Editor's Perspective

The similarities, Zitz told a session titled, “Improving GEOINT Capabilities of First Responders and Domestic Decision-Makers,” include the fact that for both, “it’s about supporting decision-makers and action takers. It’s also about strategic and tactical. We, like the military and intelligence communities, have to worry about before, during and after events. Geospatial is the foundation for all three of those phases.

“In our world, it’s also very much about accuracy, detail and timeliness. Those three attributes are essential to the war fight, and also to our work in the United States and worldwide. To me, it’s also remarkably similar when you think about the granularity of the details that we need, and our timelines, which are very similar to special operations forces that are deployed worldwide for military purposes. The kinds of things they need are very similar if you’re talking about firefighting, law enforcement and supporting humanitarian relief in disasters,” Zitz continued.

One of the differences, he said, is that domestic users of GEOINT have decided “to use the lowest possible classification level. We strive for unclassified if possible, for maximum opportunity for our customers to be able to use the data. We also have to be very careful in the use of our sources and methods, and analysis, because we have got to—first and foremost—protect civil liberties and privacy of U.S. citizens.”

Overall, Zitz concluded, “We can stand on the shoulders of the work that has been done in the military and intelligence communities, and all of us are doing that.”

Harrison Donnelly, Editor
Military Geospatial Technology
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