Andy Brooks, chief data scientist at the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, has said the agency was able to harness cloud to provide access to secure but unclassified data for its remote staff, FedTech Magazine reported Tuesday.
Brooks told the publication that NGA modified its data-access strategy and launched an effort to balance data protection with value delivery for global users. He noted that NGA now plans to evolve its analytics and data-sharing tools in the coming years with a potential intelligence analysis effort slated for 2022.
According to a new U.S. Geospatial Intelligence Foundation (USGIF) white paper, NGA was to employ a DevSecOps-based approach to developing new technologies that support cross-domain workflows.
NGA's initiatives include a partnership with Booz Allen Hamilton to establish a “develop low, deploy high" framework that “provided a strong foundation” for artificial intelligence and machine learning development amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the white paper states.
“We’ve shown that parts of that can be safely and securely done in unclassified spaces, and we can do that in various secure but unclassified forms,” noted Brooks. “We can do that in different ways that will continue to grow, and people have that experience now.”