The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency is a “combat support agency,” which means it is charged with critical responsibilities to provide the Department of Defense and intelligence community with information and tools they need to stay competitive with other nations like China who are quickly gaining in strength and resources. For NGA, this means rapidly delivering “imagery, intelligence and geospatial information,” according to AFCEA’s SIGNAL.
Over the course of the past year, the research and development arm of NGA has been reorganizing, placing a greater emphasis on fast research-to-production cycles.
“As we make sure our organization fits around what is important to the nation in research. … We also have a visionary set of priorities,” shared Dr. Ronzelle Green, director of research and development at NGA. “I’m a firm believer that we hire smart people to tell us what to do, looking five, eight, 10 years ahead, some of these capabilities that we will need,” he continued.
Dr. Green will explore all of the new priority areas and spotlight some tech solutions currently being worked on by his department at the Potomac Officers Club’s 2025 Defense R&D Summit on Thursday, Jan. 23. Don’t miss this vital networking opportunity for government and industry to join together and collaborate. Register here.
Looking to Experts, Wherever They Might Be
NGA has, under Dr. Green’s R&D leadership, shifted to trusting experts not just within the department but in the private sector or even academia.
“We are using innovative challenges and processes to really go after some of these national security hard problems. Because we found out it’s not just government that has this intellect. It is also in industry and academia and in the national labs,” Green stated.
“For us, it is about how we leverage that information, that knowledge and understanding to make sure that we’re meeting the need of the U.S. government and also the department,” he added.
Positioning Directorate for US Mission Success
Green and his team are attempting to drill down on the best methods for transitioning their experimentation into usable systems for the military and government. Their work spans a range of subjects: sophisticated analytics and modeling, software engineering, artificial intelligence and machine learning and data management, among others.
“It is about how do we pull agile acquisition so we can do this cycle faster and give our warfighters advantage,” Green said, and referenced the Project Aegir pilot initiative, which is under a commercial solutions opening that NGA is awarding to Orbital Insight, a California tech producer. Project Aegir is attempting to remedy unlawful conduct at sea, like “unreported, illegal and unregulated fishing,” per SIGNAL.
The agency selected Orbital Insight’s proposal out of a batch of 12 finalists that included heavy hitters like Anduril and BlackSky and recently wrapped up testing of Orbital’s submission. From here, NGA plans to potentially announce more long-term contracts and sweeping acquisition decisions.
To learn about what’s on the horizon at NGA and how it’s working to serve the DOD, IC and the nation, attend the Potomac Officers Club’s 2025 Defense R&D Summit on Jan. 23. It’s going to be a packed day of keynotes, panels and familiar faces. Save your spot—tickets are running low!
