CONFERENCE EXCLUSIVES
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Produced by Geospatial Intelligence Forum
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A New Vision for IC Information ODNI chief information officer details plans for consolidation of intelligence agency information architecture. The chief information officers of the nation’s key intelligence agencies are moving towards a consolidated information architecture that will lead to common systems and information throughout much of the intelligence community, the CIO of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence said Wednesday morning. Al Tarasiuk of ODNI, who moderated a panel session at the GEOINT 2011 Symposium that featured agency CIOs, offered a picture of what he described as “a new vision and strategy for IT in the IC.” Tarasiuk also laid out a timetable that calls for a plan to be presented to IC leaders in December, for implementation of that plan to begin in the current fiscal year, and for full implementation to be achieved by fiscal 2017. While the catalyst for the transformation being embarked up is the nation’s budget
Photo courtesy of Oscar Einzig
BREAKING NEWS
situation, Tarasiuk said, its developers see it also as an opportunity to achieve greater integration and efficiency in IT operations. The current process began in March, when the CIOs were approached by agency leaders “to see how far we could take costs out of IT in the community. We decided as a team not to approach this as a budget exercise, but to use it as an opportunity to improve mission support and at the same time drive down the cost of IT. “It was an opportunity to transform our federated architecture and take advantage of advances in technology—virtual desktops, clouds, server virtualization and thin client. It took smart people off line for about 30 days, and we built a proposal,” he said. The proposal calls for a new architecture with characteristics that include a single Continued On pAGE 4
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Defense Intelligence Vickers Discusses GEOINT’s Future In a keynote address, the Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence Michael Vickers outlined the past, present and future of GEOINT. He noted that the discipline will be increasingly important because of the need to project power using a smaller footprint, the rise of the cyber domain as a concern, and the need to optimize and rationalize the intelligence, reconnaissance and surveillance assets that have been developed over the past few years. “GEOINT is a critical, critical strength,” Vickers said. At the same time, he acknowledged budget realities and the need to be smart in meeting them. Vickers noted there could be a parallel with the 1950s, when it was necessary to set the stage so as to maintain a healthy industrial base during a long cold conflict punctuated by several hot interludes. At the beginning of his keynote, he listed several strategic objectives of the United States, the first of which was the defeat of Al-Qaeda. Beyond that were prevailing in the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Libya, countering weapons of mass destruction threats from such rouge players as North Korea and Iran, Continued On pAGE 3
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Kehler Minds the Intel Gap STRATCOM commander calls for a single authority to help intelligence processing capacity keep up with collection. To help close the growing gap between the nation’s ability to collect intelligence data and the capacity to use it effectively, creation of a single focal point of authority over the processing, exploitation and dissemination (PED) of intelligence information is needed, Air Force General C. Robert Kehler, commander of U.S. Strategic Command, told the GEOINT 2011 Symposium Wednesday morning. The new PED authority— which Kehler said could but did not have to be located within STRATCOM—also needs to be combined with greater use of automation in managing intelligence information, he said. Kehler noted that the volume of data collected has grown by some 1500 percent in the past five years, while the nation’s PED capacity has increased by only 30 percent. “How we process, exploit and disseminate the massive amounts of data we generate and the resulting information is where the real challenge lies,” Kehler said. “We need to think hard about how we sort through the growing volume of raw data we collect to find the critical information—not just the information we seek, but the information that indicates an unanticipated event or strategic event that could take us by surprise. How do we turn collection into focused knowledge, and eventually into action?” The dilemma is especially pressing at a time when the nation is grappling with difficult fiscal issues, Kehler said. But even in the best of times, it would not be practical to increase processing
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resources at the same rate as the volume of data. Instead, what is needed is to manage PED more effectively. “Automated capabilities may be able to reduce the data to a manageable level for exploitation, but we need to remember that we will always require a human being to make sense of the data and convey its relevance,” he continued. “The gap between collection and PED capacity is a reflection of strength, not weakness. Instead of reducing collection, we need to grow our PED capacity. First, in the long term, we have to pursue innovative methods of automation that will generate unprecedented levels of effectiveness. In the short term, we should take steps to reduce the gap through globally integrated, locally focused integration, and by managing the PED the way we manage the collection platforms—in short, in a unified structure.” In order to achieve a unified structure, however, there needs to be a unified authority, he argued. “A key question is who would have the authority to quickly direct a shift in PED capacity in the interests of the nation? What command or agency exists to manage PED, the way we manage platforms? That unifying authority does not exist, but it should and must. We should be able to synchronize under such an authority, and do so in the interests of all. “The PED needs a single focal point, which has the authority to allocate resources and drive the effort from a global perspective—not ignoring local needs,
Photo courtesy of Oscar Einzig
but massing all the capability to do what’s needed. “Our PED synchronization must include both service and agency assets. In addition, where such assets exist, they should include PED capabilities in other parts of government,” Kehler said. Such a global PED synchronization capability could be located in STRATCOM’s Joint Functional Component Command for ISR, he suggested, while acknowledging that there could be other solutions. Kehler summed up this way: “The demand for intelligence to reduce surprise in an uncertain world led us down a path that emphasized investment in collection capabilities. That capacity has grown exponentially, and we now have more data than we can analyze, and more data that can help us understand in ways that we can’t even anticipate. “We need tools that automate
processing, that make the data accessible to analysts across a global federated enterprise. We will get better by improving our processes and creating more holistic management of PED in a global federated enterprise. We will get smarter by creating a global PED enterprise that is designed for an uncertain future, requiring us to leverage technology and innovation. We will become faster through a federated, fused and refined collection effort that quickly reaches the priorities of commanders and other users. “I’m confident we can make the tremendous volume of information we collect work in our favor. Leveraging the power of automation, the flexibility of federated enterprise, the clear prioritization of PED capacity, and the synchronization of collectors and PED, we can cut through the chaff and provide depth of understanding to decision makers,” Kehler concluded.
