NGA opens its doors to industry

WHAT: An invitation from the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency to an industry day on Sept. 14.

WHY: The NGA wants to check in with the latest in private-sector intelligence technology in part because, the notice said, “the geospatial and satellite supplier markets are undergoing unprecedented growth.” The industry day is an opportunity for the agency to “provide an update on current capabilities [and] discuss gaps in our services and technology.”

NGA Director Robert Cardillo has been clear about wanting to speed up the agency’s acquisition cycle and this industry day, held at NGA headquarters in Springfield, Va., could offer input toward that end. The gathering will be a discussion forum for the agency’s “Next Generation” initiative, which is broken down into four challenges: automated data collection based on expected events; collecting data across a bigger enterprise; comprehensively using collected data; and measuring the value of collected data.  

Orrin Mills, head of the agency’s Source Operations Group, will run the industry day.

The NGA does more unclassified work than the CIA or the NSA. And, true to form, all sessions at the industry day will be unclassified.

Click here to read the invitation. The deadline for registering is Sept. 3.