Building the Intelligence Information Enterprise

November 16, 2010

Delivering Intelligence for the Real World

Breaking down geographic and technical barriers in our Defense Intelligence Information Enterprise is vital.

by Guy Dubois

Now more than ever, we recognize the breadth and dramatic variation of the threats before us. The threats may come from insurgents, multi-national terrorist groups, state-level actors or the natural environment itself. These threats are persistent, constantly evolving and transcend national boundaries.

Countering threats in this environment with full-spectrum operations requires a strong and flexible Defense Intelligence Information Enterprise (D2IE). The enterprise will provide global reach and the agility to bring the right tools and intelligence to bear against today’s mission problems and those of tomorrow. Geospatial intelligence technology and standards will enable this vision for the DI2E.

The Distributed Common Ground Station (DCGS) and the DCGS Integration Backbone (DIB) are examples of how technology and standards are breaking down geographic and technical barriers to intelligence analysis and production, collaboration and knowledge sharing. The DIB provides standards-based services and technology that unite a geographically disparate federation of DCGS sites into a single information enterprise. Standards for metadata content and format enable intelligence to be produced and shared by any site. DCGS and the DIB form the foundation for geospatial-intelligence capabilities in the D2IE.

Connectivity builds on that information infrastructure for the next generation. Ubiquitous connectivity will be fast, secure and leverage increasingly powerful mobile devices. Standards-enabled geospatial services can be used regardless of geographic location. This shift will complement the work habits and expectations of a work force accustomed to mobile technology and constant connectivity.

The growing capability of mobile devices and networks; increasing security of mobile communications; and ever-present wireless connectivity will erase the edges first created by our wired infrastructure and signal the creation of a new seamless global DI2E.

Improved connectivity and the proliferation of mobile devices will not only change how information is consumed, they will simultaneously create the next intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance paradigm. Today’s devices already contain GPS, video and still cameras, gyroscopes, accelerometers and rudimentary radars. The sensing capability of mobile devices is clearly expanding. The result is an influx of data gathered by warfighters, peace keepers and relief workers on the move.

In keeping with today’s network-centric focus, the cloud will receive this influx of new ISR information and deliver the services consumed throughout the DI2E. Location will move beyond metadata and will define the user experience. Intelligence services will be consumed based on location and will cater content and results to the consumer’s role, activity and location.

Advances in the automated exploitation of ISR data will enable systematic event extraction. Advances in complex event processing systems will enable the automatic correlation of these events across space, time and other user-defined dimensions of the data. Intelligence will no longer be produced or discovered—it will become ever present, ready on demand and distributed as the DI2E user’s circumstances dictate.

Technology and standards are not only building blocks; they are key drivers that will define and accelerate the evolution of the next era in geospatial intelligence, GEOINT 3.0. One of the great contributions to the development of the DI2E will be freeing the next generation of users from traditional access barriers. D2IE users will access, process and collect information independent of the source and their location. ♦

Guy Dubois is vice president of operational technologies and solutions at Raytheon Intelligence and Information Systems.

Improving the Success of DI2E

DI2E must be able to access all virtual sensors and maintain a near real-time accrual, retrieval and shareable framework.

By Terry M. Ryan

Over the past year, the defense intelligence community has been aggressively undertaking a new approach to building an intelligence information enterprise to address the future needs of warfighters and analysts within the ever-changing global information exchange environment. Time will tell if they get it right, but the geospatial community certainly has a substantial role to play in achieving victory.

Looking back, the 2008 Defense Intelligence Strategy introduced the concept of defense intelligence as an enterprise. The current Defense Intelligence Information Enterprise (DI2E) is a networked framework that embodies multi-intelligence, user-defined services with a goal of having few, if any, disadvantaged users. As a former warfighter and defense intelligence official, I know that providing on-demand, competitive knowledge on the battlefield is an honorable, yet challenging, undertaking.

Operation Iraqi Freedom introduced airborne persistent surveillance projects, like Angel Fire and Constant Hawk, with conjoined multiple cameras with longer dwell times. “Time to information” matters deeply to operational users, and a shared view of relevant information is critical to enhancing knowledge. However, having more unmanned aerial vehicles comes at a cost. As volume increases, the line between worthwhile and distracting data starts to blur.

While the Pentagon develops the DI2E enterprise, the production of additional collection assets continues. The Air Force, for instance, has a goal of fielding an additional 15 Predator/Reaper orbits, eventually achieving 50 orbits. Although these are needed, there must be a balance between additional sensors and additional information value. Will more assets be used for “looking” or “seeing”? Will DI2E keep up with increased demand for turning data into information?

To successfully implement this type of new enterprise, the enterprise itself requires a common, easily accessible framework— a shareable reference to facilitate the orientation for all collected information. The information flowing in and out of the enterprise has temporal and spatial references that need to be captured and tagged in near real-time. This allows the efficient use of accrual and retrieval processes essential to building knowledge.

Collection assets should automatically sync as they enter and de-orbit missions. Knowledge is continually accrued, making it easier for end-users to tailor needs without tasking multiple orbits to “look” before stepping off on a mission. The DI2E vision requires a standardized accrual process and ready access solution.

What can the geospatial community do to make DI2E successful? First, facilitate a true tactical service-oriented architecture, where user-defined applications can be “flown” into the enterprise while collection assets are on mission. New standards must be created to structure data and make it easily discoverable. The data is geo-tagged and immediately referenced on a shareable “grid” embedded in all collection and ground systems at all times.

Second, the geospatial community can help evolve the nextgeneration, open GIS tools that ensure shareable data exists across nontraditional partners, with easy, user-defined interfaces. One of the best examples of this dynamic environment was the ad hoc social networking that supported worldwide response to Haiti earthquake relief.

The lack or destruction of a viable communications infrastructure in Haiti resulted in diverse relief organizations finding creative ways to collaborate and share information. Google Earth provided the geographic reference points. Twitter-like text messaging overlaid on a Google Earth map provided situational awareness and security for relief operations. Common standards allowed flexible collaboration, often among organizations that never worked together.

The geospatial community has led the way with standards such as Extensible Markup Language (XML), which provides rules for encoding imagery in machine-readable formats. It is important that the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, as a leader in the geospatial community, continue to foster good relationships with industry to continue this progressive partnership in collaboration and information sharing.

Third, DI2E stakeholders must address return on collection as a key DI2E metric. Do we invest more on collection assets or knowledge sources? Can we transition from a capability to just “look” to one where we’re “seeing” everything? These decisions are at the core of DI2E success and require more robust modeling tools by the geospatial community.

In short, our brains have a rapid-orienting center that acts as a neural pointer. The DI2E must be able to access all virtual sensors and maintain a near real-time accrual, retrieval and shareable framework constantly in sync among all collectors and ground stations. Indeed, “to see” means the brain is actually processing information based on prior knowledge. In a DI2E environment, that knowledge is derived from information transposed onto a virtual geospatial reference model accrued over time and accessible by all accredited users—anywhere and anytime.

Terry M. Ryan is president and chief operating officer of Man- Tech International Corp.’s Systems Engineering and Advanced Technology group.