The Changing Face of Asia's Geospatial Intelligence
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The document discusses the evolving landscape of geospatial intelligence in Asia, highlighting the adoption of enterprise GIS capabilities by defense agencies for improved information sharing and operational efficiency. It emphasizes the shift from long production cycles to near-real-time geospatial intelligence and the importance of multi-agency collaboration in enhancing national security. Additionally, the document notes trends in incremental IT acquisition and the implementation of mobile applications for improved command and control in various military operations.
The Changing Face of Asia's Geospatial Intelligence
- 1. The Changing Face of Asia’s Geospatial Intelligence Darwin Jayson Mariano www.GeospatialDefenceAsia.com
- 2. Key advances in Asia’s geo-spatial intelligence The Changing Face of Asia’s Geospatial Intelligence v 17-18 September 2013 v Grand Copthorne Waterfront Hotel Singapore v www.GeospatialDefenceAsia.com Many defence geospatial agencies around the region are rapidly adopting Enterprise GIS capabilities. These are whole-of-defence systems which enable information sharing and collaboration across organisations. These initiatives are being driven by a clear need to provide actionable information and intelligence to operators as they need it in all types of environments and across multiple platforms. It’s also a recognition of the speed, breadth and complexity of operations geospatial agencies now support. Defence geospatial agencies in Asia and globally are moving away from long production cycles and product-centric development, to systems which can be updated in near-real-time and provide on-demand geospatial intelligence. Establishing this enterprise geospatial capability is an incredible challenge and it isn’t just about technology. Some of the greatest advances across the region are the many initiatives being established to address the broader organisational, governance, resourcing, standards and information management issues associated with these capabilities. There is a fundamental realisation that for multi-agency geospatial capabilities to be successful, there must be a comprehensive framework in place to enable it. And to the credit of many military organisations in Asia, they are actively addressing this. Another trend which is slowly emerging in Asia is the movement away from large-scale IT system acquisitions. There is a vocal movement behind acquisition processes which demand incremental capability development. These incremental processes provide a more logical and lower risk approach to IT acquisition and the movement toward this process by many militaries will benefit all end-users. Esri is working with many customers who are looking at new, innovative and efficient ways to implement geospatial technologies. The explosion of information in almost all quarters of our lives has changed the way we make decisions. In the defence community, the need for real time data is even more apparent as sophisticated geotechnical intelligence can translate to great tactical advantage. In a world that is rapidly evolving, how can modern day defence organizations take advantage of the latest technology in geo-spatial intelligence? What are the unique challenges that Asian defence organizations face and how are these challenges being addressed, now? Brett Dixon, who handles the Asia Pacific Defence portfolio for Esri, a trusted name in the defence community and the leading provider of Geographic Information System (GIS) software and geodatabase management applications, shared substantive insights in this highly important topic.
- 3. The Changing Face of Asia’s Geospatial Intelligence How GIS benefits organizations v 17-18 September 2013 v Grand Copthorne Waterfront Hotel Singapore v www.GeospatialDefenceAsia.com Geographic Information Systems (GIS) provides numerous benefits to organizations, specifically, in the areas of: Multi-agency collaboration, Force Optimisation and Situational Awareness. A. Multi-agency Collaboration The power of GIS has always been in its ability to integrate multiple datasets, conduct advanced spatial analysis and provide actionable intelligence. Interoperability of data (standards-based) and sharing through data services is also a key feature. GIS today is about providing those benefits not just to individuals, but to all users across multiple agencies. GIS technology today provides capabilities to share information on secure networks to all types of end users through web-based, desktop or mobile clients. GIS is about collaboration, whilst still enabling individual organisations to manage and maintain their own data. The power of GIS has always been in its ability to integrate multiple datasets, conduct advanced spatial analysis and provide actionable intelligence. B. Force Optimisation The intelligence cycle at the tactical level is now measured in minutes. GIS is capable of fusing near-realtime information from multiple battlespace and environmental sensors. It really has become a multi-int capability that is beyond just mapping. Our customers are now integrating traditional geospatial data with FMV, open source information and many forms of unstructured data to provide a comprehensive operational picture. GIS provides a capability to then make sense of that data and disseminate it to operators who can employ that intelligence to plan and conduct operations. GIS provides information which allows commanders to make better informed decisions so that they can more effectively deploy their resources. C. Situational awareness GIS technology today enables collaboration across multiple levels of command by sharing timely, accurate, and actionable geospatially referenced information. One of the great advances in this capability is the ability for users in the field to provide value-added information from the battlespace, in near-realtime. The ability for a soldier to contribute handheld imagery or comments on geospatial data straight from the field enhances the operational and environmental picture with dynamic updates for decision makers. GIS is contributing to shared situational awareness and unity of action, as all users are now able to visualise and understand the changing battlespace picture.
