Creating a defense tech hub in St. Louis
ST. LOUIS, Mo. (First Alert 4) - Local technology and geospatial agencies, as well as elected leaders and downtown stakeholders, gathered at a local AI company on April 25 to discuss ways to establish the region as a hub for defense technology.
Scale AI, an artificial intelligence agency that helps to develop artificial intelligence applications for the US military, hosted the summit to showcase its work in the geospatial industry. Scale helps to refine government data and “teach” AI models to process aerial images.
AJ Segal, who leads Scale’s St. Louis office, said the presence of the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency in addition to a number of companies operating in the sector have helped to establish defense tech as a growing industry locally.
“Every element of St. Louis is going to have to contribute to see this company grow from its geospatial foundations and expanding on that to seeing more companies come in,” Segal said.
Speakers at the conference included Congressman Wesley Bell, who acknowledged the growing importance of AI in the defense sector.
“Data and information processing are now just as important to our security as any physical system,” Bell said.
Senator Eric Schmitt was scheduled to be at the event, but instead left the country to attend the funeral of Pope Francis in Rome with President Trump. Schmitt did, however, send a video to the conference explaining his absence and announcing that he was planning to introduce a bill that would help to establish defense tech hubs in St. Louis and other cities.
“Think of it as a pipeline to attract talent and the things you need to bring this stuff home,” Schmitt said in the clip.
The conference also focused on workforce development. Scale has employed a number of workers from non-tech backgrounds, providing training for the emerging industry.
The University of Missouri-St. Louis also announced a partnership with Scale that would help to provide additional certifications for Scale employees.
Kristin Sobolik, the chancellor of the university, was among the ists and discussed the importance of developing a geospatial intelligence workforce locally.
“It’s not just about the youth becoming educated but also the workforce so we can get scaled up in the region,” Sobolik said.
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