Highlights From GEOINT2013 Symposium

Originally posted on GovDataDownload

The recent GEOINT 2013* Symposium, which took place in mid-April, was a great opportunity for government agencies and industry representatives  to share ideas and best practices, according to Greg Gardner, chief architect for government, defense, and Intel solutions for NetApp's U.S. Public Sector. Gardner spoke with GovDataDownload about his key takeaways from the recent show.

GEOINT2013* was so named because last year's symposium was cancelled due to sequestration and budget cuts. This year's make-up conference, hosted by the United States Geospatial Intelligence Foundation, was a busy one.  Industry, the Intelligence Community and Special Operations Commands all were in attendance and well-represented.

The keynote address by Director of National Intelligence (DNI) James Clapper set a framework for the show. He debunked many of the myths surrounding the recent Snowden leaks and discussed the impact they have had on the Intelligence community.

Director Letitia Long of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) shared her vision for the agency during GEOINT and outlined its architecture and the five tenets of how they do business.  Gardner said that one of the most interesting aspects of her speech involved both a vision for immersive intelligence as well as the ways in which activity-based intelligence affects the Intelligence Community.

The Defense Intelligence Information Enterprise  (DI2E) panel addressed the ways in which they are integrating IC-ITE and JIE in a manner that optimizes secure information sharing.

Hear more from Gardner about GEOINT2013* here.

The Power of Community

Originally posted by Kristin Quinn on trajectorymagazine.com

In the wake of the sudden, unexpected decision to postpone the GEOINT 2013 Symposium, which was scheduled to be held in Tampa Oct. 13-16, more than 200 Intelligence Community members gathered Oct. 15 for a USGIF special event at the Embassy Suites in Springfield, VA.

As a result of the ongoing government shutdown, USGIF announced Oct. 8 the decision to postpone its 10th annual GEOINT Symposium to April 2014. The special event offered community members the opportunity to reflect upon this news, look ahead to the spring, and network.

USGIF CEO Keith Masback said there is "no playbook" for postponing an event the size of the GEOINT Symposium, which was expected to bring more than 4,000 attendees and around $5 million in revenue to the Tampa Bay area.

Continue reading