USGIF Partners with the Centre for Spatial Law and Policy

The United States Geospatial Intelligence Foundation and the Centre for Spatial Law and Policy have entered into a memorandum of agreement under which USGIF and the Centre will educate the geospatial community on the unique legal and policy issues that impact the collection, use, storage and distribution of geospatial information.

Under the agreement, USGIF and the Centre have created a Geospatial and Remote Sensing Law Working Group. The group will develop training and education materials for GEOINT practitioners, host workshops, and further the GEOINT Community’s understanding of geospatial and remote sensing law.

“The Centre is pleased to be working with USGIF to educate the geospatial community on these important issues,” said Kevin Pomfret, executive director of the Centre for Spatial Law and Policy. “This is also an opportunity for the geospatial community to educate lawyers on where GEOINT is taking the law.”

“As we embark upon the GEOINT revolution, the myriad technological advances related to location and remote sensing are significantly outpacing the development of associated law and policy,” said USGIF CEO Keith Masback. “Decisions are being made daily at all levels of government — in the U.S. and abroad — as courts set precedents gavel drop by gavel drop. This partnership will play a crucial role in organizing a more coherent way forward.”

Next month, the Geospatial and Remote Sensing Law Working Group will host a half-day workshop on legal matters critical to the GEOINT Community as part of USGIF’s 2015 GEOINT Community Week.

The program will include three panels: Government Contracts and Organizational Conflicts of Interest: Conflicts in an Increasingly Conflicted World; Government Contracts and Intellectual Property: Playing a Critical Role in Geospatial Contracting; and Developments in Licensing of Commercial Remote Sensing Satellites. The event will take place Nov. 18 at General Dynamics Information Technology in Springfield, Va. Click here for more information or to register.