Weekly GEOINT Community News

NSA to Undergo Reorganization

According to a Fedscoop article, the National Security Agency (NSA) is planning its largest reorganization yet next month. Although specific details were not revealed, NSA Director Adm. Michael Rogers said the agency would roll out “NSA21,” to better position the agency for the 21^st century. Rogers said the changes would be the “most comprehensive set of changes NSA has undergone probably since the late 1990s” and would take about 10 months to complete.

Boundless Announces GeoNode 2.4

Boundless released GeoNode 2.4—the next iteration of its web-based platform for developing geospatial information systems and for deploying spatial data infrastructure, enabling organizations and communities to easily visualize and analyze geospatial and non-geospatial content. Boundless co-hosted a GeoNode global code sprint Nov. 16-20, during which teams in New Orleans and Turin, Italy, worked.

TomTom Moves to New Mapping Platform

TomTom moved to its new transactional-based map-making platform. According to the press release, this platform is the first of its kind in the mapping industry and a leap forward in map-making technologies. TomTom’s new platform brings great advantages in efficiencies and minimizes the time between detecting changes in the real world and updating the map on the end user’s device. Watch a video on how the new platform works here.

New Peak Designated Tallest in North American Arctic

National Geographic reports new analysis has determined the new tallest peak in Arctic Alaska to be Mt. Isto, standing at 8,976 feet. Previously, scientists believed Mt. Chamberlin was the tallest peak, but found it to instead be the third tallest in Arctic Alaska at 8,901 feet—the second being Mt. Hubley at 8,917 feet. Matt Nolan from the University of Alaska at Fairbanks led the researching and used LiDAR to determine the height of the mountains. Prior to Nolan’s work, the most accurate maps of the area were made in the 1950s when scientists estimated peak heights based on aerial photographs.

Locata to Collaborate with NASA

Scientific American reports Australian company Locata partnered with NASA’s Langley Research Center, where Locata’s ground based GPS technology will assist in testing unmanned aerial vehicle safety systems. Locata’s system produces a signal that merges seamlessly with the traditional GPS network. A test last year by the U.S. Naval Observatory last year found Locata’s web of signals synced within 200 trillionths of a second, more than 50 times faster than GPS.

NavVis Raises More Than $8 Million for Indoor Mapping App

Munich-based 3D indoor mapping and navigation startup NavVis raised €7.5 million, or approximately $8.1 million, in series B funding as it readies the launch of its indoor navigation app, reports Techcrunch. The company, built out of research at the Technical University of Munich, developed imaging technology to enable indoor navigation without WiFi, GPS, or beacon technology. According to the article, the new funding will be used to gear up production and expand sales activities in the U.S., Germany, China, Japan, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia.

Photo Credit: Locata