As the demand for trustworthy visual data collection and advanced technologies to support strategic decision-making continues to rise, geospatial intelligence plays a vital role in delivering essential military and environmental insights to the intelligence community. Recently at the GEOINT Conference in St. Louis, leaders from several intelligence agencies shed light on the future of geospatial intelligence (GEOINT) and its relationship with emerging technologies.

The Department of Defense Intelligence Information System (DoDIIS) conference took place in San Antonio, Texas from December 12-15. Its annual gathering of industry and government personnel invites networking, exhibitors and speakers to take on the top IT challenges currently facing the Department of Defense (DOD). Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence, Dr. Stacy Dixon, spoke to the audience at large regarding data, its challenges, and opportunities within the intelligence community (IC).

Government networks are some of the largest in the world. Ensuring these mission-critical infrastructures are optimized for automation and performance—particularly in today’s increasingly complex hybrid IT environments—is quite a tall order.

How do federal IT pros ensure the high availability required? How do they connect faults to performance, and make direct connections between networks, systems, and applications within large, hybrid environments?

Blockchain is no longer just a buzzword or simply a “technology to watch.” This database technology is being explored by agencies across government, from the General Services Administration (GSA) to Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), from the Federal Maritime Commission to military supply chain professionals across the Department of Defense (DoD).

The promise of blockchain is dramatic. It can help enhance agencies’ business processes and provide far greater transparency and efficiency.