The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency is focused on developing responsible, but agile artificial intelligence standards, as NGA\u2019s director says AI will be needed to help manage a fast-growing body of space-based sensor data.<\/p>\n
NGA Director Vice Adm. Frank Whitworth spoke about the opportunities and challenges for NGA and the broader GEOINT community at the Intelligence and National Security Summit in National Harbor, Md., on Thursday. Whitworth has served as NGA director since 2022. President Donald Trump earlier this month nominated<\/a> Army Lt. Gen. Michele Bredenkamp to serve as the agency\u2019s next director.<\/p>\n Whitworth said a major issue for NGA is the growing availability of space-based sensors and the corresponding data deluge that those sensors bring to NGA.<\/p>\n \u201cWhile I won\u2019t detail exactly what the percent increase in terabytes from space will be, it is substantial over the next decade,\u201d he said. \u201cWe don\u2019t want all of that data, all those images, all those files \u2013 and they\u2019re very dense files, by the way \u2013 we don\u2019t want them falling on a cutting room floor.\u201d<\/p>\n ]]><\/p>\n The National Reconnaissance Office has long managed highly classified satellite constellations that supply NGA with imagery and other data, while the Space Force is deploying a \u201cproliferated architecture\u201d of low earth orbit satellites.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, NGA is increasingly consuming imagery and other data supplied directly by the burgeoning commercial space industry.<\/p>\n NGA has long used computer vision and machine learning to manage decades of growth in GEOINT data. But with yet another data spike on the horizon, Whitworth declared 2025 \u201cthe year of AI\u201d for NGA. The agency has since established new positions to focus on the issue, including a director for AI mission, a director for AI programs and a director for AI standards.<\/p>\n The AI standards official \u201cwill ensure that all of the development that is going on out there is not so unbridled that it veers away from the standards that we as Americans hold true, that which we have in the rules of engagement from the commander in chief and the secretary of defense that have been delegated to the engagement authority of that combatant command,\u201d Whitworth said.<\/p>\n