Karen Thomas

Karen Thomas is chief GIS strategist for Geospatial Solutions business unit within Harris’ Space and Intelligence Systems Segment. Space and Intelligence Systems offers complete Earth observation, weather, geospatial, space protection, and intelligence solutions from advanced sensors and payloads, ground processing, and information analytics. The Geospatial Solutions business unit encompasses geospatial products, content management, and Harris’ IntelliEarth™ commercial geospatial solutions business. Thomas joined Harris in 2012 to provide insight in establishing a geospatial data strategy. She was a key member of the pursuit team for National Geospatialintelligence Agency (NGA) Foundation GEOINT Content Management contract

which Harris was awarded contracts for geographic regions covering PACOM, NORTHCOM, AFRICOM, and SOUTHCOM. She was a also a key member of the pursuit team for the NGA JANUS contract which Harris was selected for contracts covering Geography, Geomatics: Imagery, and Geomatics: Elevation. In her role, she supports customer quality assurance and continued focus on delivering the best GEOINT tools for the NGA and the greater intelligence community. Prior to joining Harris, Thomas served the NGA as the Director, Foundation Based Operations Group and the Agency’s Senior Operations Executive to the National System for Geospatial-intelligence (NSG) and Allied System for Geospatial-intelligence (ASG) for geospatial data. In this position, she developed and published the first NGA Geospatial Data Strategy to transition the agency to a content management environment. The document, developed in partnership with the US Joint Staff, Combatant Commands, Military Services, and other federal agencies, provides guidance in developing future mission planning and weapons systems utilizing GEOINT content. Thomas is a member of United States Geospatial Intelligence Foundation and Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association professional organizations. Karen holds a bachelor of arts degree in mathematics from the Spalding University and a master of science in national security strategies from the National Defense University. Harris Corporation is a leading technology

innovator, solving customers’ toughest mission-critical challenges by providing solutions that connect, inform and protect. Harris supports government and commercial customers in more than 100 countries and has approximately $6 billion in annual revenue. The company is organized into three business segments: Communication Systems, Electronic Systems and Space and

Intelligence Systems.