Weekly GEOINT Community News

IARPA Announces New Prize Challenge; Esri Acquires ClearTerra Location Data Technology; ARL and FBI Issue RFIs; More

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IARPA Announces New Prize Challenge

The Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA) is hosting the UG2 Prize Challenge, which using the UG2 dataset aims to advance the analysis of images collected by small UAVs. The challenge is split into two restoration and enhancement processes: one to improve image quality for manual inspection; and one to improve the object recognition algorithm’s performance. Submissions close April 15. Winners will be announced May 15 and will receive cash prizes and an invitation to present at a 2018 IEEE Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition Conference workshop.

Esri Acquires ClearTerra Location Data Extraction Technology

Esri announced it has acquired technology from ClearTerra, a leader in geospatial and activity-based intelligence tools. This acquisition will provide ArcGIS platform users the ability to easily discover and extract geographic coordinates from unstructured textual data like emails, briefings, and reports, instantly generating intelligent map-based information.

Ball Aerospace Launches VizZen Software

Ball Aerospace is offering a new cloud-based content management software called VizZen, available for purchase via the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Marketplace. VizZen will help commercial and government customers manage and visualize multiple databases, of any type and from any source, simultaneously. Users can create and share data reports with customizable layers for workflows, objects, and attributes.

ARL Issues RFI for IT Modernization

The Army Research Laboratory (ARL) issued a request for information to modernize its information technology approach and to help support researchers with a more flexible computing and storage environment. ARL is seeking industry input on areas including private cloud environments, virtual machines, using virtual desktop infrastructure for flexibility, and full lifestyle asset management. Submissions are limited to a 10 page maximum.

FBI Issues RFI for Cloud Computing Services

The FBI issued a request for information in commercial cloud capabilities, specifically infrastructure, platform, and software-as-a-service. Market research is being conducted in accordance with a “cloud first” policy from the U.S. Chief Information Officer. Industry input will help the FBI make informed acquisition decisions regarding cloud service providers for government agencies. 

Verisk Launches Mobile Imagery App

Verisk Analytics’ Geomni business unit launched a new mobile application for imagery and data collection. The app enables iOS devices to act as remote sensing tools featuring improved image quality, unique views and angles, and automatic feature detection. Geomni mobile was built with security provisions for inspectors in mind, encouraging users to connect the app to UAVs to collect relevant images.

Peer Intel

Cubic Corporation announced president and CEO Bradley Feldmann has been elected the new chairman of the company’s board of directors. He’ll follow Walter Zable, a board member for more than 40 years and the chairman for five. Feldmann has lead strategic growth for Cubic, which in 2017 experienced record sales. 

Photo Credit: IARPA

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