When senior leaders from the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency gathered Oct. 25 to collectively share insights regarding key technology, acquisition and capability goals, the message was clear: NGA remains laser-focused on maintaining GEOINT supremacy now and into the future.
The NGA Industry Strategy Summit 2022 was designed to give members of industry, academia, non-profit organizations and other government organizations insight into NGA’s strategic thinking and how the agency plans to incrementally develop its future operating environment. Nearly 1,700 partners participated in this year’s large-scale, externally-facing virtual event.
“Our role here at NGA is to ensure our nation maintains decision superiority through GEOINT supremacy,” said Phil Chudoba, NGA’s associate director for Capabilities and host of the summit. “If we’ve ever needed innovative technical solutions to help address our core challenges – to expand our GEOINT toolkit – it really is now.”
The summit provided a unique opportunity for NGA to connect with current and future partners, share essential information while gaining awareness regarding future capabilities and how to perhaps best leverage those capabilities, said Chudoba, who also serves as NGA’s Component Acquisition Executive.
Chudoba provided an in-depth review of focus areas deemed essential for achieving the agency’s goals and objectives and offered perspectives on the current acquisition environment, and the true power of forming and sustaining diverse partnerships. He also highlighted the criticality of maintaining an enterprise-focused, technically savvy workforce.
“We are going to stay focused on delivering [capabilities] at the speed of mission,” he said. “Every second matters to help ensure effective decision-making, the effectiveness of our warfighters – and frankly where our warfighters are concerned – to get them all home safe and sound.”
Chudoba discussed the growing and evolving Department of Defense and Intelligence Community acquisition policies and how NGA can benefit from adopting more agile acquisition practices and methods.
“To get the best possible proposals and ultimately the best solutions, we are going to reach out to you,” he said. “We want to make sure we continually understand, assess and consider some of the viable, beneficial technologies that are out there.”
Chudoba also addressed the ongoing development of capabilities considered essential for refining agency business rhythms, improving workflow efficiency and overall architectural effectiveness while noting the urgency of bolstering intensive cross-agency collaborations including, but not limited to in the areas of computer vision, artificial intelligence, machine learning and human-machine teaming.
“It’s no secret to industry and academia that these are focus areas for our adversaries,” he said. “That’s where our heads are focused here at NGA.”
Other session highlights included:
• An overview of the St. Louis Geospatial Ecosystem and Moonshot Labs by NGA West Executive and Next NGA West Program Director Sue Pollmann;
• A presentation by a white house presidential innovation fellow, Carlos Roqué, on the NGA Software Way, a plan to develop useful software faster and more consistently;
• An incisive overview of business opportunities at NGA by Dale Rainey, director of NGA’s Office of Small Business Programs and Kelly Pickering, senior procurement executive;
• A briefing on unique opportunities to engage with NGA/Research by NGA Research Director Cindy Daniell and Rebekah Cecil, chief of Program Planning and Execution in the Research Directorate;
• A presentation by Maria Muse Duncan, director of Source Discovery and Assessments, regarding several tools and technologies successfully implemented and currently leveraged by NGA
Chudoba closed the summit by thanking the participants and again noting the criticality of growing and maintaining key partnerships across the public and private sectors.
Referencing the work ahead and maintaining the stated focus on achieving GEOINT supremacy, Chudoba said, “we can’t get there without locking arms with the incredible capabilities you all bring to the national security space.”
To review the presentation charts that were used during the summit, please visit the Industry Summit page at: https://www.nga.mil/resources/IndustryStrategySummit22.html
A recording of the summit will also be available on nga.mil soon.
