Weekly GEOINT Community News

NGA Selects Companies for Janus Elevation Contract; USGIF Members Make Washington Post’s Top Workplaces List; DOT Launches “Solving for Safety” Data Visualization Challenge; More

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NGA Selects Companies for Janus Elevation Contract

The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) chose seven companies for a potential 10-year, $250 million contract to help maintain NGA’s library of digital elevation models. This contract covers products generated, modified, or assessed by NGA that give users a digital representation of the terrain surface of the earth. Awardees are BAE Systems, Bias Corp., CMCS LLC, Harris Corp., Hexagon, Leidos, and Raytheon. Called Janus Geomatics Elevation, this contract is a companion to the separate potential $920 million Janus Geography vehicle for services to help NGA manage and use geospatial data. Hexagon and Leidos are winners for both contracts.

USGIF Members Make Washington Post’s Top Workplaces List

The Washington Post released its Top Workplaces 2018 list, recognizing the 150 companies in the D.C. area with the highest employee ratings. Multiple USGIF Member Organizations made the cut. Large companies include Noblis, MITRE, and CACI International; midsize companies include OGSystems, LGS Innovations, Octo Consulting Group, and Integrity Applications Inc.; and small companies include Next Century, InTec, and Quadrint. Congratulations!

DOT Launches “Solving for Safety” Data Visualization Challenge

The Department of Transportation launched a new Solving for Safety prize competition on Challenge.gov, seeking data visualization capabilities to analyze unseen patterns and reveal insights about vehicle crashes and other transportation phenomena. Total prizes are valued at $350,000. In addition to “solvers” from the tech community, DOT is calling for companies within the transportation space to provide guidance and data to developers who may not be versed in the industry. The competition comes as part of the DOT’s larger Safety Data Initiative, which aims to improve highway safety.

DigitalGlobe and CGIAR Answer Agricultural Questions with GBDX

DigitalGlobe announced CGIAR will use DigitalGlobe’s Geospatial Big Data Platform (GBDX) to address global agricultural challenges including land tenure, crop yield estimation, water conservation, and pest and disease monitoring. CGIAR will receive access to DigitalGlobe’s 100-petabyte image library and will use GBDX to create baseline agricultural datasets and informations products as well as to plan new projects.

Northrop Grumman Offers Scalable SIRU to NOAA Weather Sat

Northrop Grumman made a key contribution to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)’s recently launched Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-17 (GOES-17), designed for weather forecasting. Northrop provided the satellite’s prime contractor Lockheed Martin with Scalable Space Inertial Reference Units (Scalable SIRU), which offer sensor stabilization and altitude control for high-quality images. Northrop will provide the same technology for the remaining satellites in the GOES constellation.

Boeing Invests in Drone Delivery Startup

Boeing announced its investment in Matternet, a California-based startup developing an on-demand delivery service using unmanned aerial vehicles. Last year, Matternet became the first company authorized to launch UAV operations in an urban area, achieving flights over Switzerland. Leveraging Boeing’s logistics and manufacturing capabilities will make Matternet’s service safer, more reliable, and more efficient. The Series A investment is valued at $16 million, and was made through Boeing’s HorizonX ventures portfolio.

MapD Updates Analytics Platform

MapD debuted version 4.0 of its analytics platform, which is offered in the cloud and built on parallel GPU processing for big data analytics. Version 4.0 improves interactive visualization, allowing users to more easily determine relationships between data on a map and trends in real-world behavior. The platform now supports geographic data and its enhanced engine can query and visualize millions of points, polygons, lines, and spatial operators.

Boundless to Host Pop-Up HQ in San Diego

Boundless announced plans to open a pop-up headquarters in San Diego July 9-11, offering collaborative whiteboarding sessions and networking opportunities with Boundless executives. Whiteboard sessions include: “How to Move Location Solutions to the Cloud,” “How to Future-Proof Your GIS Journey with Hybrid Architecture,” and “Intro to Boundless Anywhere: Mobile GIS App for Field Data Collection.” Boundless will also host a networking event called “Tomorrow’s Location Solutions” July 10 at BarleyMash.

Carahsoft Wins DoD Software Contract

Carahsoft announced it was awarded a five-year, $37.6 million contract with the U.S. Navy’s Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command (SPAWAR) through the military’s Enterprise Software Initiative. Carahsoft and its partners will provide Quadium, an internet perimeter security software, to SPAWAR Systems Center Pacific, all DoD agencies, and the Intelligence Community.

Peer Intel

The National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) appointed Brig. Gen. Mark Baird as its new deputy director. Baird is a former director of space programs at the Defense Department’s acquisition office, and will support NRO’s strategic and tactical missions in his new role.

President Trump plans to nominate Alan Shaffer, former director of science and technology at the NATO Collaboration Support Office, to be the Defense Department’s new deputy undersecretary for acquisition and sustainment.

Photo Credit: Matternet

Weekly GEOINT Community News

Peraton announced its completion of the acquisition of Perspecta Inc, Norwegian Space Agency launches new NorSat-3 maritime tracking microsatellite, TCarta created products for two project pilots to enable NOAA to test the use of SDB, and more.

Weekly GEOINT Community News

Dr. Stacey Dixon of NGA nominated by the President as Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence, NRO to sign deals with commercial providers of satellite radar imagery, and more.

Weekly GEOINT Community News

BlackSky’s Newest Satellite Delivers First Insights Within 24 Hours, startups selected for NGA program, Lockheed Martin And Omnispace Explore Space-Based 5G Global Network, and more.