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➥ Continued from page 1 and handling the cyber threat. Rounding out the list were ensuring access to geopolitically important areas, providing decisive intelligence to decision makers, and assuring continued U.S. economic leadership, which Vickers characterized as the source of the country’s strength. For the first objective, GEOINT has played a key role in the elimination or capture of senior and mid-level operatives in Al-Qaeda and those organizations that support or collaborate with it. This has been especially true this year, with a string of high-profile successes. The recent progress has been so good that Vickers issued a crowd-pleasing statement that the complete defeat of Al-Qaeda is now on the horizon. He added that full motion video has proven to be the basis for the counter-terrorism (CT) effort. “GEOINT has been absolutely essential to our CT success,” Vickers said. As for other strategic objectives, the capabilities offered by advanced sensors and other technologies have also helped counter the threat from improvised explosive devices. That has benefited troops in theater and helped efforts in both Iraq and Afghanistan. In fact, Vickers said that commanders in Iraq now have access to more surveillance and reconnaissance data than at any other time in the war. In Afghanistan, 3D mapping has been done for a good chunk of the country and wide area surveillance assets now generate 53 terabytes of data every day. What’s more, such capabilities have uses other than in conflict. For example, there was this year’s Japanese earthquake. GEOINT technologies and techniques established the extent of the disaster
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and the shape of its aftermath. This allowed the governments of Japan, the U.S., and elsewhere to assess the situation, their response, and make needed adjustments. It also showed one of the strengths that the craft offers. “GEOINT frequently allows us to corroborate other sources,” Vickers said. As for the future, it consists of what are somewhat contradictory constraints. One is the budget, which is going to be tighter going forward than it has been in the past. Counteracting that is the fact that intelligence and special forces are going to be increasingly important. Also there is a need to develop enhanced cyber domain capabilities, and the use of unmanned aerial platforms will continue to grow. All of these trends require today’s GEOINT capabilities and more, which means results will have to be achieved for fewer bucks. The solution is to rationalize the GEOINT assets that have been developed in 10 years of war and adapt them to a new world, Vickers said. Some of the lessons that have been learned, such as how to implement rapid acquisition, will be carried forward. Others still have to be mastered, such as how to implement the needed organizational changes. In looking at the future, Vickers believes the country’s GEOINT capabilities are much more aligned with America’s strategic needs than they have been in the past. He credits that to the hard work of many people over the years. As he said, “It has taken us a decade to get to the right posture.”
Spectral Imaging Sensor Headwall Photonics introduces handheld spectral sensor. Headwall Photonics is displaying their signature hyperspectral technologies at this year’s symposium. “We’ve been in business for eight years, and throughout that period of time what we’ve been able to do is forge a leadership position in a technology area known as hyperspectral imaging, or hyperspectral sensing,” said company CEO David Bannon. “This is a rather important technology for this particular community in that it allows a user to detect particular targets within their field of view based on the chemical composition of the target. So it’s more than just a photograph. Our hyperspectral sensor technologies are able to capture all of the spectral data, which is chemical information, as well as all of the spatial information within the field of view of the sensor.” “We’re rather unique in that we have spacequalified payload hyperspectral sensors in addition to airborne sensors for unmanned aerial
vehicles of all sizes,” he continued. The company used the symposium to introduce the Hyperspec Recon, a handheld hyperspectral sensor, which is the first handheld production unit that’s ever been made. “The sensor is so precise that it will allow the operator in the field to spectrally resolve a 6 by 6 inch target from a David Bannon (left) describes the Hyperspec Recon, a hyperspectral sensor. distance of one mile,” said Bannon. “Basically, what we’re looking for is a face in a Headwall was also showcasing the Microtreeline. The operator will have a set of target Hyperspec. “I think one of the key things that signatures on a simple SD RAM card. Those we’ve been able to do with our technology powill be input into the sensor to establish mission sition is really shrink down the size of these hyobjectives—the Recon Hyperspec which is now perspectral sensors. The Micro-Hyperspec is a a handheld device looking for a discrete set of very, very small hyperspectral sensor. It weighs targets. The operator aims the sensor, pushes approximately 1.5 pounds, fully integrated, and a button and in 1-3 seconds they will have a that provides for a great deal of flexibility when hyperspectral image with that target set painted it comes to SWaP [size, weight and power] on the screen of the sensor.” space within UAV payload compartments.”
