GEO Huntsville: The Rocket City Spreads its Geospatial Wings

By Art Kalinski, GISP

Several weeks ago I attended the kick off press conference of “GEO Huntsville.” What is GEO Huntsville? It’s one of three economic development and jobs initiatives spawned by Huntsville, Alabama, Mayor Tommy Battle. It’s lead by Joe Francica, who has been a long-time leader in the geospatial community and the editor-in-chief and vice publisher of Directions Magazine. Directions Magazine is part of Directions Media, a leading online publishing group for location technology and Geographic Information Systems (GIS). So when Joe gets an idea, people listen.

Joe has been a long-time resident of Huntsville, and has seen the city grow into a strong center of geospatial activity. After receiving his MBA, Joe worked for GIS firms Tydac and Intergraph. In the early ’90s he originated the column “GIS in Business” published by GIS World Magazine, which is how I met Joe. He soon became the editor of Business Geographics magazine, and then went on to his current position at Directions Magazine. No one I know has as broad an understanding of the geospatial community as Joe. He always has his finger on the pulse of the geospatial community and feels that Huntsville will be a major player in the next 10 years.

Huntsville is unique in that the then small city received a big boost in technology when the WWII German rocket scientists, led by Wernher von Braun, moved there after the war. Huntsville, the location of the U.S. Army’s Redstone Arsenal, soon became known as “Rocket City” and the home of the U.S. Space and Rocket Center and NASA’s Marshal Space Flight Center. It has been estimated that there are more Ph.D.s and college graduates per capita in Huntsville than any other U.S. city.

Huntsville is now home to more than 50 geospatial firms, including major players such as AutoDesk, Bentley Systems, Boeing, several Intergraph divisions, Northrop Grumman, SAIC, and dozens of mid-sized and smaller companies. In addition to state, local, and higher education GIS operations, Huntsville is also home to a growing number of military commands moved to the area through the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission (BRAC). BRAC alone is responsible for 27,000 people moving to the area and joining established geospatial operations at commands located on the Redstone Arsenal such as the Missile and Space Intelligence Center (MSIC), the Army’s Materiel Command, and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

MSIC is the largest C4ISR organization in the area and shows signs of considerable growth. MSIC’s mission is to support field commanders, weapons systems developers, and policy makers with scientific and technical all-source intelligence on surface–to-air missiles, short-range ballistic missiles, anti-tank guided missiles, missile defense systems, and directed energy weapons. Additionally they provide information on space programs and relevant command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance systems. Their analysis is provided not only to the Department of Defense but other agencies such as DHS and the FBI.

Additionally, the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency (NGA) provides on-site direct support and analysis through a working relationship between NGA and MSIC. This support benefits both agencies and ties in NGA assets and support worldwide.

The Army’s Redstone Arsenal uses the full array of geospatial tools and resources to manage the base, including compliance with the DOD Spatial Data Standards for Facilities and Installations (SDSFIE). The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers — Engineering Support Center provides specialized geospatial support nationwide.

The kick-off meeting for GEO Huntsville was held in a large conference room at Intergraph. The surprise was the attendance. The room was fine for the expected attendance of about 40 but with more than 110 attendees it was standing-room only. Mayor Battle commended Joe Francica’s efforts and explained the reason for GEO Huntsville.

Citing the Department of Labor listing geospatial as one of the 13 high-growth professions and the estimate of 180,000 new geospatial jobs over the next 10 years, the Mayor said Huntsville was well positioned to see many of those jobs placed in the region. He further explained that the collaborative effort of firms and organizations in the region will work to establish Huntsville as major corridor for geospatial excellence by:

• Promoting economic incentives.
• Serving as a geospatial information clearinghouse.
• Sharing research and best practices.
• Promoting Huntsville’s economic, cultural, educational quality of life.

The Mayor further explained the tie in with two existing workforce initiatives: Energy Huntsville and Cyber Huntsville. Both have geospatial components using maps and 3D models to improve government energy management and the use of location tools to counter cyber attacks. He also cited efforts to place Huntsville as one of six cities that will help set policy for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for integrating Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) into the National Airspace System (NAS).

Showcasing current geospatial technology, Intergraph demonstrated new developments in merging different geospatial data sets including photo realistic 3D models and a most impressive video integration system. The system was able to take video feeds from aircraft flying over a site and geo-reference or “pin” the video to a base map or ortho image. This registration was maintained even though the video was constantly changing position angles due to the movement of the aircraft. This could help significantly in indexing and cataloging the flood of intel video that is being collected in-theater.

So why should you even care about GEO Huntsville? The geospatial community is growing, many new positions and opportunities will be located in Huntsville, and if you are early in your career you may need to relocate. In my travels I sometimes a see a bit of a preconceived attitude about Alabama not founded in fact. During my naval career I had a chance to travel all over the world. I could have retired (semi-retired) in almost any U.S. location, but I picked the mountain lakes region near Huntsville as the ideal combination of factors for me. To quote a colleague from upstate New York after his first visit, “I thought I was in the Finger Lakes of New York.” So if you get a chance to relocate to Huntsville, jump on it. Many geospatial opportunities and a nice quality of life await you.