NGA Prioritizes AI in Response to Surging Data, Says Director
The National Geospatial Intelligence Agency (NGA) is strategically expanding its workforce and integrating artificial intelligence to tackle the challenge of rapidly increasing data volumes, according to Vice Admiral Frank Whitworth, the agency’s director. Whitworth delivered this message during the SATELLITE conference.
Whitworth emphasized the importance of resources for the NGA, highlighting the cost of structured observations, especially when generating inferences and detections. “We move more ones and zeros than any other agency in the United States,” he stated, underscoring the significant data flow. He further noted that the growth of satellite constellations and the massive data influx expected in the coming years will necessitate AI integration.
AI has become a key focus for the agency. Whitworth explained that the NGA is accelerating its use of AI. He outlined five critical goals for AI development, including the task organization of leadership. The goal is to create an entity which, in some cases, can be as productive as a human. Whitworth added that automated data collection is already happening thanks to AI models developed last year.
Whitworth also mentioned the agency’s collaboration with international partners for pixel data, calling it a critical aspect of their work. The commercial satellite sector is another crucial data source for the NGA. Whitworth expressed his desire for more commercial satellite data, analytics, and overall access to commercial services.
Due to the demands and developments in the current landscape, the NGA’s decentralized approach has been beneficial, says Whitworth. He noted that about 25 percent of their 9,000 employees are not based at headquarters. The agency includes about 3 percent military personnel, 55 percent government civilians, and the rest are contractors. “Everyone pulls their weight in their particular areas of expertise, and pound for pound, I’m really proud of the output and the productivity that our team has been able to generate,” he said.
The NGA aims to develop accreditation and certification programs to empower its workforce to effectively utilize AI. He expects that this will be a team approach. Machine learning, structured observations, and data labeling will be critical to the continuing training of skilled personnel. What Worries Whitworth is not the enemy, but the possibility of missing important information.