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➥ Continued from page 1 design back office and desktop; consolidation for infrastructures and provisioning of central services for all to use; a thin desktop for the majority of IC users, and thick client for a small number that will require the extra power; cloud technology implemented with a set of standards that will permit interoperability with other clouds; significant network consolidation; and widgetized applications. “In addition, our operating model has to change,” he said. “We have to move from agencies managing their own IT environments, to an IC enterprise model, where we’re managing on behalf of all. Some agency functions are unique and will have to remain separate, but we have to ensure their interoperability. “Over time, as we become more comfortable with technology, with smart data and some of the other aspects of this architecture, we will continue to try to collapse more and more of the unique enclaves that exist today,” he said. The current effort is being led by the agencies with the largest budgets—National Reconnaissance Office, National GeospatialIntelligence Agency, National Security Agency, Defense Intelligence Agency and Central Intelligence Agency. But other members of the community are also participating as observers, and at some point they
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will all plug into the core functions of the new architecture, Tarasiuk indicated. “Besides the cost reductions, the value proposition for the IC is that we can become more agile, and more able to stand up missions quickly. We will have capacity and ability to more easily search, and better integration. There will be improvements in information discovery, access and sharing, and a more defensible IT infrastructure,” he continued. In addition, there will be a lot more consolidation of core infrastructure, leading to an expected reduction in the amount of data center space. The plan was presented to the leadership about a month ago, and they gave approval to move forward to the next step, which is developing an implementation plan. That plan is due to the leadership in December. “We are scoping this out to start executing an implementation plan in this fiscal year. We have been asked to pay for this within our own budgets, so we are going through a process of examining what things need to be stopped and how we pull dollars to put against some of the priorities. “We hope that by the end of FY17 we would have a large nucleus of core functions and at least five of the agencies operating most of their IT through this new architecture,” Tarasiuk said.
LTG Paul E. Menoher Named Lundahl Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient LTG Paul E. Menoher has been named as the recipient of the 2011 Arthur C. Lundahl Lifetime Achievement Award. Menoher was an influential visionary and innovator throughout his career. He held a series of demanding positions of great responsibility during his 35 years of commissioned service, including commanding general of the Army Intelligence Agency, commanding general of the U.S. Army Intelligence Center and Fort Huachuca, commanding general of the Army Intelligence and Security Command, and Army Deputy Chief of Staff for Intelligence. Menoher pioneered for the Civilian Personnel Proponency System for the Army, taking the lead for Training and Doctrine Command to fully integrate the civilian professional intelligence workforce into the Military Intelligence Corps. He directed the action to consolidate and create new enlisted military occupational specialties to leverage the superb qualities of military intelligence (MI) soldiers, economize operations and provide assignment flexibility across the force. He directed an independent MI officer structuring study that realigned the distribution of MI officers, ensuring key MI officer authoriza-
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tions were filled with the right grades and specialties. As a forerunner in the Army for numerous language initiatives, he was most noted for the development of a new MOS for interpreter/translators in the Reserve component. He has truly blazed a trail of excellence for the Military Intelligence Corps to ensure its viability and Photo courtesy of Oscar Einzig preparedness to meet the challenges of the K. Stuart Shea, USGIF CEO and chairman of the board (left) and Keith Masback, USGIF president (right), present the Arthur C. Lundahl Lifetime Achievement Award to LTG new millennium. Paul E. Menoher. The Arthur C. Lundahl Lifetime Achievement Award is presented, upon selection by to gain the confidence of four U.S. presidents the USGIF Board of Directors, to an influential and significantly contribute to the GEOINT tramember of the community who has dedicated decraft and security of the United States. His much of his or her work to the geospatial in- immense contribution to the pioneering of the telligence tradecraft. Arthur C. “Art” Lundahl is tradecraft is why the USGIF Lifetime Achieverecognized as the father of imagery analysis. He ment Award was renamed the Arthur C. Lundahl dedicated his life to the tradecraft, enabling him Lifetime Achievement Award.
