OGC Innovation Days 2023 brings together diverse members of the climate, disaster, and emergency resilience and response communities to explore what OGC-enabled geospatial technologies have made possible and to ask: what do we need to do next?
This multi-day event will benefit anyone interested or involved in climate resilience, disaster response, or emergency management by providing an opportunity to learn about the latest geospatial data and technology developments from the OGC community, contribute to shaping future work, and interact with stakeholders from industry, government, research, and the private sector.
OGC has for many years been developing solutions that support climate and disaster resilience and response, from supporting the development of FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable) climate resilience information systems, to empowering first responders with the information they need, when they need it.
But to most effectively address the multi-faceted challenges of the changing climate and associated disasters, we want to hear about the problems being faced by city-managers, community members, first responders, climate scientists, insurers, government bodies, and others, as they respond to the changing climate and associated disasters – so that we can use OGC’s collective expertise to address them.
By bringing the climate, disaster, and emergency communities together, OGC Innovation Days 2023 provides a unique opportunity for attendees to meet people facing similar challenges to their own and learn about the solutions that worked for them, while guiding OGC towards creating impactful free and open solutions where none currently exist.
Join us at American Red Cross Headquarters in Washington, DC to tackle climate, disasters, and emergencies together using FAIR geospatial data and systems.
The event is free for OGC Members – visit this page on the OGC Portal for your discount code. Discounts are also available for select non-member participants.
Event Information:
Note that Thursday, December 7 is a closed session by invitation only.
See below for the full agenda, venue information, and special accommodation rates.
If you have any questions regarding the event or your registration, email info@ogc.org. Did you miss the 2022 event? Watch this recap of Innovation Days 2022 or view the 2022 event agenda and summary here.
Venue Information
Join us at the historic American Red Cross Headquarters,
1730 E Street Northwest Washington, DC 20006
Sponsorship Opportunities
Sponsoring and Supporting innovation days allows for OGC and its partner organization to continue to focus on critical topics in climate, disasters, and beyond. OGC meetings are a forum to share the latest and greatest on all matters in geospatial. Our meetings span domains from Defense to Agriculture, from EO to Transportation, from Digital Twins to Marine. Technical topics include Cloud, APIs, Internet of Things, and Augmented Reality/Virtual Reality. It’s the one place where the location community from across the globe collectively solves some of the pressing issues of our time such as climate change, pandemics response, disaster preparedness and more.
Travel and Hotel Information
To help improve your stay in the Washington DC area, OGC is working with several hotels to provide accommodations. Enjoy special Innovation Days Room Blocks from the list of hotels below.
Courtyard Arlington Crystal City/Reagan National Airport – 2899 Richmond Hwy, Arlington, VA 22202 – 703-549-3434
Book your $179 group rate here.
Courtyard Washington, DC/Foggy Bottom – 515 20th St., NW, Washington, D.C. 20006 – 202-296-5700
Book your $299 group rate here.
Hotel Hive – 2224 F ST, NW, Washington, D.C. 20037 – 202-898-1100 – 202-849-8499
Book your $139 group rate here.
Residence Inn Washington, DC Downtown – 1199 Vermont Ave., NW, Washington, D.C. 20005 – 202-898-1100
Book your $219 group rate here.
Full Agenda
December 5, Climate and Disasters inputs and outputs
| 8:00am – 9am | Registration Open | Coffee and Light Breakfast Available |
| 9:00am – 9:20am | Opening and Welcome | Dr. Ingo Simonis, OGC Dr. Kasie Richards, Sr. Director, Situational Awareness and Decision Support – American Red Cross |
| 9:20am – 9:50am | Keynote: Disaster Resilience and Emergency Response at Speed and Scale: what’s needed now and for the future To serve the communities who are most directly impacted when extreme events strike, everyone working within disaster response and emergency management, from policymakers to teams on the ground, must have the confidence to act with speed and at scale. The data needed to inform this action is plentiful: earth observation data is regularly updated, and socio-economic and demographic information is available from authoritative government sources and industry-generated datasets. In this keynote talk, Craig Fugate, Former Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency of the United States, will provide insight into what is necessary to accelerate decision making and enable the reactions needed immediately following a disaster and, going beyond the immediate response, how organizations of all types can engage with the broader and longer-term impacts of increasingly severe and frequent disasters. Providing a call to action, this talk will push you to think beyond current practice and historic precedent and focus on changing the outcomes of disasters and emergencies for all the people they affect. | Keynote Speaker Craig Fugate, Former Administrator – Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) |
