DOD Gets a Handle on Top-Secret Content

For the department of defense, enabling computers to recognize objects within an image using sophisticated algorithms has long been a top priority.

Known as Image Understanding, these algorithms can create a description of the world to help build battlefield awareness and improve target recognition for military personnel. However, when it came to sharing discoveries and data relating to Image Understanding, the DOD simply wasn't getting the picture.

At the crux of the problem was the DOD's multifaceted research community. Composed of a wide array of both internal and external players, this community includes U.S. Air Force, U.S. Army and U.S. Navy personnel; Sandia National Labs; Lockheed Martin; Raytheon; Booz Allen Hamilton; Cal Tech; and New York University.

For years, these factions have been conducting research, tests and evaluations relating to a variety of disciplines, including Image Understanding technology and sensors-driven electronic warfare. But despite these sophisticated, high-tech pursuits, the DOD's research community was years away from being able to share information.