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Online Tools Make a Difference Raytheon provides critical capabilities. Raytheon Company has developed two online services to provide critical capabilities to users in the defense, intelligence and firstresponder communities faster than they are able to get them now. The Appsmart market is a tool to develop apps and access content, a market to buy secure apps and a way to get capabilities to users quickly. It is self-sustaining and performance-based, protecting intellectual property of third-party developers. Because it is a marketplace, Appsmart incentivizes innovation through market forces. “Because we have built Appsmart with our own funds and are working directly with third-party developers, we are reducing the government’s risk and cost associated with the procurement of new capabilities,” said Mark Bigham, vice president of business development at Raytheon Intelligence and Information Systems. “Appsmart provides tools that developers can use to quickly and securely create, publish and market capabilities for tactical-edge users.” Built into the Appsmart is a social network that lets the government announce their needs and requirements, allows the developers to see those requirements and respond directly to them. Security is always a big issue and the Appsmart has a mechanism in place that adds a layer of protection. When a devel-
oper submits an app it is first submitted to a clearinghouse. The clearinghouse is built on top of Raytheon’s SureView technology, which is the same techology that we use to protect Raytheon’s email system. SureView opens and screens the app and checks it for malicious code. Once cleared, the app is released for sale. One of those is an emerging capability, called GOtab, which provides a mobile, geocentric, user defined and tailored environment for discovering and retrieving mission-relevant information. “GOtab puts rich geospatial visualization in the hands of users, from which they can query and access a range of online GEOINT services to display, analyze and exploit geographic and imagery intelligence, as well as human geography,” said Kevin T. Brown, technical director of GEOINT Programs at Raytheon Intelligence and Information Systems. “This would significantly improve timely access to current information, products and services for military operations, natural disasters or humanitarian crises.”
Currently, several apps developed by Raytheon and third-party entities are available via Appsmart, including programs for situational awareness, buddy tracking, triage tracking and language translation, among other capabilities.
Analyze and Collaborate Perceptive Pixel and Esri create solutions for complex GIS issues. Perceptive Pixel has announced that it has joined the Esri Partner Network, a worldwide community of companies that develop and deliver cutting-edge geospatial solutions and services based on Esri technology. Through this new partnership, Esri and Perceptive Pixel will together develop revolutionary new GIS solutions that leverage Perceptive Pixel’s advanced multi-touch technology platform, giving business and government professionals the ability to analyze, collaborate on, and present complex
geospatial information using the power and ease of true, unlimited multi-touch interfaces. A prototype of Esri and Perceptive Pixel’s joint development efforts is on display at Perceptive Pixel’s booth “This new relationship will immediately benefit both companies’ significant customer base in the government, defense, intelligence, broadcast media and energy industries, as well as the broader GIS community,” said Esri president Jack Dangermond. “GIS technology is about to take another leap forward
with the emergence of new and innovative ways to interact with geospatial information. We are thrilled to be with Perceptive Pixel.” “Esri understands the enormous possibilities that multi-touch offers for sharing and manipulating complex geospatial data,” said Jeff Han, founder and CEO, Perceptive Pixel. “They also understand that harnessing these possibilities requires new ways of thinking about developing software. We are proud to join the Esri Partner Network and anticipate that the solutions we build together will truly impact the way GIS is done.”
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Out in Front U.S. Army Geospatial Center displays award-winning systems. During this year’s symposium the U.S. Army Geospatial Center (AGC) demonstrated its award-winning BuckEye and Georeferenced PDF (GeoPDF) programs as well as its Instrument Set, Reconnaissance and Surveying (ENFIRE) kit, GeoGlobe and Remote Ground Terminal (RGT). BuckEye collects high-resolution, 3-D terrain data using a 39-megapixel color camera and light detection and ranging elevation data to produce unclassified 10-15 centimeter resolution imagery for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance and mapping missions in Afghanistan. The program received Army Greatest Invention of the Year honors in 2006 as well as USGIF’s 2006 Geospatial Intelligence Achievement Award its valuable contributions to the geospatial capability of coalition forces during the global war on terrorism. GeoPDF, recipient of USGIF’s GEOINT Achievement Award (military category) in 2008, allows soldiers to print easy-to-read maps on demand and access detailed, upto-date information on Adobe PDF-enabled computers. Raster and vector GeoPDF formats provide a scalable display of the digital map or image with crisp, clear delineation
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of roads, rivers, contour lines and other features. The AGC developed GeoPDF DVDs for most countries of the world through its partnership with the National GeospatialIntelligence Agency and GeoPDF DVDs for all 54 U.S. states and territories through its partnership with the United States Geological Survey. The Instrument Set, Reconnaissance and Surveying, or ENFIRE kit, is a modern digital engineering tool that replaces the Surveying Set, Military Field Sketching set, which has been in use since the early 20th century. This Army program of record integrates digital components into a common toolkit for collecting and disseminating minefield, reconnaissance and engineering data, enabling engineers to perform reconnaissance, surveying, obstacle reporting, construction site planning, engineering project management and inventory management rapidly and at a safer standoff distance than analog measures permit. The RGT is a tactical, mobile, sensor-agnostic direct downlink demonstration system that will provide Soldiers with superior terrain visualization and analysis by utilizing a commercial common image processor to process
raw satellite imagery into standard formats. The system is scalable; sensors (e.g., GeoEye and TerraSar-X) can be added without increasing its tactical footprint. The RGT also operates online and as a disconnected system. The Army Geospatial Enterprise (AGE) GeoGlobe is a worldwide, 3D-based visualization tool that allows users to access the AGC’s geospatial data and products through a 3D client for the Internet Explorer web browser. The system provides users with an easy-to-use interface to find and view the center’s Water Resources Database, Urban Tactical Planner and BuckEye imagery as well as Theater Geospatial Database data from the Army Geospatial Planning Cells. AGE GeoGlobe is also available as a standalone system for disconnected users. The AGE Geoglobe Laptop (AGL) will be demonstrated at GEOINT at the AGC and Skyline exhibit booths. Also on display was the BuckEye unmanned aerial system and remote ground control station at the conference’s UAV static display pavilion. This multi-purpose platform supports requirements for the collection of unclassified geospatial data.
