got geoint?

Welcome to the Monday Morning News Kick Off post from got geoint? We hope everyone had a restful post-GEOINT 2010 weekend. By the way, did any of you all see Dave Sterling kick the 50-yard field goal at the ‘Jersey and Jeans’ GEOINT 2010 Closing Ceremony at the Superdome last week? It was epic. Well, now it’s time to get back into the groove of work. And, as always, we have pulled together all the actionable news you need to kick-start your week. And, be sure to circle back all week. We will be showing exclusive video from all of the GEOINT 2010 keynotes and panels. Happy Monday!

Tag-Along Marketing – Are Consumers Using Location-Based Services? The Answer is “No.”
Everything is in place for location-based social networking to be the next big thing. Tech companies are building the platforms, venture capitalists are providing the cash and marketers are eager to develop advertising. All that is missing are the people. As of August, only 4 percent of American adults who used the Internet also used location-based services, which allow people to “check in” to physical locations via their cellphones to earn coupons or keep up with friends, the Pew Research Center’s Internet and American Life Project reported last week. And only 1 percent of Internet users are on such services on any given day, an indication that those who do use the services still have not integrated them into their daily lives. Read the full NY Times article here.

U.S. Drones on Hunt in Yemen
The United States has deployed Predator drones to hunt for al-Qaeda operatives in Yemen for the first time in years but has not fired missiles from the unmanned aircraft because it lacks solid intelligence on the insurgents’ whereabouts, senior U.S. officials said. The use of the drones is part of a campaign against an al-Qaeda branch that has claimed responsibility for near-miss attacks on U.S. targets that could have had catastrophic results, including the recent plot to place parcels packed with explosives on cargo planes. Read the full Washington Post article here.

BAE Systems Helps Modernize National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency Applications
BAE Systems recently migrated a server-based mission application into a virtualized data-center environment to increase reliability and reduce operating costs, completing the first task order under the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency’s (NGA) Total Application Services for Enterprise Requirements (TASER) contract. Under TASER, NGA will similarly transition other legacy hardware and software systems to an application and infrastructure service provider business model over the next five years, as part of a $1 billion indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract in which BAE Systems will compete for task orders. “This important TASER milestone sets the stage for future task orders to accelerate the delivery of proven technology and mission capabilities to warfighters, public safety officials, and policy makers,” said John Gannon, president of BAE Systems’ Intelligence & Security sector. Read the full press release here.

NGA Shifts Focus to High-Tech World
The National Geospatial Intelligence Agency’s new director is pushing the use of high-tech tools to improve the analysis and usability of intelligence information. Among the changes to come will be an apps store featuring mobile apps created by both NGA and outside users – with the potential for an app store for the intelligence community that could be similar to that being pursued by the Defense Department and already in use by the commercial sector. “We want to put the power of geospatial intelligence into the hands of our users,” said Letitia Long, who spoke Nov. 2 and the GeoInt 2010 conference in New Orleans. “We want to fundamentally change the user experience.” Read the full GCN article here.

GeoEye Appoints Dr. William L. Ballhaus as New Board Member
GeoEye, Inc., a premier provider of superior satellite and aerial-based geospatial information and services, announced today that it has appointed Dr. William L. Ballhaus to serve on GeoEye’s board of directors. He joins nine other board members. Ballhaus’ appointment follows the closing of GeoEye’s financing arrangement with Cerberus Capital Management, L.P., which the Company announced in March. GeoEye partnered with Cerberus to provide financing to support its bid on the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency’s (NGA) EnhancedView program. In August, the NGA awarded the Company a major contract under EnhancedView, worth up to $3.8 billion over the next 10 years. Read the full press release here.

DigitalGlobe Appoints Kimberly Till to Board of Directors
DigitalGlobe, a leading global content provider of high-resolution earth imagery solutions, today announced the appointment of Kimberly Till to the DigitalGlobe Board of Directors, effective immediately. Ms. Till is currently the President and Chief Executive Officer and a Director of Harris Interactive, a global leader in custom market research. Prior to joining Harris Interactive she served as the Chief Executive Officer, North America, of Taylor Nelson Sofres, which was the world’s largest custom market research company. Before that Ms. Till was Vice President of the Worldwide Media and Entertainment Group in the Communications Sector at Microsoft. Earlier in her career, she held senior management positions at AOL International and Sony Corporation of America. Read the full press release here.

China Calls For Improved Earth Observation In Developing Countries
Chinese Minister for Science and Technology Wan Gang has called for more international cooperation to boost research capabilities and the level of earth observation in developing countries. Cooperative efforts under the framework of the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS) will help achieve the strategic targets set in the GEOSS’s 10-Year Implementation Plan by 2015, Wan said at the Group on Earth Observations (GEO) Beijing Ministerial Summit here Friday. Read the full SpaceDaily article here.

Tags: BAE Systems, BAE Systems and TASER, Consumers not using location-based services, DigitalGlobe, GeoEye, GEOINT 2010, Letitia Long, U.S. Drones, US Drones Deployed in Yemen, USGIF, USGIF and NGA, Yemen and Drones