GPS: American Invention, Global Impact

The Global Positioning System, a technology invented in U.S. military laboratories, revolutionized war-fighting weapons, tactics and strategy. Contrary to common misconceptions, GPS development envisioned non-military uses from the start. Our deployment of GPS has driven other nations to invest large sums in competing worldwide systems and regional augmentation systems. GPS technology has permeated numerous commercial, scientific and civilian domains, delivering precise positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) for activities from transportation to banking to social media. Its global impact today is broader and deeper than most people realize, as GPS has become an unseen but critical component of modern infrastructure.

In this talk, Richard D. Easton and Eric F. Frazier, coauthors of GPS Declassified: From Smart Bombs to Smartphones, trace the development of GPS from its secret, Cold War roots to its emergence as a worldwide consumer industry and vital public utility.