Pioneering Geospatial Intelligence at GEOINT 2024: A Firsthand Account

By Eric Putnam, Manager US National Security Programs and Troy Gilbert, Director US Public Sector Partnerships

Recently, we had the privilege of attending the nation's largest gathering of geospatial intelligence professionals at the GEOINT 2024 Symposium, held at the Gaylord Palms Resort and Conference Center in Kissimmee, Florida. This year's theme, "GEOINT 2024: Essential in All Dimensions and Domains," aptly highlighted the diverse and critical role of geospatial intelligence in today's complex global landscape. The symposium featured experts from space to the deep sea, cyberspace to urban environments—each eager to dive into how GEOINT shapes our understanding of the world.

Progress Federal Solutions

At GEOINT 2024, we had the unique opportunity to represent the power of Progress MarkLogic in our first GEOINT event since becoming part of Progress. As the Manager of US National Security Programs and the Director of US Public Sector Partnerships respectively, this symposium was the perfect stage to unveil the enhanced capabilities of our tools, tailored specifically to meet the demands of geospatial intelligence.

Оur team was excited to demonstrate how Progress solutions can help transform the geospatial landscape and assist our partners and potential customers. We showed them firsthand the power and precision of our advanced geospatial data management and infrastructure management technologies.

Progress has enabled MarkLogic with a richer array of technological resources, amplifying our ability to handle large-scale, complex data challenges. This integration makes our tools more robust, featuring advanced functionalities tailored specifically for geospatial intelligence applications. Demonstrating these enhanced capabilities at GEOINT 2024, allowed us to directly address the evolving needs of the GEOINT community, displaying real-time data integration, data connectivity, DevOps, secure file transfer, visualization and analysis capabilities crucial for mission-critical operations.

GEOINT 2024 offered us the opportunity to highlight how our solutions align with specific geospatial intelligence needs. Geospatial data is integral to national security, urban planning, disaster response and many other areas that require precise, scalable and rapid insights. Our presentations focused on demonstrating how our integrated solutions can streamline workflows, enhance data fidelity and deliver actionable insights much faster than before—essentials in the high-stakes realm of geospatial intelligence.

The benefits of our enhanced platform are far-reaching. For government agencies, the ability to integrate and analyze vast amounts of data from various sources can mean quicker response times during crises and better-informed strategic decisions. For our commercial partners, the scalability and security of our products mean they can offer their clients more reliable and comprehensive solutions. We were able to engage directly with these partners and customers at GEOINT 2024, receiving firsthand feedback that will drive future enhancements and innovations.

Demonstrating Cutting-Edge Technology

Our booth was buzzing with demonstrations of MarkLogic FastTrack. This new data visualization tool is designed for Systems Integrators to transform data from the MarkLogic Server multi-model database into comprehensive 360-degree views of geospatial and graph-based datasets. We demonstrated how disparate datasets could be seamlessly integrated within MarkLogic, secured, scaled and rendered in near real-time on a map. Additionally, we highlighted how data science tools could be integrated with the MarkLogic backend, empowering analysts to tackle robust data science workloads and effectively address geospatial queries. The response to these demonstrations was positive, and the MarkLogic engineering teams will move the FastTrack to the General Availability release soon.

Networking and Key Highlights

The symposium was not only about demonstrations but also about building and strengthening partnerships. We engaged in numerous discussions with technology companies and systems integrators, exploring how we could collaborate to meet the needs of our national security customers. The keynote sessions provided invaluable insights into the community's challenges and the types of tools needed to address these issues. A standout moment was the address by La'Nai Jones, Central Intelligence Agency Chief Information Officer. Ms. Jones emphasized the importance of commercial satellite imagery and its integration with AI (Artificial Intelligence) and ML (Machine Learning) for rapid analysis—a challenge MarkLogic is well-equipped to address.

Impactful Sessions and Interactions

The networking socials were particularly memorable this year, providing a relaxed environment to connect with industry leaders and colleagues to explore potential collaborations. These interactions were pivotal in introducing the full suite of Progress products, which were met with enthusiasm for their future solution capabilities.

Reflections and Takeaways

GEOINT 2024 was a resounding affirmation of our dedication to the geospatial intelligence community. The rich interactions and valuable feedback we gathered throughout the symposium have been pivotal in refining our technological strategy, especially in the realms of AI and ML. Looking ahead, the development of Vector embedding capabilities in MarkLogic, along with the semantic Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) architecture pattern, atop secured data, holds promise for elevating MarkLogic-powered solutions. These advancements will significantly enhance how customers can manage and analyze geospatial data.

Looking Ahead

The synergy at GEOINT 2024 was palpable, with a collective focus on addressing the evolving threat landscape through innovative solutions. The future is indeed bright, and the collaborative spirit of this year’s symposium is a strong testament to the community's resilience and ingenuity.

As we wrap up another successful year at GEOINT, our anticipation grows for next year's symposium, where we will return with even more robust capabilities and solutions. In the meantime, we look forward to hosting many of our new connections at MarkLogic World in September 2024 in Washington D.C., where we will continue to advance solutions that empower our customers' missions. The journey of discovery and innovation continues, and we are excited to be at the forefront, driving the future of geospatial intelligence.

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