
Our Moderators

Girish Joshi
Program Moderator/Director, Americas
An engineer by training, a marketer at heart, Girish is a growth leader who loves to bridge the gap between challenges and solutions. His experience spans 3 continents, and all aspects of data and media, but his real passion is using data to help bring viable solutions to the fore. He is passionate about everything related to automobiles and dogs, and splits his time between US and India.

Joseph V.R. Paiva
Program Moderator
Joseph V.R. Paiva, PhD, PS, PE is CEO of GeoLearn, an online education company providing online continuing education to the geospatial community. Joe’s career includes surveying and engineering practice, including management and ownership, various roles including vice president at Sokkia and Trimble, several years as a consultant in various areas of surveying which included expert witness research and testimony. While his work at Sokkia and Trimble culminated with management responsibilities, his core work was in the areas of product development, application expertise and management of development teams. As an independent consultant he has also worked in the international arena to help startups and established companies in the geospatial industry with product development, distribution and merger and acquisition. He is an unmanned airborne systems pioneer since 2010, having worked with Gatewing in development, marketing, manufacturing, general management and M&A. Joe's been a seminar and conference organizer and presenter since the 1970s. He also has an academic side, having taught for 11 years at the university level, and continues to this day at several institutions as an adjunct, using the technology at GeoLearn to develop better educational resources for students.

Juan B. Plaza
Program Moderator
Juan B. Plaza holds a degree in Geodesy with a master in Digital Photogrammetry from Universidad Central de Venezuela and an MBA in International Finance from Florida International University. Juan is also a pilot, IFR certified with over 600 hours of flying time.
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​Juan B. Plaza Consulting Corp. (JBPC) is a firm dedicated to helping individuals and organizations accelerate their deployment time for projects in the areas of General Aviation, Unmanned Aerial Systems (Drones), Aerial Photogrammetry, Mapping/Cartography, Enterprise GIS, Fleet Management and Precision GNSS.

Will Sarni
Program Moderator/Water Innovator
Will is an internationally recognized thought leader on water strategy and innovation. He has been a sustainability and water strategy advisor to multinationals, water technology companies, investors and non-governmental organizations for his entire career. Will works with multinationals on corporate water strategies, water technology innovation and water market entry strategies. His work with water technology companies is as a strategy advisor and investor.

Gavin Schrock
Program Moderator/Consulting Editor
Gavin Schrock, PLS is a surveyor, technology writer, editor of the geomatics sciences publication xyHt magazine, and operator of a cooperative GNSS network (RTN). He has worked in surveying, mapping, data management, GNSS, and GIS for more than three decades in the civil, utility, defense, and mapping disciplines. He has published in these fields and has taught these subjects at local, state, national, and international conferences.
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