Presagis is honored to have taken part in the GEOINT 2022 conference in helping support the vision of the United States Geospatial Intelligence Foundation (USGIF). One of the key themes discussed during this year’s conference was openness and collaboration across borders. In particular, we noticed widespread recognition that unclassified earth observation data is a game-changer in providing timely and precise geospatial intelligence.

These trends are particularly evident given the situation in Eastern Europe, where commercial remote sensing data from companies like Maxar, Airbus, Planet, BlackSky, and Capella continue to provide frequent updates on the positions of assets, infrastructure, supply chain, damage assessments, and humanitarian concerns. Open geospatial data is establishing a new norm and will -- ultimately -- reshape GEOINT tradecraft.

What is the Vertical Intelligence Stack?

The Vertical Intelligence Stack (VIS) approach defines not only our approach for building geospatially accurate digital twins, but establishes the paradigm for Simulation as a Service (SaaS) with the use of artificial intelligence (AI).

• At the foundational layer, terrain and GIS data is collected and co-registered with high-spatial resolution views from reality capture devices.
• We then enrich the data with dynamic data from weather, physics, mobility, and patterns of life.
• Ultimately, we provide simulations and scenarios enabling decision makers to prepare and understand different outcomes to help solve complex real-life problems.

5 Key Vertical Intelligence Stack Technologies

Here are five key technology trends that Presagis is tracking that will enable the new vertical intelligence stack concept:

1. The convergence of GEOINT tradecraft with 3D visualization, AI, and simulation is accelerating. Recently Google Maps released a 3D “immersive view” with simulated weather and other entities. This is a milestone in the race for the metaverse. This is more than a “cool” visualization experience; this is a breakthrough into the next generation of behavioral analytics within geospatially accurate digital twin environments.
2. Commercial remote sensing companies are expanding their analytical offerings. Higher margins on value-add services have been a long-time pursuit of satellite imagery providers. Climate change and resiliency are fast becoming established GEOINT tradecraft opportunities within national security studies and supply chain modeling.
3. Earth observation is becoming more accessible. There are many new entrants in satellite and low-orbit sensor capture, providing high quality output and faster speed of delivery, while simplifying access and ultimately driving down costs for the geospatial community.
4. Low-cost 3D reality capture of indoor and outdoor environments using consumer devices is pervasive. High quality cameras and Lidar sensors in drones, vehicles and smartphones are changing the collection requirements for digital landscapes, making 3D object capture simple and accessible.
5. Game engine platforms are transforming geospatial intelligence visualization methods. The 2022 release of Esri’s Maps SDK for Unreal Engine and Unity is another advancement in the use of authoritative geospatial data inside game engine platforms. A host of other companies are leveraging both the visualization and entity simulation capabilities to transform elements of GEOINT tradecraft for next-generation analysts.

Presagis views all of the above technology trends as building blocks to the “Vertical Intelligence Stack” for geospatial data. Our approach is data agnostic, standards-based, scalable, and designed to meet the evolving tradecraft needs of the geospatial community.

In the next blog post, we will continue exploring the concept of the Vertical Intelligence Stack.