21 September 2023
Opening Keynote
Dr. Stacey Dixon, Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence, ODNI
Collaboration
-Threats are only increasing. We need to continue to strengthen partnerships and establish new ones.
-Partnerships are based on trust, common interests, complementary capabilities…
-Tailored collaboration meet the threats that we face. In ODNI we are driving integration, collaboration, and innovation. This role in driving this has grown in recent years.
-We’re seeking partnerships. We’re seeking partnerships in new areas. Diversity of willing partnerships is a tremendous strategic advantage.
Annual Threat Assessment and National Intelligence Strategy
-These outline the threats we face, goals we have, and how we plan to address threats.
-Annual Threat Assessment, we will be delivering another at the beginning of next year. It discusses the rise in threats and growing international powers that have conflicting interests in sea, air, space, land, cyber.
-Intensifying strategic competition with China and Russia will determine our success in everything else… conflicts include fentanyl, not seeking norms and peaceful use of outer space….
-NIS outlines six goals that give guidance for investments and priorities. Goals look at strategic competition, recruiting and retaining workforce, interoperable solutions, partnerships, expanding IC capabilities across challenges, working with partners and people, enhancing resilience.
Innovation and Steps Forward
-Innovation of technical capabilities, processes, policies. Getting capabilities that can be applied to make a difference and make our country safer.
-We are working to improve our demand signal.
-Data Strategy- We are working to seamlessly apply technology to access data through AI/ML… at the speed and scale needed to complete missions. AI and automation, that includes working with partners. There’s a lot of ways we can bring in and make sense of all the data out there.
-Classification- Creating innovation spaces where the public can come and see our challenges and help bring solutions. Among these innovation places, there are research programs within IARPA and we’re working with them to find solutions.
-Public-private talent exchanges- we’re allowing people in and out to get more diverse experiences and different ways of thinking. AI/ML, space, finances, these are communities we’re looking at working with.
-AQ and Procurement -Partnership with GSA, allows us to create IDIQ contracts that allows for follow on contracts the community can participate on.
-IC Commercial Space Council- It was created to make sure we had a community to discuss the challenges we’re seeing in space. We need to look at commercial space collaboratively. The council is a place where we allow groups to come in and talk about challenges we see and how we can loosen regulations and work more closely. We have a S&T pilot ongoing in Austin that’s helping us leverage the ecosystem out there.
ODNI Relationship with USSF
-Partnership is going really well. Creation of the SF has been a great way to double down on our interests in that domain.
-Adversaries are putting up more and more capabilities and we need to make sure we’re investing and prioritizing in this domain.
-Working with the USSF since they became a member of the IC has been really beneficial on both ends.
AI/ML
-Making sure that we’re building trust with the American people. There is a lot of concern with how we’re accessing data. We need to figure out how to make the public and Congress more comfortable. We’re putting out a framework with how we plan to gather and use information from commercial.
-CDOC and CIO they have meeting. As we develop our strategies, we show our draft forms so that they’re compatible. I’m really happy we’re developing these relationships.
[End]
Morning Keynote
VADM Frank Whitworth, Director, NGA
Reluctant Revolution of Military Affairs
-Lethal technologies bring extreme speeds, ranges, and accuracies. There are so many highly motivated service members and teammates that want to be on those platforms.
-Our enemies and adversaries, they aren’t reluctant or nostalgic. They’ll have no problem using autonomous, lethal technologies.
-Replicator Initiative, US to build attributable, autonomous systems in multiple domains. Maybe we aren’t as reluctant as we used to be. I’m pulling for this vision.
-I’m sober to what this could mean for the future of armed conflict and what this could mean in war, data, AI/ML, distinguishing combatant from noncombatant.
-NGA will continue to ensure humans have all the information he or she will need. Adversaries are working to create uncrewed, autonomous capabilities.
NGA and Achieving JADC2
-We’re undergoing a revolution of GEOINT.
-GEOINT collection orchestration, art of tasking pieces and aligning priorities with need and deadlines. It’s become more and more complex. We are already poised to ensure the warfighters needs are reflected.
-MAVEN, we assumed leadership this year. It’s the foundation for ML. It’s impressive. We work closely with the combatant commands to integrate AI into workflows and decision speeds. We’ve ensured MAVEN models can run on other ML platforms. Ethics, I can assure you NGA will be vigilant and make sure MAVEN aligns with our values. GEOINT Responsible AI Training (GRAT), it will allow for responsible use, all developers and all users.
AI Guard Rails
-With the human machine teaming at NGA, we stand to turn MAVEN into itself being a guard rail.
-Imagine human machine teaming of MAVEN to help us ensure that we’re correct. People need to be reminded that there are benefits from letting a machine help you especially when trained by the best people.
Digital Twins
-Our model gives data on the latest missions and extraction of the best date.
-Foundation Digital Twins, data from all domains in real time. Not just a 3D rendering of our globe but layer capabilities that you can extract.
Data at the Tactical Edge
-Joint Regional Edge Node (J-REN) GEOINT grab and go at the tactical level reducing latency. It’s a mesh architecture. We’re planning for it to be IOC next FY year.
Nov 15, NGA Industry Strategy Summit
-It’s all virtual, totally free. We’ll be posting it on social media pages. It will be our third annual summit.
-If you’d like to connect with us, I invite you to join us,
Pace of Development and AQ
-We aim to balance the need for program responsibility and meeting the needs…
MAVEN and International Partners
-There were questions if MAVEN should be shared. I think it’s the US values to share and that’s where we’re heading.
MAVEN and MARS
-Got to have a place to put your stuff. It’s as simple as that. If we’re in the targeting business, there ultimately has to be a database of record. We don’t want to create something that competes with MARS. We want something that complements MARS.
[End]
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