Weekly GEOINT Community News

NGA Releases Pathfinder Code; DigitalGlobe to Help Facebook Bring Developing Countries Online; DHS Publishes 275 Data Sets; Deloitte and Uber Host Hackathon

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NGA Releases Pathfinder Code

The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency’s (NGA) unclassified project, GEOINT Pathfinder, recently released eight open-source coding projects on GitHub. According to NGA’s press release, two of the projects include a social media picture explorer that uses machine learning techniques to cluster similar images. Launched in August 2015, Pathfinder is helping the agency navigate commercial and open source geospatial intelligence and operates via an unclassified, off-premise environment. View NGA’s open-source projects on GitHub.

DigitalGlobe to Help Facebook Bring Developing Countries Online

Facebook recently announced the Telecom Infra Project, an initiative to develop new technologies and approaches for connecting 4.2 billion people that remain offline. Facebook’s Connectivity Lab will leverage DigitalGlobe’s Geospatial Big Data initiative (GBDX) to determine population densities across rural areas in 20 developing nations. According to DigitalGlobe’s blog post, the company will complete an accurate mosaic of the globe at 50-centimeter resolution in the coming months and will replenish this base map of the world on a frequent basis. As Facebook shares its results with the public, DigitalGlobe will make them available on the GBDX platform to allow others to access and use the information.

DHS Publishes 275 Data Sets

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published 275 geospatial data sets from its Homeland Infrastructure Foundation-Level Data (HIFLD) collection to support nationwide homeland security collaboration, reports GCN. According to the article, these data sets help DHS better prepare for and respond to national emergencies by adopting new technologies that facilitated community collaboration. The HIFLD Open Data website provides access to the data sets as well as up-to-date downloadable files and visualization tools. Learn more.

Deloitte and Uber Host Hackathon

This weekend, on behalf of the U.S. Department of Transportation, Deloitte organized and Uber hosted the “Celebrating Cities–Hack the Last Mile” hackathon. The hackathon leveraged data from public and private sector clients to help citizens more efficiently access transportation options. More than 100 volunteer hackers participated in the threeday event. The “Happy Home” team won the competition for creating an app that helps people triangulate affordable rental housing to reduce long commute times by cross-correlating rental housing costs, apartment occupancy, transit times, driving congestion, and the distance between home and work. Check out their winning app here

Woolpert To Provide GIS Services to San Francisco Airport

Woolpert was awarded a five-year contract to provide on-call geographic information system (GIS) services for San Francisco International Airport. The work involves GIS data collection, compliance with Federal Aviation Administration airport GIS standards, and implementing strategic planning services. According to Woolpert’s press release, the project also includes application development and integration with existing airport business systems.

Using ArcGIS for Wildfire Response

The National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC) now uses Esri’s ArcGIS platform for its Fire Globe web GIS application. Fire Globe is part of NIFC’s GIS, Fire Enterprise Geospatial Portal, and is for users from various agencies involved in wildfire response. Users can see incident-relevant data and access historic fire data and predictive fire weather information.

EPA Releases Drinking Water Map

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency released an online mapping tool called Drinking Water Mapping Application to Protect Sources Waters (DWMAPS). The tool will provide the public, water system operators, state programs, and federal agencies with information to help safeguard the sources of U.S. drinking water. Citizens and stakeholders can use the tool to learn more about their watershed and help pinpoint pollution.

NYPD Updates Public Crime Map

The New York Police Department (NYPD) launched CompStat 2.0, a public online data tool to map crime statistics by precinct, reports Gothamist. NYPD has used this tool since 1990 but the updated version allows the public to access the city’s crime statistics. Check it out.

Peer Intel

Brian W. Hobbs is now vice president of corporate capture for KEYW. Hobbs previously served in business development leadership roles with the U.S. Department of Defense, Intelligence Community, and financial services industry. Additionally, KEYW elected Mark W. Sopp to its Board of Directors. Sopp most recently served as Leidos’ executive vice president and chief financial officer, and has 25 years of experience serving in senior financial executive roles for public and private companies.

Photo Credit: Woolpert

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