Lockheed Uses ‘Trusted Cloud’ for Fed Images Service 
Lockheed Martin is working with DLT Solutions to provide government users access to Intelligence on Demand, a cloud-based offering that provides convenient and secure access via a web browser to geospatial data, images and analytics. Information on Demand uses what Lockheed officials call its “trusted cloud” architecture.
Lockheed Martin is working with DLT Solutions to provide government users access to Intelligence on Demand, a cloud-based offering that provides convenient and secure access via a web browser to geospatial data, images and analytics.
Intelligence on Demand uses what Lockheed officials call its “trusted cloud” architecture. Lockheed launched Intelligence on Demand last fall in partnership with Pictometry International Corp., which provides a library of millions of high-res images, data and analytics. DLT, an IT services reseller, now provides the service on subscription to various federal agencies.
Lockheed officials said a cloud model would reduce the cost, complexity and time required to support a system for government users to access geospatial imagery and analytical tools, according to Roger Mann, Director of Advanced Programs for Lockheed Martin Information Systems and Global Services – Intelligence.
“More and more U.S. federal government agencies are relying on geospatial intelligence to plan and conduct their operations,” Mann said in a statement. He added that a cloud-based approach made sense, especially in light of today’s federal budget constraints. “It’s not practical to purchase, install and manage a multi-million dollar server infrastructure to store and archive terabytes of high-resolution imagery,” he added.
Subscribers can download terabytes of high-resolution imagery from every desktop, laptop -- and even to mobile devices without any in-house infrastructure or end user agents, DLT vice president Jim Helou noted.
“Our collaboration with Lockheed Martin enables us to meet the growing demand for immediate, online access to geospatial imagery and analytical tools,” Helou added. The system supports users from law enforcement, security, environmental analysis and disaster response, he said.
Inside Cloud-based Intelligence on Demand
While Lockheed’s research strongly indicated a cloud-based approach would eliminate many barriers to entry, the company also determined that traditional (or what Lockheed called off-the-shelf commercial) cloud architectures would not meet all requirements. That said, Lockheed and Pictometry elected to build their own “trusted cloud” infrastructure for Intelligence on Demand.
Like a traditional cloud, Intelligence on Demand’s trusted cloud enables a large number of users to connect to data on a shared cloud, which significantly improves convenience and affordability for users. The architecture also allows users to access data from any computer anywhere in the world over an Internet connection.
Lockheed’s “trusted cloud” approach, according to Mann, enhances the core traditional cloud in four key areas:
Enhanced Security: The Intelligence on Demand cloud can be carefully controlled and managed by Lockheed Martin managers, and access is restricted to U.S. federal government users only. The result is Lockheed’s “trusted cloud” is capable of storing secure or sensitive information.
Unique Data Sets: Intelligence on Demand provides ultra high-resolution images from Pictometry, offering up to four-inch resolution. This detail allows users to create photo-realistic virtual models of landscapes that are rich, pinpoint-precise, and capable of powerful geospatial analysis. Lockheed Martin will add more data sets from other providers in the future.
Built-in Analysis Tools: Built-in online tools let users perform advanced geospatial analysis, such as measuring precise heights and distances in three dimensions, determining lines of sight, and mapping out operations in three dimensions. More than just data, Intelligence on Demand web-based tools also support mission planning, disaster response, and command and control.
Local Use or Off-Cloud Integration Imagery and data from Intelligence on Demand can be viewed and analyzed through a web browser, or loaded into commercial geographic information systems for specialized applications.
