Dear Army- Let’s meet at #AUSA2016
My thoughts on a geospatial platform for the Army Enterprise
In my new (okay, now going on 2+ years) post Army retirement career, I attend a lot of events, conferences, and lectures with my main customer- the United States Army. These events are always good learning for me and my industry teammates as we get to hear from the Army’s senior leaders, Program Executive Officers, Program Managers, and their teams supporting Army priorities, R&D, and acquisition programs of record. Our professional associations (AUSA, AFCEA, NDIA, etc.) and our media teammates (who promote information sharing and dialogue via print and digital products, and in-person events) provide sponsorship and logistics so all I have to do is register, sometimes pay, and show up. I learn who’s who in the Army programs, I am able to tie the U.S. Army Operating Concept to current and next activities, and just as important, I get to meet face to face with industry partners, teammates, and, yes, the competition.
Last spring, I attended the CERDEC Technical Interchange with Industry event at Aberdeen Proving Ground (APG), MD. In the fall, industry attends the Team APG Annual Planning Briefing to Industry. These are great events to learn about priorities, contracting opportunities, and ensure I know the points of contact for further questions and future discussions. At every event, the Army is supportive of the “dialogue with industry” and encourages us to reach out to continue the discussion. The Director at CERDEC, Henry Muller, told the audience that the interchange with industry was the stage setter for follow-on discussions. “We need to partner with industry to learn best practices and stay abreast of cutting edge technologies, and you gain an understanding by working with us, of how what you’re doing is applicable and how it can be relevant in terms of a solution for Army needs.”
This summer I attended one of the Association of the United States Army (AUSA) Hot Topic events. The theme was on Army Networks. A great day of learning from Army and Joint leaders. The audience received insights on cyber, the Army cloud initiatives and more. An opportunity to engage the speakers and panels was available and revealing.
In this revised story, I want to encourage the conversation and invite my Army to visit one of its industry partners. I know travel can be challenging for funding and time allocation. I see through increased attendance at events that the previous travel restrictions are normalizing and senior leaders are encouraging Army leaders to get out and see innovative work from the defense industrial base. DoD tells their organizations to talk with industry from “earliest identification of requirements through receipt of proposals”. Mr. Will Goodman in his article “Market Research: the Collateral Damage of Conference Restrictions” highlights the challenges of “radioactive” labels being applied to all conferences regardless of value. His closing touts the value of engaging with industry to see “new and innovative capabilities to the government” where government programs can be “hunting for cutting-edge technology at a bargain price”.
Esri, the market leader in geographic information systems (GIS) , invites you to booth #7923 at the AUSA Annual Meeting from 3–5 October in the Walter E. Washington Convention Center.
You are asking I’m sure:
- Who should come?
- What will I learn?
- What’s in it for me?
All good questions. Let me start with a “briefback” on what I’ve heard from the Army leaders on the challenges of IT, data, C4ISR systems, and providing capabilities for our great Soldiers.
Army goals (not inclusive) in the development of systems for the Common Operating Environment, the Army Network Campaign Plan, and the Army Business Strategy:
- Interoperable data, information, and products- from admin operations in garrison to the most forward deployed Soldier at the tactical edge
- Easy to use applications for the Soldier, via device-agnostic capabilities
- Support security and protection of the data and network
- Work in a connected and DIL environment
- Support the reduction of FSRs in the AO
- Enable Soldiers, Staffs, and Commander to fight off one map and one Common Operating Picture
- Present data in a way that assists our decision-making process
- Enable global collaboration among regionally aligned forces
- Support best-in-class business system IT
Who should come? Everyone interested in learning more about better decisions to Win in a Complex World. Anyone who is using spatially aligned data (that’s about 85% of all data BTW).
I want to lead with a quote from General Perkins, Commanding General of TRADOC. A few weeks ago in Huntsville at the AUSA event he said he wanted the Army to transition “from buying things to building new capabilities”.
What will I learn? Esri software allows our user community, including developers, to build great applications and capabilities for their mission and tasks. There is a misconception that Esri is “proprietary”, it leads to “vendor lock in”, and Esri is not “open”. Come and learn about our Open Vision.
Esri’s Open Vision supports an open, extensible platform focused on interoperability, innovation, and collaboration. We support Data Formats to transfer data from system to system. Metadata (data about data) standards matter too. Examples include ISO and the FGDC Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata (CSDGM).
In the web environment Esri is a proponent for services standards including those of the Open Geospatial Consortium and ISO/TC211. Supported services include:
Esri’s open APIs and specifications provide unparalleled access for various systems (GIS and others) to engage and communicate with the ArcGIS platform. This includes both client and server technologies. From the ArcGIS REST API for web clients to the i3S spec to encode 3D data we support the tools to share and store data. Others include: LERC; File Geodatabase API; XML Schema for the Geodatabase; and the de facto standard for many GIS applications- the Shapefile.
Esri ensures that you can access, use, and store GIS data in the formats you already use. For the Soldiers and staff that use Excel and PowerPoint in their daily work- we have product interoperability via ArcGIS Maps for Office.
This interoperability is essential when working with our established partners and our “pick up team” of willing nations and organizations. Esri is proud to support the Joint, Interagency, Intergovernmental and Multinational (JIIM) cooperation necessary in a whole of government(s) response to threats, natural disasters, and special security events like the Olympics [see our work on support to Ebola and Zika]. ArcGIS serves as the underlying geospatial platform for NATO and the Australian Defence Force. The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, a combat support agency and member of the Intelligence Community has supported the Department of Defense with a geospatial platform and tools for years and has recently renewed the Commercial Joint Mapping Toolkit (CJMTK).
I hope you’ll stay with me for my next story that will continue to answer- What will I learn? Thanks for joining the continuing conversation.
Read on- Part Two is located here.
