Two Conferences, One Mission: Seeing the Economy in Real Time

Atlas Analytics’ Weekly Subscriber Update

This week, I had the privilege of presenting at two outstanding gatherings of economists and forecasters: the Association for University Business and Economic Research (AUBER) conference in Missoula, Montana, and the Federal Forecasters Conference (FFC) in Washington, D.C.

At AUBER, I spoke about how satellite imagery is transforming regional and national economic forecasting and offering new ways to measure GDP, trade, and industrial activity before the official data ever arrives. It was inspiring to see the energy of applied economists and data scientists from across the country who are advancing state and local economic analysis. A special thank you to the keynote speakers Abbie Wozniak, David Altig, Professor Ed Glaesar, and Mike Russo as well as to the AUBER leadership team for putting together such a warm and intellectually rich event.

Just a few days later at the Federal Forecasting Conference, I had the chance to share Atlas Analytics’ approach to “nowcasting” GDP in real time using satellite-based indicators and machine learning. The audience included some of the best minds in public forecasting from the Fed, the CBO, Treasury, and academia. I’m deeply grateful to Dan Bachman, Neil Ericsson, and The George Washington University organizing committee for the invitation and for fostering such thoughtful discussion about the future of forecasting.

Across both events, one message resonated: the next frontier in economics is visibility. When we can see production, trade, and consumption as they happen, not months later, we can make faster, more informed decisions. That’s the mission of Atlas Analytics: to turn real-world signals from satellites into real-time economic insight.

To everyone I met in Missoula and Washington: thank you for the conversations, questions, and collaboration. It’s a privilege to be part of this community.

If you’d like to follow our work, including our upcoming Q3 GDP forecast, you can find us on Substack or at atlasanalytics.com.