UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Director of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency Robert Cardillo will give the talk “Succeeding in the Open,” at the Department of Geography Coffee Hour at 4:00 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 2, as part of a two-day visit to Penn State. The talk will be held in 112 Walker Walker Building on the Penn State University Park campus and is free and open to the public. His talk will also be streamed live.
At the Coffee Hour talk, Cardillo will discuss transparency as it relates to intelligence activities and the skills needed in this new, more open intelligence-gathering environment. “Geospatial intelligence is increasingly transparent, because of the huge number and diversity of commercial and open sources of information, from private satellites to Google Earth,” Cardillo said.
NGA is the largest employer of Penn State students graduating with degrees in geography.
“To operate in this new environment, agencies like NGA need special skills, including people who understand technology like the cloud, people with expertise in geospatial analysis and technology, and people who know data analysis, particularly big data. It’s largely a focus on the STEM areas, but NGA also needs business analysts and social scientists, to operate effectively in the current open and data-rich world of intelligence. There is a role for talented people, in and from academia, who have a demonstrated passion for using their skills in defense of our nation,” said Cardillo.
Cardillo’s two-day visit to Penn State also includes meetings with members of Penn State’s Applied Research Laboratory, interactions with students, a press conference, and the signing of a cooperative research and development agreement during Coffee Hour.
Cardillo’s press conference will be held from 11:00 to 11:50 a.m. on Friday Oct. 2, in the John A. Dutton e-Education Institute (Room 413, Earth and Engineering Sciences Building) on the University Park campus. For more information, contact Patricia Craig, director of marketing and communications for the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences.
On Saturday, Oct. 3, Cardillo will attend the Military Appreciation Day tailgate and football game vs. Army West Point. Through events before and during the game, the University will recognize and express appreciation to all members of our nation’s armed forces for their commitment to protect and defend our nation. Cardillo will help serve food at the pregame tailgate for those attending the game through the Seats for Servicemembers program.
Cardillo leads and directs NGA under the authorities of the Secretary of Defense and Director of National Intelligence. He became NGA’s director on Oct. 3, 2014. Prior to this assignment, Cardillo served as the first deputy director for Intelligence Integration, Office of the Director of National Intelligence, from 2010 to 2014.
For more information about Cardillo’s talk: http://www.geog.psu.edu/news/events/coffee-hour-succeeding-open
Coffee Hour is a weekly lecture hosted by the Department of Geography celebrating interdisciplinary scholarship and collegiality. Topics range from innovations in GIScience, to food security, to land use and justice issues, among others.