Tag Archives: intel

Behind the Curtain: GEOINT 2019

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The GEOINT Symposium is the nation's largest gathering of geospatial intelligence stakeholders from across industry, academia, and government. Hosted by the United States Geospatial Intelligence Foundation (USGIF), the event has become the gathering place for 4,000+ members of the worldwide geospatial community.

Geospatial Intelligence (GEOINT) was recognized as a discipline in the mid 1990s when the imagery and mapping disciplines were combined into a single DoD agency that was later re-named the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA). The combination proved that together, these two technologies provided an incredible opportunity for new intelligence and analysis. The term "GEOINT" was coined by the honorable James Clapper and a community of mapping and imagery intelligence analysts began to grow.

The first GEOINT Symposium was held in a hotel meeting room with the expectation of 100 attendees, but even that first event drew many more to the standing room-only sessions. Since then, the Symposium has grown year after year to become the flagship event for networking and professional development among the defense and intelligence communities and others who use geospatial technology including first responders, law enforcement, and beyond. Continue reading →

The Secret is in the Cloud

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Amazon Web Services (AWS) recently announced a newly developed "secret region" in their cloud, specifically made to host federal data up to the secret level of security classification--the second-highest level behind top secret. Amazon had previously offered only a top secret region, but this new offering now allows for any sensitive data to be stored in the commercial cloud. According to Amazon, "The U.S. Intelligence Community can now execute their missions with a common set of tools, a constant flow of the latest technology and the flexibility to rapidly scale with the mission." Microsoft Azure also has a similar offering.[Tweet "AWS newly developed "secret region" in their cloud to host federal data. #GovEventsBlog"]

The government's adoption of cloud technology started with administrative and low-risk data and applications - service workflow solutions with Salesforce, email platforms, and video conferencing. As evidenced by the work put into securing the cloud for sensitive data, commercial cloud providers see a need and profitable revenue stream with government customers. Continue reading →

The Great Cyber Convergence in 2015: AFCEA Speaks

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From time to time GovEvents will come across information we feel our members and audience would benefit from. Here's something we wanted to share:

Originally posted on BreakingDefense by 

Technology is moving too fast to keep track of everything, but there's one overarching trend that policymakers must not miss in 2015. Call it "convergence."

Cybersecurity is no longer its own specialized function for tech geeks to take care of off to one side while the rest of the organization gets on with the real mission. To the contrary, cybersecurity is becoming an increasingly central concern for more and more institutions, from Sony Pictures to the US Army, from Marine Corps drone units to Pentagon cloud computing contractors. Integrating the new technology into operations will require new concepts, sustained funding, and open communications between government and industry -- none of which is guaranteed in 2015. Continue reading →