The following are my reflections following attendance at this year’s geographical intelligence (GEOINT) conference in Orlando, FL.

If you ask me to identify this year’s key terms in the GEOINT sector, I would identify the following:

Source: GEOINT 2012, David Gauthier (NGA).

Activity-based intelligence (ABI). This was the overall key term and concept by far. According to various speakers, it means focusing on “transactions” that connect entities (often people) and objects over space and time, in real time. Compare and contrast to “situational awareness” in more general terms. Includes “big data” for more efficient “discovery” of significant happenings, “patterns of life,” and networks for what is sometimes called “tipping and cueing” ie noticing something interesting is going on and directing further sensors to stare at that event. (For more on ABI, see the Sept/Oct. issue of NGA magazine Pathfinder, pp. 8-10.)

Persistent surveillance (perhaps more of a…