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Generating Actionable Intelligence ITT strives to meet unmet operational needs. ITT Corporation showcased its newest enterprise solution for the management and dissemination of tactical imagery and video at this year’s symposium. JAGWIRE is a new product that combines the capabilities of ITT’s adLib software with its Enhanced AGILE Access solution. This will give warfighters one seamless user interface to search, discover and exploit still imagery, wide-area motion imagery and full-motion video. “There is a significant volume and variety of geospatial data available to today’s warfighter,” stated S. Danny Rajan, director, geospatial information solutions, ITT Geospatial Systems. “In this business, organizing this content and correlating it in a way that provides end users with actionable intelligence is mission critical. We see a tremendous need for ITT’s JAGWIRE solution. We are excited to deliver the capability that will meet this unmet operational need of being able to efficiently discover and access intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance data across the enterprise.” ITT recently released its v3.7.1 adLib video and data management software. This unique Web-based, net-centric, standards-compliant solution has revolutionized situational awareness by enabling users to capture, process, store and disseminate full-motion video and intelligence information in near real-time while optimizing system interoperability and bandwidth use. The Enhanced AGILE Access system is a deployable, enterprise-ready imagery management and dissemination system supporting contingency operations that dramatically reduces the time needed to deliver crucial data anywhere in the world. Now warfighters in the field and users in the intelligence community can quickly find accurate geospatial data to make fast, effective decisions that impact mission success. By uniting its adLib and Enhanced AGILE Access solution, ITT’s JAGWIRE solution enables warfighters to have assured access to imagery, wide-area motion imagery and full motion video (FMV) within their existing infrastructure while maintaining interoperability. At symposium, ITT also announced that it and Analytical Graphics, Inc. (AGI) joined to deliver increased search intelligence within ITT’s current suite of FMV and imagery processing and dissemination products. “As the volume and variety of geospatial intelligence data grows enormously, the capabilities developed by ITT and AGI will enable
Screen captures of the JAGWIRE system in use.
soldiers to effectively find and retrieve geospatial intelligence data at an enterprise level,” said Rajan. “At the same time, these capabilities provide mechanisms for managers of various Department of Defense information systems to successfully administer the delivery of critical operational intelligence. The ability to quickly find relevant information in our rapidly growing data enterprises is the edge our users need to be successful.” Leveraging AGI’s intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance mission modeling software, ITT’s adLib and Enhanced AGILE Access solutions now have increased capabilities within their native search and discovery feature set for tactical users and operators. Together, these enhancements will provide end users with added intelligence and relevant data-driven results to geospatial queries, while also significantly reducing the overall amount of data sent back for review and analysis. “AGI’s commercial software development kits and geometry processing engine are a perfect fit to team with ITT’s imaging services to enhance the timeliness and discovery of data along the processing, exploitation and dissemination process,” said Scott Light, regional director, AGI.
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All in One Isilon works to manage large data growth. Isilon, a division of EMC, is known for solving problems related to large data growth, high speed data ingest, massive processing, exploitation and dissemination and is an ideal architecture for ISR platform programs. The Isilon solution has been developed from the ground up specifically to address mixed mode access, whether it’s digital imagery, full motion video, or both simultaneously. “Isilon was recently acquired by EMC Corporation for over $2 billion, which shows the EMC’s commitment to delivering world-class ISR data management solutions to the GEOINT community,” said Rick Watson Isilon’s DoD/intel federal manager. “The Isilon solution we were showcasing at the conference is designed to address challenges identified by a number of the directors
Editor Harrison Donnelly Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey McKaughan Senior Copy Editor Laura Davis Art Director Jennifer Owers
at GEOINT,” said Watson. “Isilon EMC delivers on the government’s requirement to significantly reduce cost while allowing IT to manage petabytes of information and sensor data with one or two people by delivering a scalable, adaptive rate, architecture that reduces operational costs while delivering next generation information access to the IC.” Another key challenge in this market space is that tech- Isilon’s Rick Watson points out the advances that the company has made in large data management. nology continues to evolve. As technology evolves, the Isilon architecture maintain, and grow architecture that scales allows inserting new technologies without ripcapacity, throughput, and cost predictably, ping and replacing along the way. As govand doesn’t require teams of personnel to ernment agencies move forward in the years manage. “With today’s sensors creating an to come, technology can be removed nonimmense amount of data, Isilon is optimized to disruptively; thereby, ensuring maximum handle the challenges regardless of ‘how big data availability on the latest technology. it or how fast’ the data grows” said Watson. Isilon EMC storage is currently in use “Our architecture can solve the problems extensively in the media and entertainment of cost containment, ease of scale, massive industry. The ISR community faces the same performance, all in one solution set,” Watson challenges—the need for a simple to setup, concluded.
