got geoint?

As our faithful readers know, every so often we like to shake things up in terms of content on got geoint? While this shift will not cause global chaos or birds to fall out of the sky, we have decided to do a Thursday news summary post today. Why you ask? Well, frankly, there is just too much industry news going on – and we did not want to wait until Monday to share it all with you. With the Esri Federal User Conference around the corner, there is no shortage of news. On top of that though, the news cycle is humming in general. So as we say on Mondays, fire up that second cup of coffee and read on! Happy Thursday.

New Generation of Unmanned Spy Planes is Being Tested
An experimental spy plane with a wingspan almost the size of a Boeing 747′s took to the skies over the Mojave Desert last week in a secret test flight that may herald a new era in modern warfare with robotic planes flying higher, faster and with more firepower. The massive Global Observer built by AeroVironment Inc. of Monrovia is capable of flying for days at a stratosphere-skimming 65,000 feet, out of range of most antiaircraft missiles. The plane is built to survey 280,000 square miles — an area larger than Afghanistan — at a single glance. That would give the Pentagon an “unblinking eye” over the war zone and offer a cheaper and more effective alternative to spy satellites watching from outer space. Check out the full LA Times story here.

U.S. Air Force Academy Geospatial Intelligence Program Accredited by USGIF
The United States Geospatial Intelligence Foundation (USGIF) announced today the official accreditation of the U.S. Air Force Academy’s geospatial intelligence program. The U.S. Air Force Academy is the first service academy to be accredited by USGIF. “The recently accredited Geospatial Intelligence Certificate Program at the U.S. Air Force Academy represents an important step forward for our discipline,” said Dr. R. Maxwell Baber, USGIF’s academic director. “Effective utilization of geospatial technologies has become critically important for national security, and this accreditation affirms significant USAFA commitment to the growing importance of GEOINT for protecting our national interests.” Check out the full press release here.

ITT Split Creates Intriguing But Pricey M&A Targets
New smaller companies to emerge from the breakup of ITT Corp (ITT.N) could draw takeover interest from rivals that might have been deterred previously by the size of the storied conglomerate that makes everything from water pumps to military night-vision goggles. Following the 1995 breakup that created the smaller ITT of today, the conglomerate announced plans on Wednesday to shrink yet again — by splitting into three companies each focused on water, military information technology and industrial businesses. Read the full Reusters story here.

TerraGo Technologies to Demonstrate Innovative Geospatial Collaboration Solutions at the Esri Federal User Conference
TerraGo Technologies, a leading provider of geospatial collaboration software solutions, will be at the Esri Federal User Conference (FedUC) in Washington, D.C., Jan. 19 – 21, demonstrating how its innovative TerraGo® GeoPDF® solutions extend Esri ArcGIS to enable field/mobile users who are not geospatial experts to access, capture, and share geospatial intelligence. In booth 307–adjacent to Esri booth 213–TerraGo will showcase how to deploy GeoPDF technology as a platform for advanced geospatial applications that extend Esri® ArcGIS®, increase the utilization of maps and imagery, and provide an increased ROI on GIS software and geospatial data. TerraGo demonstrations will highlight joint solutions from Adobe, Esri, Hitachi, Trimble, Northrop Grumman, and others. The presentations will also include partner software such as Esri ArcGIS 10 and Adobe®Acrobat® X and Reader® X. Read the full press release here.

Library of Congress Selects NAVTEQ to Provide Map Data and Content
NAVTEQ, the leading global provider of maps, traffic and location data enabling navigation, location-based services and mobile advertising around the world, announces its selection by the Library of Congress to provide map data for analysis and research within the Library of Congress’ Congressional Cartography Program (CCP). The Congressional Cartography Program (CCP) was established in 2002 at the Library of Congress to respond to congressional inquiries and requests for geospatial information regarding legislative issues. The program provides the United States Senate and House of Representatives with geospatial research and analysis in a presentation-ready format allowing Congress to make informed decisions about the implementation of public policy. Read the full press release here.

Assessing The Maturity Level of Geospatial Business Intelligence (GIS User Feature)
Business Intelligence (BI) covers a collection of techniques and tools that support an organisation’s decision making process. earch giant Google says the advent of Google Maps familiarised people with the concept of data points on a map, and progressively more and more BI customers are expecting fully integrated maps and spatial analytics with their tools of choice. Seeing data in the context of its location often exposes information previously hidden in the raw data. Google has already highlighted that, at the click of a button, the analytics currently being viewed by a user can be interactively viewed on Google Earth. All the information and data relationship layers are dynamically available so that as filters are applied in the BI environment they are automatically applied to the view in Google Earth. Check out the full GIS User feature here.

Treadmill Allows You to Take a Virtual Run Anywhere on Google Earth [VIDEO]
During CES last week, Panasonic connected a Nordic Track treadmill to the Internet (Internet), and the result is a stationary run using Google Maps that feels real. A Panasonic Viera Connect HDTV displays Google Maps (Google Maps) and communicates inclinations of hills and valleys to the treadmill. The machine is smart enough to incline itself at the appropriate times, matching those hills every step of the way. Imagine the ability to simulate an actual run anywhere on the planet. Take a run up Mount Vesuvius, or peer over at Bill Gates’s house while you sprint through his neighborhood with nary a security guard in sight. Of course, it’s all virtual, so you may never need to leave your house again. Check out the full Mashable post with video here.

Tags: Esri Federal User Conference, GEOINT, geospatial intelligence, got geoint?, ITT, ITT Splits into three companies, NAVTEQ, NAVTEQ and Library of Congress, New Drones, TerraGo, TerraGo Esri Federal UC, U.S. Air Force Academy Geospatial Intelligence Program, USGIF