IMIA Member Profile: Brian Fox (USGS)

Brian Fox is currently the Systems Development Branch Chief for USGS’s National Geospatial Technical Operations Center (NGTOC) where he oversees development activity in support of The National Map.  While at NGTOC, he’s had the opportunity to lead the adoption of Agile software development and management methods.  This has been successfully accomplished through facilitating training events, mentoring project managers, sharing best practices across the Center, and implementation of development teams to manage the work.  He has improved transparency and communication through the adoption of collaborative tools like Google Sites and Jira.  He has also reached out to the mobile development community, ensuring The National Map provides meaningful support to geospatial consumers on phones and tablets.  

Brian is also the USGS’s Federal Liaison to IMIA.  In this role, Brian has facilitated collaborative Government Sessions at their annual conference, which has provided a venue for Federal geospatial experts to share how they are supporting recreational users via mobile devices, as well as giving government participants an opportunity to receive training from ESRI in their latest GIS software: ArcGIS Pro.  

Brian believes that IMIA provides him the opportunity to coordinate USGS business partnerships within the association and with other government agencies.  IMIA provides an opportunity to build  a communication network to enhance cooperation between government agencies and the geospatial industry, and the ability to contribute to and draw from a broader pool of knowledge from within the industry.  

Prior to leading NGTOC’s Systems Development Branch, Brian supported the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency in a variety of roles, including joint military assignments in the United States and overseas.  He holds an undergraduate degree in Geography from the University of Minnesota and a Masters degree in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Missouri – Saint Louis.