GRAPHIC DESIGNER Kailey Waring Show Daily Correspondents Hank Hogan Matt Langan Associate Publisher Scott Parker CHief Executive Officer Jack Kerrigan CHief Financial Officer Constance Kerrigan Publisher Kirk Brown The OFFICIAL GEOINT Show Daily is published by Geospatial Intelligence Forum and KMI Media Group Sunday October 16, Monday October 17, Tuesday October 18, Wednesday October 19 and Thursday October 20. Magazine distribution is free to attendees and exhibitors at GEOINT 2011 and available online at www.gif-kmi.com. All Rights Reserved. Reproduction without permission is strictly forbidden. Copyright 2011. KMI Media Group 15800 Crabbs Branch Way, Suite 300 Rockville, MD 20855-2604 USA Telephone: (301) 670-5700 Fax: (301) 670-5701 www.gif-kmi.com
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A Big Show Daily Thank You The staff of The Show Daily and KMI Media Group would like to express our thanks and appreciation to USGIF and its entire staff, the exhibitors, presenters and attendees for making this the best symposium to date. Always interested in improving on our success, I would sincerely like to ask you to contact me with any comments on what you would like to hear, how the Show Daily was useful to you, what you would like to see in future Show Dailies and what we could do to make it even better, more informative and more useful during your time at the show. Please feel free to drop me an email at jeffm@kmimediagroup.com with your comments. Jeff McKaughan KMI Media Group
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Careful IC Budget Cuts Coming Members of Congress weigh in on future funding. The joint keynote from Congressmen Mike Rogers (R-Mich.) and C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger (D-Md.) contained bits of levity sprinkled amid what was otherwise a fairly serious subject: the future of intelligence community funding and the challenges facing the country. Rogers, chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, started it off by noting at the beginning that something unusual was about to happen. “You’re going to have a Republican and a Democrat on the same stage and it’s not a debate,” he said, which provoked a round of applause. Later, Ruppersberger added his own joke. He recalled that the East Coast earthquake Photo courtesy of Oscar Einzig struck 15 minutes after he, ranking member of the Committee, and Rogers had finalized Congressman C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger (left) and Congressman Mike Rogers focused on the good, the bad and the ugly of upcoming budget issues. their latest budget negotiations. “When a Republican and a Democrat can find common ground China, for instance, has committed to a manned lunar landing by 2020 and has vaulted into one of the world’s leaders in supercomputin Washington, it is a big deal,” he said. Most of the rest of the joint keynote, though, was more serious. ers. Other countries are either peddling or trying to acquire nuclear The two surveyed the budget situation and the threats confronting weapons technology. At the same time, some critical U.S. capabilities are withering. the U.S., highlighting some areas of progress but more of concern. All told, it was a case of the good, the not-so-good, and the pos- For example, the domestic space industry confronts soaring launch sibly positively ugly. The good was that for two years in a row the costs, as well as imaging resolution and other technology restrictions. House has passed a budget covering the 17 intelligence agencies, These are at least partly responsible for a decline of the American something that had been successfully done only once in the previ- share of the worldwide commercial space market from 70 percent 20 ous six years. The budgets for both FY 2011 and FY 2012 enjoyed years ago to just 27 percent today, said Ruppersberger. He noted that bipartisan support, with over 384 yeas versus only, at most, 15 nays. a revision to the ITAR technology restrictions passed the House and The not-so-good is that the latest budget slashed spending by is awaiting action in the Senate. For a more general solution, Ruppersberger advocated shaking over a billion dollars. This was done, the Congressmen asserted, without impacting the mission of the intelligence community. More sav- up established agency boundaries and engaging in some out-of-theings along these lines are possible, primarily by merging training and box thinking. One inexpensive way to revitalize the space program, for example, would be to launch robots and explore the Moon and IT functions to achieve efficiencies. The possibly ugly future is that such cuts may not be enough, planets. That needs to be followed by manned missions, he said, but given the reality of budget austerity in the years to come. The tempta- the remote approach would keep industry active and the public intion to cut more intelligence spending may be particularly strong as terested until that time. That intelligent use of technology in other ways can help with the the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan wind down. In the 1990s, Rogers noted, intelligence budgets dropped, a situation. Automating analysis as much as possible would save monthird of the workforce disappeared, and technology investments fell. ey, because technology is cheaper than people. Furthermore, finding America had won the Cold War, and it was thought the intelligence other uses for some of the capabilities that have been developed can money would be more useful elsewhere. That was followed by con- keep them from atrophying. Ruppersberger noted that eventually combat operations will end. siderable spending over the next decade as intelligence capabilities He also mentioned the traffic snarling American cities. Finally, he were rebuilt and enhanced. “We shouldn’t take one step back in our ability to continue that brought up the point that the old approach used to monitor road congestion may no longer be needed. advance,” Rogers said of future budgets. As he said, “With the technology we have now, we don’t have to That is particularly true given growing threats from non-state actors and from foreign countries in the cyber realm and in space. buy helicopters.”