| 9:50am – 11am | Disaster Response and Emergency Management Panel This panel brings together experts to share their views on the gap between the data and tools we have and the ones we need, how we move from raw data to insights, and their successes, challenges, and what to do next. Join the panel for the latest insights as they reflect on their own work and the outcomes of the OGC Disaster Pilot 2023 and explore how organizations can collaborate to better support immediate and longer-term disaster response efforts today and in the future. | Moderator Jonathan Duran, Deputy Director at Arkansas GIS Office; Past President – National States Geographic Information Council (NSGIC) Speakers Dr. Kasie Richards, Sr. Director, Situational Awareness and Decision Support – American Red Cross Alan Leidner, Board of Directors – NYC GISMO Dr. Shanna McClain, Disasters Program Manager – NASA Norman Speicher, Program Manager – Department of Homeland Security, Science and Technology Directorate |
| 11:00am – 11:30am | Break and Networking | |
| 11:30am – 12:40pm | Wildfire Panel Earth Observation data plays a critical role in the assessment and modeling of risks of wildfires, while the integration of geospatial data on factors from population density to road network connectivity is essential to our understanding of their impacts. Panelists will dive into their own work, as well as the outcomes of 2023 OGC Disaster Pilot. Hear how geospatial standards can drive better decision-making through improved interoperability, meeting critical needs as climate change alters the patterns of these phenomena. Come with your questions and participate in the debate on if and how the toolkits and solutions developed for one region can be adapted for another, as we work together to address the challenges posed by wildfires. | Moderator Ryan Ahola, Environmental Scientist – Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) Speakers Scott Kaplan, Civil Applications Committee – USGS / Civil Air Patrol Everett Hinkley, National Remote Sensing Program Manager – United States Forest Service Jonathan Gadoury, Data Science Specialist – Weather and Climate, Intact Financial Corporation Shayna Solis, CEO, Navteca |
| 12:40pm – 2:00pm | Lunch and Networking | |
| 2:00pm – 3:20pm | Climate Change and Disaster Risk Reduction Panel Panelists will lead a discussion around how to bring together the data, systems, and thinking used across climate and disaster communities to make more informed, accountable, and robust decisions. Discussion will focus on how we can learn from one another and create more interoperable systems as both how we think about and engage with ‘disasters’ and ‘emergency’ are reshaped by the changing climate. | Moderator Dr. Nils Hempelmann, OGC Speakers David Herring, Communication, Education and Engagement Division Chief – NOAA Climate Program Office Dr. Angel Lopez Alos, Data Stores Team Manager – ECMWF Rachel Martin, Research Manager – Conservation X Labs Dave Borges, Director CEOS Systems Engineering Office – NASA Dr. Alex Zvoleff, Senior Director – Resilience Science, Conservation International |
| 3:20pm – 3:50pm | Break and Networking | |
| 3:50pm – 4:50pm | AI Panel This forward-looking panel will grapple with how we can collaborate to design the geospatial AI data models and systems our global community needs to increase our collective climate resilience and ensure that OGC-supported initiatives and standards are built on principles of data equity, trustworthiness, and responsibility, as we work to accelerate innovation through open standards and FAIR, fit-for-purpose, tools. | Moderator Eldrich L. Frazier, Senior Advisor for Geospatial Technology – Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) Speakers Ryan Ahola, Environmental Scientist – Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) Matt Webster, Chief Technology Officer – Barbaricum Tom Landry, Business Analyst Specialist – Product Owner, Intact Financial Corporation Jim Antonisse, Senior Technology Advisor, WiSC |
| 4:50pm – 5:00pm | Closing remarks | Dr. Ingo Simonis, Chief Technology Innovation Officer – OGC |
| 5:00pm – 7:00pm | Reception | Held at the Red Cross |
December 6, Demonstration Day
| 8:00am – 9:00am | Registration Open | Coffee and Light Breakfast Available |
| 9:00am – 9:10am | Opening and Welcome | Prashant Shukle, Chair of the OGC Board of Directors |
| 9:10am – 10:00am | OGC Impacts: Standards, Innovation, and Funding Activities | Speakers Dr. Ingo Simonis, Chief Technology Innovation Officer, OGC |
| 10:00am – 10:30am | Keynote: Raven: Tactical Intelligence at Mission Speed | Dale Hogan, General Dynamics Information Technology (GDIT) |
| 10:30am – 11:00am | Break and Networking | Visit the RAVEN Mobile Command Center |
| 11:00am – 12:30pm | Demonstration Spotlight: Geospatial Climate and Disasters Open Topic | Industry presentations: Antonio Correas, Co-Founder & Chief Product Officer –SkyMantics Ajay Gupta, CEO – HSR Health Dean Hintz, Senior Analyst – SAFE Software Brian Goldin, Founder & CEO – Voyager Search Jason MacDonald, Senior Project Engineer/Project Manager – Compusult Limited |
| 12:30pm – 2:00pm | Lunch and Networking | Visit the RAVEN Mobile Command Center |
| 2:00pm – 3:30pm | Demonstration Spotlight: The role of AI in climate and disasters | Industry Presentations: Jeremy Shaffer, Vice President – Bentley Systems May Casterline, Principal Solutions Architect – Nvidia Juliette Murphy, CEO & Co-founder – FloodMapp Shayna Solis, CEO & Co-founder – Navteca |
| 3:30pm – 4:15pm | Open Discussion and Next Steps | All attendees |
| 4:15-4:30pm | Closing Remarks | Dr. Ingo Simonis, Chief Technology Innovation Officer – OGC |
December 7, BY INVITATION ONLY – OGC Executive Planning Committee, Strategic Member Advisory Committee, and Special Guests
| 8:00am – 9:00am | Registration Open | |
| 9:00am – 9:20am | Opening | Opening and welcome: OGC Red Cross |
| 9:20am – 11:00am | Round Table Discussion | Ongoing activities, new inputs, and lessons learned from Innovation Days 1 and 2 |
| 11:00am – 11:30am | Break | |
| 11:30am – 1:00pm | Round Table Discussion | Agency and Industry synergies, OGC priorities, and next steps for 2024 in Climate and Disasters |
Thank You Sponsors and Supporters:
The OGC Innovation Days would not be possible without the support of organizations across the globe. Thank you:
2022 Participating Organizations
