National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency Director Robert Cardillo addressed the crowd at the U.S. Geospatial Intelligence Foundation’s GEOINT Symposium in San Antonio June 5. There, he talked up the ever-increasing need for public-private partnerships and the wave of the GEOINT revolution. Here are five highlights of NGA’s pursuit of excellence.
- Wanted: 8 million imagery analysts?
Cardillo: Automation allows analysts to focus on the hard problems.
“ To manually exploit the imagery we will have over the next 20 years, we would need eight million imagery analysts. Even now — every day — in just one combat theater — with a single sensor, we collect the data equivalent of three NFL seasons in high definition.
We intend to automate 75 percent of the repetitive tasks our analysts perform so they have more time to analyze that last play and more accurately anticipate the next one. And then they can look much harder at our toughest problems — the 25 percent that require the most attention.”
2. Two-faced? That’s OK.
Cardillo: JANUS and CIBORG are two sides of the same “new coin of the realm,” allowing NGA to be the broker between those who need GEOINT data and those who have it.
“Big Data is clearly the new coin of the realm — and we all need to invest it wisely … We intend to make it easier for the government to acquire them through our CIBORG initiative — the Commercial Initiative to Buy Operationally Responsive GEOINT … So far in this year, NGA has committed more than $40 million via CIBORG. This initiative supports our commitment to become the GEOINT broker of choice.
Along with JANUS — which allows our data partners into NGA’s realm of content services — CIBORG provides a gateway for our GEOINT suppliers. We will broker user needs to suppliers — and convey the content and services to our customers.
NGA sits on an amazing — and broadly untapped — resource. We have labeled imagery, GIS data, and GEOINT analysis going back decades. In a world of deep learning, historic data and ground truth are immensely valuable … At the same time, we know that industry has valuable data — as well as the talent, creativity, and ability to make something out of nothing. We must tap into that.
So we propose the creation of a data brokerage. NGA would invest our data, our analysis and even our data exhaust with new startups, existing companies, and schools. The goal is to obtain a return on that invested data in the form of new algorithms, trained machine vision approaches — or an application of linked software.
Our approach to this initiative is now in formation — and we look forward to developing this type of data-centric synergy with any and all interested partners.
It’s a bold idea with many challenges — from authorities to declassification to licensing. And it definitely falls into the category of taking a risk. This is our time.”
3. “Sometimes you (gotta) go where everybody knows your name.”
Cardillo: Not working in the open would be negligent.
“Any digital connection includes both benefits and risks.
Because when so much of what we now do is in the open, we’ve got to safeguard the integrity of the pixels, the data, the commercial providers, the artificial intelligence and the algorithms — to ensure that they haven’t been interrupted — or corrupted.
We could button up and play it safe. But to not work in the open — where so much of the data and answers are — and where so many of our customers now reside — would be negligent.”
4. “It takes (at least) two.”
Cardillo announces a new data challenge to help fight illegal trafficking.
“We can’t — and won’t — do it alone. We want your thoughts and feedback. What data do you want? Do you want to invest your data alongside ours? What can we create together?
In the spirit of this new partnership, let me tell you about the data challenge. Illegal trafficking of all types — whether it’s in people, wildlife, drugs, money or weapons — is an enduring global problem. Our challenge, simply stated, is this: Using your knowledge, skills, resources and open source material, how would you help NGA and our partners model, track and deter trafficking?
In a world where so many things divide us, our mission brings us together; it unites our community and our focus. It reminds us just how closely connected we are. And if we can do more than see these connections, if we can honor them, if we can strengthen them, than that unity will develop and deliver the next generation of intelligence that the world demands and our customers deserve.”
5. Surf’s up
“NGA’s Safety of Navigation mission is one of our oldest — and one of our most critical — missions. Ensuring safe navigation in the air, on the sea and on the land — including the precision work being done by our geomatics experts — is at the core of NGA’s support to our Nation and our allies. Here too we’re shifting from manual to digital — and now we’re moving into the augmented and automated arena with our ongoing foundation modernization efforts.
While geodesy remains the lifeblood of NGA, the heart of our profession is Analysis — and it’s always been both an art and a family of sciences. So now, it’s time to add that extra spark — not just the electricity of a circuit board — but the flash of a great idea — the thing that takes us beyond where we thought we could go .
The movement from pictures to pixels to data is a significant change not only to our technology and our processes, but also to our team. So we’ve started to retool and re-skill our most valuable asset — our people.
And as we ride this tide of data, it’s important that every teammate has the necessary data literacy and computational skills. That includes not only the analysts who derive insight from data to create coherence from chaos — but the supervisors who manage them — and the leaders who make strategic decisions about that data.”
Just as we keep our eyes on the world, the world is also looking to us, counting on us to use every asset at our disposal — every pixel, every neuron, every bit of data — to make the difference — to win the race.”
Visit NGA.mil for more information about NGA’s activities at the 2017 GEOINT Symposium.
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About NGA: The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency delivers world-class geospatial intelligence, or GEOINT, that provides a decisive advantage to warfighters, policymakers, intelligence professionals and first responders. Both an intelligence agency and a combat support agency, NGA fulfills the president’s national security priorities in partnership with the intelligence community and Department of Defense.
