NGA plans ‘Operations Technology Day’ in Springfield, VA, on April 10

By Loren Blinde March 3, 2014

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The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency will host an NGA Operations Technology Day, entitled Accelerating Map of the World, on April 10, from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm.

The event will take place in the Allder Auditorium at NGA’s Springfield, VA, campus.

To register for this technology day, click here.

This event will be hosted by John Goolgasian, director of the Foundation GEOINT Group within the NGA’s Source Operations and Management Directorate. (Except for a one-hour unclassified information session, this event will be limited to U.S. companies holding top secret clearances, says an NGA announcement posted on its Web site.)

“Early and frequent interaction and collaboration with industry and academia is critical to the NGA mission, our customers and our strategic partnerships,” says the agency. “Through our Operations Technology Day events, we seek to develop expanded and novel operational capabilities and advanced GEOINT solutions that are informed by innovation and evolving technical expertise.”

This event specifically aims to enhance dialogue with NGA’s private sector partners on the Map of the World initiative, update all attendees on current capabilities, discuss gaps in NGA’s services and technology, and enable collaborative problem solving around a few critical features.

Map of the World provides easy access to the agency’s GEOINT data. It is designed for everyday users, in addition to GEOINT experts.

“Map of the World is not a concept — it’s in use today, and NGA is providing services that we could not have even six months ago,” explains the agency on its Web site. “The content service is continuously updated to provide the most recent data. A user can search Map of the World for objects from missiles to lighthouses to learn not only where the objects are located, but also the intelligence information embedded with the objects on the map.”

NGA acknowledges it does, indeed, face challenges. These include the migration of information from multiple systems to a single common exchange service, integration of multiple networks, continuing to improve search capabilities and user-friendliness.

Upon registration, attendees will receive additional information regarding the key challenges NGA will be tackling in the afternoon challenge workshops.

Here is the planned Agenda:

(All sessions will be at the Top Secret/NOFORN classification, unless otherwise indicated.)

0800 – 0900 Check-in
0900 – 0945 Vision, Event Expectations, and Q&A
0945 – 1100 Map of the World overview and capabilities demonstration
1100 – 1200 Discussion of challenges and future growth
1200 – 1245 Lunch on your own (cafeteria facilities available on-site)
1300 – 1330 The Power of Partnering: An example of collaborative solutions generation
1330 – 1345 Introduction to the Challenge Workshops
1345 – 1530 Brainstorming Breakouts
1345 – 1500 Unclassified Session: Overview and challenges: Map of the World
1530 – 1630 Updates: Ideas from the Challenge Workshops
1630 – 1700 Next steps/adjourn