Weekly GEOINT Community News

Missouri Technology Corporation and NGA Announce a Geospatial-Focused Corporate Accelerator in St. Louis

Missouri Technology Corporation (MTC) and the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) announced the formation of an NGA-sponsored accelerator based out of St. Louis. Expected to start in early 2021, this is the first of two cohorts NGA will be sponsoring through the collaboration with MTC, and with St. Louis-based accelerator operator, Capital Innovators. This corporate accelerator is the first project under the Partnership Intermediary Agreement signed earlier this year between MTC and NGA. Through the MTC, NGA will engage with the greater St. Louis region and beyond to develop innovations in geospatial technology through collaboration and a transfer of technology. The corporate accelerator project strongly aligns with MTC’s vision of serving as a catalyst for technology-based innovation to achieve sustainable economic growth for the state of Missouri.

NGA Reimagines Sign-Language Interpreting to Keep its Workforce Safe During A Global Pandemic

NGA’s Office of Diversity, Inclusion, and Equal Employment Opportunity debuted its new Sign Language Interpreting Operations Centers (SLIOCs) earlier this year. SLIOCs are centralized remote video interpreting hubs where NGA’s sign language interpreters can remotely provide virtual interpreting services for NGA’s deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) workforce who have returned to the buildings and the classified networks. NGA’s sign language interpreters provided gap-free support to NGA’s DHH workforce since March, when many NGA employees began teleworking from home due to the COVID-19 pandemic. During the COVID-19 telework environment, the interpreting team has been working from their homes to provide unclassified virtual services. But as NGA reconstitutes and phases employees back into physical workspaces, the interpreters team had to get creative in order to continue to provide uninterrupted interpreting services from both a telework and an onsite posture while adhering to CDC protective measures and NGA safety guidance. Each center consists of a secure room on the classified network, equipped with dedicated interpreter workstations—and particularly their DX-80, the system used for video interpretation—to connect securely from their desks to the systems of DHH employees. This setup allows the sign language interpreters to maintain social distancing without the need to wear masks, as facial expressions serve a key role in interpretation, and allows DHH employees, interpreters, and their NGA colleagues to participate in meetings and discussions safely and help provide equal footing to all employees as they return.

Airbus to Deliver Radar Instrument for New Copernicus ROSE-L Mission

Airbus was selected by Thales Alenia Space to build the advanced radar instrument for the ‘Radar Observatory System for Europe in L-band’ (ROSE-L) mission. Airbus Defence and Space in Friedrichshafen, Germany, will head an industrial consortium for the radar instrument involving companies from nine countries to deliver the project. With launch planned in July 2027, the Copernicus ROSE-L mission will carry an active phased array synthetic aperture radar instrument. From its 690-km polar orbit, ROSE-L will provide day-and-night monitoring of land, oceans, and ice, offering more frequent imaging at high spatial resolution and sensitivity. It will use advanced radar techniques including polarimetry and interferometry to create its data products. The radar antenna will be the largest planar antenna ever built, measuring 11 meters by 3.6 meters. During its 7.5-year lifetime, the ROSE-L mission will serve the needs of many users including the European Union’s Copernicus Land Monitoring and Emergency Management services. It will provide important data on soil moisture, precision farming, food security, forest biomass, and changes to land use. In addition, the mission will monitor polar ice sheets and ice caps, sea ice extent, and snow cover.

Esri Acquires Zibumi to Enhance 3D Visualization Capabilities

Esri announced the acquisition of Zibumi Yazılım Bilişim Tasarım Arge Sanayi Ticaret S.A. (“Zibumi”), a software development company headquartered in Turkey. Zibumi’s products—recognized for their unique and automated 3D data creation methods—were delivered to its customers as the “CitiGenius” family of applications. The Zibumi software development team, with its strong connections to academia as well as GIS users, will serve as the hub of Esri’s new R&D Center in Ankara, Turkey.

Boomi Platform Now Available on Carahsoft GSA Schedule

Boomi™, a Dell Technologies™ business and a leading provider of a cloud-based integration platform-as-a-service (iPaaS), and Carahsoft Technology announced that Carahsoft has expanded Boomi’s availability to the public sector and its reseller ecosystem by adding Boomi’s products to its GSA IT Schedule 70 contract. The move provides broader access to the iPaaS category leader’s solutions that enable public sector organizations to break down data silos to enhance information flow, improve citizen services, and increase operational effectiveness.

Peer Intel

Northrop Grumman Corporation named Scott Stapp chief technology officer (CTO). Stapp will report to Kathy Warden, chairman, chief executive officer and president and will work closely with the executive leadership team. As CTO, Stapp will lead the company’s technology strategy. He will help to ensure the company continues to leverage current technology and identify new solutions to bring to customers, creating new business opportunities and strengthening the company’s position on existing programs. He will also play a key role in engaging and developing the company’s technical talent.

Featured Image: Radar Instrument for New Copernicus ROSE-L Mission | Image Credit: Airbus