Our newest Cipher Brief Expert, Robert Cardillo talked with us about lessons learned during his time serving as Director of the National Geospatial -Intelligence Agency (NGA), and what he’d like to see more of, now that he’s in the private sector.
The Cipher Brief: What can you tell us about the role of NGA in providing intelligence that helps the IC and the military keep on top of global national security threats?
Cardillo: I’ll use NGA’s motto as an outline. “Know the Earth” – NGA establishes the foundation for our physical world. This sets the context for all activity on land, under the sea, in the air and in space. With this framework, those that NGA serve have more confidence and more security by understanding their surroundings – and the activity of both friend and foe.
“Show the Way” – NGA is statutorily responsible for the safe navigation of the Department of Defense. Given DoD’s global responsibilities, NGA must likewise cover every place and every route – land, sea, and air/space.
“Understand the World” – NGA, as a member of the USIC, contributes its analytic perspective on not just the what but the why and, most importantly, what’s next? NGA was a ground-breaking developer and an early adopter of the broader IC’s move to anticipatory intelligence. NGA provides such insight across a broad range of intelligence and national security issues.
The Cipher Brief: During your time as director, what were some of the changes you witnessed regarding the development of new technology and working with the private sector?
Cardillo: When I became the 6th NGA Director in 2014, NGA was in the midst of a healthy debate. And that debate was about whether or not it was necessary to engage in what we would have called “non-traditional” partners. When I turned over to Admiral Sharp in 2019, that debate was over – and NGA had moved forcefully into a debate about how best to engage with partners – traditional and otherwise.
A second sea change occurred around the composition of our in-house talent and the talent that we acquire with commercial contracts. In 2015, we decided to return to a maker-culture and bring on board more high-end computer vision and data science skillsets. This hiring surge has been very successful and NGA cadre are better postured to team with our industry counterparts.
The Cipher Brief: Now that you are a member of the private sector, in what ways can you see privately-owned companies engaging more effectively and efficiently with government?
Cardillo: As Director, I was convinced that there was more that NGA could and should do with private partners. Now as a former Director in daily engagement with those private entities, I am now convicted! And I am sure that the bulk of advancement necessary to ensure NGA’s value into the future is as much dependent on outside innovation as inside development. We truly need to build a Team GEOINT.
The Cipher Brief: Under your tenure, NGA was leading the way it seemed, when it came to de-classifying information and sharing it with the community. Can you give us an example of whether you believe that was or was not effective in promoting public-private partnerships?
Cardillo: When I took the helm in October 2014, the Ebola Crisis was peaking – especially in west Africa. In that President Obama had declared the fight to combat the spread to be a national security imperative, NGA was able to provide support. So, I turned to my team and told them to post all of our datasets that could be useful in that campaign on the world wide web – no account needed – no password – just available.
We were able to post about 25% of the data that we could have posted – and none of the 75% was classified. Rather, it was marked “For Official Use Only” or “Limited Distribution” and thus not allowed (by policy) to be posted for free use. There were good historic reasons for both caveats – but in a world in which those we serve are in uniforms of a different sort – in this case, white medical smocks – we must adjust our thinking about access to our data. It took us too long to post and we were not as accessible as we needed to be. But we did learn. For in April of 2015 when a severe earthquake hit Nepal, NGA’s accessible web site was up within hours to serve all first responders.
I regret I was unable to make more progress on the public-private-partnership (PPP) front. The premise was simple and straightforward. Take the decades of labeled imagery and datasets that have already been paid for by US taxpayers and make it available to American entrepreneurs to advance their development of algorithms and increased consumer value. In return, NGA would gain access to the improved software applications to use pursuit of their national security responsibilities.
For some reason, I was unable to communicate that vision to the Hill in a way that would have provided us with the necessary permissions. I remain convinced this is a path worth pursuing.
The Cipher Brief: What do you see on the horizon, 5-10 years from now, when it comes to geospatial intelligence and the race to not only collect faster and better than adversaries, but to then share that information quickly with the appropriate parties?
Cardillo: In 5-10 years, NGA must have completely modeled the physical world – and have the sensors in place to update that model in real time. What do I mean? Think about what the WWW did for the digital model of the world. It literally redefined how we connect, communicate, associate, etc. – some for the good – some otherwise. I believe we are on the cusp of the ability to continually and persistently sense our planet. That will provide an enormous advantage as we seek to understand the changes in our environment and in our ecosystem. If that’s right, NGA will need to be able to leverage the former and create the latter to provide decision advantage to those they serve.
The Cipher Brief: What would you say was your biggest challenge as Director of NGA?
Cardillo: It was definitely culture and mindset. I was fortunate to join the remote sensing profession in 1983 – and in those days the US government had a virtually monopoly – no one else had the capabilities and the access that the US had in space. While NGA knows intellectually that that monopoly is over, it has some muscle memory that can risk its future. Thus, I found my most difficult challenge was to craft that necessary – yet uncomfortable – conversation in a way that acknowledged our proud past without having that past acting as a barrier to the future NGA must achieve.
The Cipher Brief: What do you see as the greatest opportunity for your successor?
I think the pieces are in place to truly model the physical world – but there’s no guarantee of success. Thus, a continued focus on that outcome is necessary to retain both attention and funding.
The Cipher Brief: What haven’t I asked you that will help us understand the future of geospatial intelligence?
Cardillo: You didn’t ask what I was most worried about. And that is the fact that seeing is no longer believing. Whether you are talking about viruses or Deep Fakes, our historic reliance on a picture telling a story is at risk. This is why I stood up the Office of GEOINT Assurance. We must do a better job of ensuring the integrity of our imagery – and better understand how our adversaries can undermine the confidence that NGA must provide.
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