(Story is written by Missourinet St. Louis contributor Jill Enders)
St. Louis University and the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency are using technology to address poverty and crime.
NGA geographer Becky Jones and Dr. Ness Sandoval speak on February 18, 2019 (Jill Enders photo)
St. Louis University (SLU) and the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency’s (NGA) four-part series “Geospatial 101” explores how geospatial data is used to visualize patterns of poverty, crime and unemployment.
During the second part of the series presented on Monday at Saint Louis University, experts discussed how this data is applied to combating these social challenges. Dr. Ness Sandoval, an associate professor of Sociology at SLU, was one of the experts who spoke during the presentation.
“It’s choosing technology I would say in two ways. One is to identify spacial patterns within neighborhoods or within municipalities that are important, that we should be focusing on from a policy perspective, but second is, once you identify those patterns, being able to give the data and make it transparent to everybody.” Sandoval explains.
Back in January, St. Louis University signed a Collaborative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) with the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency to establish a new relationship that will allow SLU to collaborate with the NGA on geospatial research, training and innovation initiatives.
The next presentation will address mapping health and disease. It will be held on March 4 at St. Louis University’s Salus Center Auditorium.