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GEOINT 2011 SYMPOSIUM
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Innovating User Capabilities BAE Systems expand their geospatial offering to the intell community. BAE Systems’ Geospatial eXploitation Products used the GEOINT 2011 searches. Currently, users can search for data based on time or geospatial Symposium to highlight several product lines of the division. “GXP Xplorer verarea or words that might be in the files, but we also want to develop some of sion 2.1 is the current release,” said Janis McArthur, product line manager, what we call smart searches, so analyst van find onlydata that was collected GXP Xplorer. on a weekend, or only images that look from a certain angle so they can see GXP Xplorer itself is an enterprise server for data discovery, cataloging, the side of the building that they’re interested in. We want to build in that sort of sharing among image analysts and other types of intelligence analysts, and intelligence into searches to make it easier for analysts to do their jobs.” it’s designed for use by forward deployed analysts and warfighters. “In the “There are a many of new plans for administrative features,” said Dave previous version, we focused on the data cataloging and discovery capabilities Miller GXP Xplorer chief engineer. “The more traditional users of the national liand peer-to-peer sharing, and in this version we’re adding more web services braries have a lot of tools there that they need to maintain a consistent archive. for processing of data—not only BAE Systems Web services but Web ser“One sort of user is just an ad hoc, ‘let’s go find all the data that we have vices from other companies such as ITT, which we’re demonstrating here,” and tell me what it is.’ But there’s another sort of user, that are maintaining a set said McArthur. of data for a lot of people, and they need to be able to maintain more control “We also have some mashups with other companies, so we’re really about over that. For instance, they may want to make sure only data that meets a interoperability in this version; we want to show that GXP Xplorer is a server certain criteria even comes into the system. If they have non-compliant data platform that not only BAE Systems can build upon, but we can add in other they want it to be flagged so that they can fix or delete it.” things from other companies to make it as useful as possible for the analyst Acknowledging that there are a lot of standards out in the world today, and the warfighter,” she continued. BAE is striving to make the system compatible with as many as possible. “CurWhen asked about the support it provides to the warfighter, McArthur exrently we understand standards like the DCGS Integration Backbone [DIB], so plained that, “We support the warfighter at all different levels. GXP Xplorer,is inthat users of the DIB can transparently reach in to GXP Xplorer and pull the tegrated with another tool, SOCET GXP, which is our image exploitation prod- assets out and search without actually knowing that they’re talking to GXP uct. However, GXP Xplorer was specifically designed for forward deployed Xplorer. There are other standards like that and we want to be able to do the analysts. In terms of training, we tried to make the tool as easy and familiar same thing there. We want to make our system so flexible that it can fit into a as possible. It has a Web interface as well as a desktop interface and mobile variety of different organizations meaning that they don’t necessarily have to apps. For the Web interface, we tried to use as many Web 2.0 and Web ca- adopt only our way of doing it.” pabilities that users would be familiar with and reduce the amount of required The company currently has some OGC and DIB capabilities but has set it training. So we have things like shopping carts and other tools that make it sights squarely on expanding those opportunities. familiar to anyone who uses the Web. We also have free software training for Both McArthur and Miller stressed that in determining what enhancements all of our customers at six different sites worldwide. Courses include train the to add to the system, the customer is number one and listening to feedback is trainer, we do train the user, and, for the enterprise server product, we have the a primary factor in future additions. training for system administrators.” We also look at technology trends and try to bring in the latest technology “We want it to be the system that they use to go search and discover all that we think would benefit the customer and implement those things first. of the data that they need to do their mission,” McArthur added when asked We have collaborative partnerships with all of our customers, so it’s really about BAE Systems’ goal for Xplorer. “Our focus is on intel, so it has all the a fluid relationship. Often we make suggestions based on their input and they traditional products that they use: images, terrain and features, but it also can elaborate on what their requirements are and what they need. adds PowerPoint documents, GeoPDFs, and files, so the operator can combine all their different data types together in one easy to use interface. With the mashups we’ve added some human intelligence capabilities to search sites like Twitter and Facebook posts and blogs. We also have searches for news websites so they can add some nontraditional type of social web and social media sources to their analysis.” So far the company has done two mashups: one is with Geosemble’s GeoXray tool, and the other is MarkLogic that searches Twitter and Facebook. “Our software engineers created the mashup in less than two weeks for each of those, so it’s really quick. In the future, we want to make it easy for other companies or for the users themselves to be able create those mashups and plugins,” she said (From left to right) BAE Systems’ Kurt de Venecia, Dave Miller, Janis McArthur and KMI Media Group Editor-in“In our future versions, we will add smart Chief Jeff McKaughan review the company’s offerings at GEOINT 2011 Symposium.
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GEOINT 2011 SYMPOSIUM
GXP Xplorer is deployed in Afghanistan on the PIX System—Protected Internet Exchange—as an unclassified system for sharing information between the U.S. government and military with the Afghani provincial reconstruction teams, and other partners. GXP Xplorer server is also installed for demonstration purposes in the unclassified STIL, which is the St. Louis Information Library, so that users on mobile devices can access GEOINT from the STIL directly on their mobile devices.
