Geomatics is vital to US national security; our advantage is at risk
By Vice Adm. Robert Sharp
Sun Aug 1 2021 10:19 AM
When you switch on a light, pay for an item with a credit card, or use your phone’s navigation app to avoid traffic or find your favorite restaurant, you benefit from the work of experts in geomatics— the science of determining the “where” and “when” — either in, on or above the ever-changing Earth’s surface.
Our navigation, banking, power grids and many other elements of American life — including our national security — depend on scientists’ precise knowledge of timing and the location of items across the Earth’s surface and in near-Earth orbit. Our lives are easier and safer today because of technological advances by geomatics experts in the U.S. government, industry and academia, but our agency and national population of experts in this tradecraft is declining. As director of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, I know that to maintain that security into the 21st century, we need more students studying geomatics — to become the next generation’s geomatics experts.
Geomatics is a science the United States has traditionally dominated, but many U.S. competitors, including China, are investing heavily in geomatics — both in technological infrastructure and in the education of their students. To maintain our leadership in this field, the United States must also continue to invest in our own technological systems and, more importantly, create a steady stream of geomatics scientists, engineers and mathematicians who have the knowledge and vision to keep the United States at the forefront.
https://www.c4isrnet.com/opinion/2021/08/01/geomatics-is-vital-to-us-national-security-our-advantage-is-at-risk/
