A DIGITAL CONFERENCE FOR GLOBAL CHANGE:
USC SPATIAL SCIENCES PRESENTS A REVAMPED LOS ANGELES GEOSPATIAL SUMMIT

YOUR LIVING ROOM – FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2021

Participants from around the world will gather for online workshops, presentations, and roundtables that explore solutions to the medical, environmental, and humanitarian challenges that plague our world.

Full Summit Details:
https://spatial.usc.edu/events/2021-los-angeles-geospatial-summit/

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (Los Angeles, CA) – John P. Wilson (Professor and Founding Director, USC Spatial Sciences Institute) and the Program Committee of the Los Angeles Geospatial Summit have announced the details of their 11th annual hallmark conference: The 2021 Los Angeles Geospatial Summit will take place ONLINE on Friday, February 26, 2021 from 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. PST.

“Over our ten-year history, the Los Angeles Geospatial Summit has become the gathering place for students, researchers, entrepreneurs, and representatives from businesses, nonprofits, NGOs, and other entities from a wide range of disciplines and industries to explore emerging trends and opportunities with spatial sciences and technologies. This year, with the advantages of a virtual format, we hope that geospatial professionals from across the country, and indeed, from around the world, will join us for a day of stimulating interactions,” said Wilson.

The Summit will kick off with an opening discussion on “Data and Dashboards: Using GIS to Communicate in Crises. Featured will be Sarah Battersby, Ph.D., Research Scientist, Tableau; Este Geraghty, MD, GISP, Chief Medical Officer and Health Solutions Director, Esri; Steven J. Steinberg, Ph.D. (Geographic Information Officer, County of Los Angeles); and Erica Kemp Weitzman, P.E., Chief, Hydrology and GIS Section, US Army Corps of Engineers. Moderating will be An-Min Wu, Ph.D., Lecturer, USC Spatial Sciences Institute, and Immediate Past President, California Geographic Information Association (CGIA).

The Summit day will conclude with a panel discussion on “Customizing Your Applications: Making the Data Work For You,” examining the trend of users in various industries of taking proprietary software and customizing their visualizations to achieve their use case goals, including the ability to engage in predictive analytics. Michael Ann Lane, Global Education and Inside Sales Manager, Hexagon Geospatial, will moderate this closing session.

The 2021 Summit will feature several new elements that will enhance interactivity and deepen engagement for all attendees:  

- For the first time ever, the Summit will feature a slate of technical workshops that will be conducted by world-renowned spatial science experts from Accenture, Eclipse Mapping and GIS, Esri, Hexagon, Maxar, Northrop Grumman, and the United States Army Corps of Engineers. These pre-recorded workshops will be available for viewing by all attendees until February 2022.

- The “Lunch and Learn” presentations will give participants the chance to talk with industry leaders about their services, products, and perspectives.

- The Virtual Knowledge Network will give registered participants an opportunity to video chat with representatives from a number of leading tech companies and organizations, including Near Space Labs, CGIA, URISA, and Women in GIS.

- The Student Poster Contest will feature the work of many of the region’s brightest undergraduate and graduate student whose projects have real-world impact. Their posters and presented findings will be assessed and discussed by academic and industry mentors and prizes will be awarded in three categories.

Later in the day, Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) representatives will present Contributing to the Smart Land Information System of the Southern California Association of Governments: Partnership with Students. The session will feature Tom Vo (Senior Regional Planner, Planning Strategy Department) and Jung Seo (Regional Planner Specialist, Modeling and Forecasting Department).

The event will feature lightning talks and poster presentations from students representing:

California State Polytechnic University, Pomona
California State University, Long Beach
University of California, Riverside
University of Redlands
University of Southern California

This year’s Los Angeles Geospatial Summit is generously sponsored by its Gold Sponsors (Accenture, Esri, University of Redlands, Sheila and Richard Rozman, EMGIS and EOS Positioning Systems, Maxar, Northrop Grumman, and the USC Spatial Sciences Institute) and Bronze Sponsors (California Geographic Information Association, California State University, Long Beach Department of Geography, and Tableau).

Summit Registration:
Friday, February 26, 2021
8:30 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
https://dtspayment.usc.edu/OnlinePayment/ssi/GeospatialSummit/registration.cfm

GIS and geospatial sciences students from any college or university as well as industry professionals can register for the Summit here:
https://dtspayment.usc.edu/OnlinePayment/ssi/GeospatialSummit/registration.cfm

A detailed program breakdown of the Summit can be found here:
https://spatial.usc.edu/events/2021-los-angeles-geospatial-summit/

Fees:

Student registration is $25.

Members of certain professional organizations and USC alumni get a registration rate of $35 (see website for details).

Summit Day registration for professionals is $75.

About USC Spatial Sciences Institute:

Since its founding in 2010, the USC Spatial Sciences Institute has been using the power of connecting place, space, and time to help address global challenges like population growth, environmental sustainability, and human well-being. Housed in the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, the research and academic programs of the Spatial Sciences Institute contribute to the rapidly evolving body of geospatial knowledge and are innovating ways to empower decision-makers with the analysis, modeling, and visualization of location-based data. As the hub of spatial-related academic programs at USC, the Spatial Sciences Institute is unique in offering interdisciplinary courses and degrees at every higher educational level.

For more information about our research and academic programs, please visit spatial.usc.edu.

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