SOCET GXP Another of the division’s flagship systems is SOCET GXP, the company is preparing for SOCET GXP Version 4.0, which will be released in February 2012. “It is the culmination of almost 10 years of work merging technologies from the image analyst side and geospatial analyst side into one product,” said Kurt de Venecia, director of product management. “We used to have two products, VITec and SOCET SET. We’ve now merged all of those technologies into one product and enhanced it. The main thing that we’ve strived for in SOCET GXP is flexibility and ease of use. In our older products, the photogrammetic component was very powerful. Now, we want the image analyst to be able to complete image analysis and photogrammetry in the one product.” Drew Fisher, director of sales, Americas, explained how the company moved forward with innovations to the system and that listening to the customer was paramount. “We have an ongoing R&D effort to improve the software. We consistently receive customer feedback from a variety of market segments. Some of our bigger users include the Army, a lot of the combatant commanders, SOCOM, and the Air Force.” “As our support team goes out to help with software training and support, they field requests for specific workflows unique to their environment,” Fisher said. “Those get funneled back to product management, are prioritized and then go to the engineering team for implementation. It’s a full cycle from sales, support, product management and finally engineering.”
NEXTISSUE
thursday, oCtober 20, 2011
“We are a very customer conscious company. We can’t do everything at once, so we have to prioritize, and sometimes one thing can make the release and another can’t, because maybe that technology isn’t ready yet.” As the company releases new features, customers with upgrade entitlement plans are eligible for all the features and upgrades for their particular license level. This way customers always have the most current updates. The company considers the version 4.0 release as their SOCET SET replacement. “We have a number of legacy customers that are using our SOCET SET photogrammetic mapping application,” said de Venecia. “Some of the key capabilities that we’ve added in 4.0 are volumetric feature extraction for creating and rendering 3-D building models, advanced terrain editing capabilities, and LiDAR point clouds. These capabilities are the result of the ability to ingest, display, edit and extract the LiDAR data produced from laser systems.” “SOCSET GXP 4.0 is really a monumental release for us, because for the last 10 years we’ve been looking to combine our legacy VITec product and our legacy SOCET SET product into one new product, SOCET GXP,” said Mark Sarojak, director of global sales and marketing for the geospatial exploitation products business. “That evolution has taken place over a long period of time. We started with replacing the VITec functionality, which was adopted instantly by the VITec users, those users then started asking us for more and more functionality that was related to their requirements. We have subsequently accommodated these request.” “In the end SOCET GXP version 4.0 is much more than VITec plus SOCET SET,” said de Venecia. “SOCET GXP is also much more intuitive than SOCET SET thanks to the Microsoft Office Fluent user interface technology,” explained de Venecia. “Previously, to load and work with an image, you had to build a project before working with the data which was a lengthy process. With SOCET GXP, you simply select the image and load it, and it automatically displays the exact position on the ground.
Volume 9, Issue 8 November/December 2011
Cover and In-Depth Interview with:
Letitia A. Long Director NGA
Features: • • • • •
Maritime Domain Awareness Multi-Sensor Data Position, Navigation and Timing Display Technology GEOINT 2011 Symposium Report
Insertion Order Deadline: November 28, 2011 • Ad Materials Deadline: December 2, 2011
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April 10-12, 2012 Walter E. Washington Convention Center • Washington DC
Join
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place-based
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WhereCon was established to satisfy the growing desire for a new dialogue on the synergies that location-enabled and placebased streams of activity are bringing to historically stove-piped public and private sector domains. The question of “Where?” is increasingly becoming the organizing principal for how public and private sector enterprises get their jobs done.
Over 2 1/2 days, WhereCon will cultivate the emerging community of leaders, thinkers and practitioners that are struggling with the changes posed by the emerging “locationawareness” that portends great change for the public policy, private enterprise, technology and strategy – regardless of the sector from which they hail.
COME HEAR SPEAKERS FROM THE PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SECTOR DISCUSS THESE TOPICS • Engaging the World through Foreign Affairs and Public Diplomacy • Where does the SmartGrid think it is • Locating Broadband and the Digital Divide • Empowering the Mobile Workforce with Location Services • Location Privacy
• Putting Policy on the Map • Mapping the Mortgage Crisis • Power to the People – Crowd Sourcing Geo-Democracy • Geospatial Data and Enforcing Cap and Trade? • Public/Private Partnerships in Mapping Critical Infrastructure
• GEOINT 3.0, the Future Framework of National Security
• Place-Based Justice and Public Safety
• Open Source Geospatial Technology and Cloud Computing
• Collaborating for Healthy Ecosystems
REGISTRATION OPENS IN NOVEMBER Government & Military
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OGC and USGIF Members
$549
Industry
$699
Academia and Full-Time Students
$199
Brought to you by the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) and the United States Geospatial Intelligence Foundation (USGIF)
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