Welcome to the Monday Morning News Kick Off. We hope everyone had a pleasant Fourth of July holiday and weekend. This week's kick off includes a look at the rising demand for surveillance from cellpohnes, several industry announcements, and a thoughtful piece on striving for better geospatial intelligence. So, fire up that second cup of coffee and read on!

Cellphone Carriers See Uptick in Surveillance Requests

The New York Times ran a piece revealing that cellphone carriers responded to 1.3 million law enforcement requests for subscriber information last year, including caller locations. The cellphone carrier reports, said to be the first public rendering of its kind, are in response to an inquiry by the Bipartisan Congressional Privacy Caucus. The article raises the emerging concerns regarding privacy and legality, a topic trajectory recently explored in its first issue.

OpenGeo Opens Office in D.C. Area

OpenGeo, headquartered in New York City, announced it has opened its third office in Old Town, Alexandria, Va., on the heels of a successful experience at FOSS4G-NA. Oh, and they're hiring!

Eventful Week for ITT Exelis

ITT Exelis acquired Space Computer Corp., which specializes in processing and analysis tools for hyperspectral sensor data. In 2011, Space Computer Corp. posted revenues of $14.1 million and it currently employs about 37 people at its Los Angeles, Calif., facility. ITT Exelis also announced it has teamed with Sierra Nevada Corporation to build Vigilant Stare, a manned Wide-Area Airborne Persistent Surveillance system. Hosted on a Twin Otter aircraft, Vigilant Stare will provide visible and infrared coverage of city-sized areas, providing real-time motion imagery directly to users involved in domestic support missions.

ExactView-1 Launch Date Announced

Surrey Satellite Technology announced it will launch exactView-1, what it claims as the highest performing Automatic Identification System (AIS) satellite ever built, July 22 aboard a Soyuz launch vehicle from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. ExactView-1 was built under contract for exactEarth and will become the fifth deployed satellite in exactEarth’s vessel monitoring satellite constellation.

How to Achieve Better Geospatial Intelligence

This Defense Systems piece takes and in-depth look at rising intelligence demands and explores ways the military can cope with "an astounding amount of raw data," in a search for the answer to better geospatial intelligence. The article includes interviews with experts from industry, NGA, and the Army Geospatial Center, as well as Keith Masback, USGIF president.