got geoint?

Welcome to the Monday Morning News Kick Off post. We hope everyone enjoyed the last official August weekend of 2010. Whether you were watching Entourage, or watching the Emmy Awards (go Modern Family!) last night, the inevitable was going to happen: Monday morning would eventually arrive. But fret not. We have pulled together all the news you need to ease the transition back into the real world. So, as we always say, fire up that second cup of coffee and read on!

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Every so often on Wednesdays, we like to highlight a number of Intelligence Community-related stories (a Wednesday’s News Kick Off if you will). And, for this Wednesday, we have a number of stories regarding homegrown counter-terrorism issues, the House moving to increase oversight of the IC and a congressman pushed the NRO to finish its charter. We hope that you find that this news round up provides you with a strategic view into what is happening with the IC. And, feel free to fire up that second cup of coffee and read on.

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One of the biggest challenges facing the GEOINT community is providing the ability to share vital information with the right people at the right time. And with the proliferation of GEOINT information gathering technologies, and drone data, there is no shortage of live video and other data streaming from air- and ground-level sensors. And what comes with this challenge is that analysts need to assess the data, then share it with the warfighters in a timely fashion. According to this recent Defense Systems article, the pendulum is swinging toward giving warfighters greater access to raw data, even as the debate continues over how to make that information useful. Along these lines, check out this DoD Buzz article that highlights how a new program called Valiant Angel aims to sort and move the massive amounts of still and video imagery collected by dozens of aerial drones and other aircraft orbiting around Afghanistan. What do you all think of this trend of providing raw data to the warfighter? The role of analysts is critical in compiling the right intelligence, which can minimize error. But if there is too much of a lag time, the intelligence is moot. Very much of a double-edge sword.

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Our friends at DoD Buzz recently came out with a story that highlights how the U.S. Air Force — In the face of threats from jamming and attacks on satellites — needs to lessen its dependence on the Global Positioning System and develop alternatives to GPS. According to the article, Gen. Norton Schwartz, Air Force Chief of Staff, said that GPS signals are particularly vulnerable in time of war since enemies know of the reliance U.S. forces place on its highly accurate signal. The article points out that alternatives to GPS include accurate digital maps, if not the good old ink and paper versions. This certainly caught our attention — the printed/paper maps thing. Is this really true? Is GEOINT going retro? Our gut is saying probably not. We anticipate that technology innovations will trump good old fashioned printed maps. What do you all think?

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Now that everyone has shaken off the tryptophan side-effects from eating too much Thanksgiving turkey, we are ready to get focused and back to work. What better way to dive into the challenging work world than to read up on the latest news and headlines — beyond the Tiger Woods car crash (although it does seem a bit shady) — that impacts you. Today, we have compiled a number of stories that cover both domestic and international topics; news about Japan and India’s expanded space/satellite power, as well as a sobering post about the U.S. losing its dominance. As we always say, fire up that second cup of coffee and read on.

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Before we dive into the ever-popular Friday’s Food for Thought post, we wanted to share some very important news about the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO). As many of our readers know, we have been covering the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) for a while now, and have always made it a priority to cover anything breaking about intelligence agency. Well, you all may recall that Dennis Blair, Dennis Blair, Director of National Intelligence, recently pulled together a panel of high-level intelligence experts to pretty much examine examine every facet of the NRO, including its mission, charter, staffing, requirements, organization, funding and relationship to other organizations. And guess what the next step may be? More power for the NRO.

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Our friends at DOD Buzz yesterday broke the story about a battle royal between the Senate Intel Committee and the Intelligence Community over the fate of the new electro-optical satellite system that was recently approved by President Obama. Sen. Diane Feinstein, a member of the Senate Appropriation defense subcommittee, voiced the following concerns and was worried that the program would be a repeat of the the Future Imagery Architecture system. Here is her statement:

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