) Technical Director and as the responsible business manager for the construction and machine control market segments. He was heavily involved in the adoption of GPS across many varied downstream applications during a period of rapid growth for the company. Neil is the author of many papers and the book Global Navigation: A GPS user’s guide.

Dr. Chris J. Michael is a computer engineer with the Naval Research Laboratory located in Stennis Space Center, Mississippi, USA.  His research interests include geospatial human-in-the-loop machine learning, spatiotemporal graph processing, and high-performance computing.  He attained his Ph.D. ECE from Louisiana State University in 2010.