- 4. The Changing Face of Asia’s Geospatial Intelligence The question of interoperability The ability to exchange information between disparate systems is an absolute fundamental principle of modern defense systems and of GIS. The geospatial community has a number of mature standards bodies across Defense and the international community such as DGIWG and OGC. These standards bodies are absolutely essential to interoperability and will continue to be so into the future. Whilst the geospatial community has led the way in terms of standards-based interoperability, it is a continuous journey. Geospatial organisations in Defence and industry must make an ongoing commitment to standards development to ensure they remain relevant and effective. There has been much debate about the creation of single, enterprise data models to enable interoperability. Data models are created to optimise the data’s application in particular environments, operations and systems. In the realm of geospatial intelligence we are dealing with data models for a variety of environments and, military and intelligence activities. So, I think we will be dealing with multiple data models for a long time to come. In many ways, it is now less of an issue when you consider the many exchange standards, technologies and practices in place to support the dissemination and fusion of disparate datasets. We only need look at the evolution of web services and their ability to normalise differing datasets into a single view. A good example of this is the fusion of hydrographic, topographic and meteorological information to support amphibious operations. Multiple, disparate datasets published as web services and fused to provide a recognised environmental picture. Whilst the geospatial community has led the way in terms of standards- based interoperability, it is a continuous journey. v 17-18 September 2013 v Grand Copthorne Waterfront Hotel Singapore v www.GeospatialDefenceAsia.com
- 5. The Changing Face of Asia’s Geospatial Intelligence The Future of GIS: Game-changing trends in Asia As mentioned earlier, multi-agency collaboration capabilities are being implemented in numerous countries across the region. The ability to access, share and exploit geospatial information provided by many government agencies certainly enhances the national security effort. It’s the obvious benefits of organisational collaboration which are driving this trend. NATO’s Core GIS built on Esri technology is a great example of this. We’re seeing these capabilities also being established to support maritime security, national intelligence efforts and in support of conventional operations. Esri’s Portal for ArcGIS technology and ArcGIS for Server are technologies being implemented to provide this capability. There are a number of projects underway that look to enhance Enterprise Data Management within and across geospatial agencies. Specifically, the fusion of foundation datasets for the maritime, littoral, land and air domains to provide a single, authoritative picture of the battlespace. Esri technology is unique in this sense that it is able to collectively manage datasets from all environments in a single database or integrate that data from multiple, disparate databases. We are working with customers on fusing that information to produce custom, on-demand geospatial products to support operations in all environments. The third trend is clearly the implementation of mobile applications. ArcGIS Runtime is being utilised by a number of customers to develop a variety of custom mobile applications for use in C2, ISR and field data collection systems. One of the most exciting mobile developments has been through Hornet Defence Technologies in New Zealand who are utilising ArcGIS Runtime as the GIS component of their indirect fire control systems. The Runtime SDK has enabled Hornet developers to rapidly develop and deploy a comprehensive fire control system. The US Army’s next generation of FBCB2-JCR, vehicle mounted C2 capability, is now being rolled out on Esri’s ArcGIS Engine technology. These are just a few examples of how Esri’s developer and mobile solutions can provide lightweight, customisable deployable applications. The ability to access, share and exploit geospatial information provided by many government agencies certainly enhances the national security effort… NATO’s Core GIS built on Esri technology is a great example of this. Disclaimer: Please note that we do all we can to ensure accuracy and timeliness of the information presented herein but errors may still understandably occur in some cases. If you believe that a serious inaccuracy has been made please let us know. This article is provided for information purposes only. IQPC accepts no responsibility whatsoever for any direct or indirect losses arising from the use of this report or its contents. Hear more from Esri’s Brett Dixon and other important figures from Geospatial Defence & Intelligence community at the 6th Annual Geospatial Defence & Intelligence APAC 2013 conference. REGISTER NOW! enquiry@iqpc.com.sg ¡ +65 6722 9388 v 17-18 September 2013 v Grand Copthorne Waterfront Hotel Singapore v www.GeospatialDefenceAsia.com Darwin Jayson Mariano is the Digital Content Manager and Regional Editor for IQPC Worldwide. You can contact him on Twitter @whoisdarwin or email darwin.mariano@iqpc.com.sg