CITYDATA invited to join NGA Accelerator at Moonshot Labs by the United States Government

Apurva Kumar -

The United States Government, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) provides geospatial intelligence (GEOINT) in support of the U.S. military, allies, and homeland security organizations. The analysis of satellite imagery and geospatial data to understand activities on a global scale historically has given the United States a huge intelligence advantage.

CITYDATA.ai was recently selected from hundreds of companies and invited to join the prestigious NGA Accelerator program at Moonshot Labs. Founded in partnership with the Missouri Technology Corporation (MTC) and operated by St. Louis-based Capital Innovators, the NGA Accelerator is designed to leverage advances in geospatial sensing, artificial intelligence, and machine learning. The NGA has also sponsored a new commercial-like workspace in partnership with T-REX in downtown St. Louis, to advance collaborative GEOINT efforts between the government, industry, and academia in the St. Louis metro area.

"We are honored to partner with the NGA to explore global geospatial mobility patterns and synthetic population models in alignment with the agency's data strategy to sustain U.S. advantage in GEOINT," said Apurva Kumar, CEO of CITYDATA.ai.
"Our team of data scientists and machine learning experts are laser focused on making fresh, accurate, high-quality geospatial mobility data easily accessible, improving data reusability, cross-domain efficiencies and enabling next-generation GEOINT," added Carl Nielson, Managing Director at CITYDATA.ai

The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency published the agency’s data strategy on October 6, 2021, outlining its plans to transform and improve the way data is created, managed, and shared in order to maintain dominance in the delivery of geospatial intelligence.

“It is essential that we take all actions necessary to sustain our advantage in GEOINT — and that includes managing our data as a key strategic asset,’’ stated NGA Director, Vice Admiral, Robert Sharp in the press announcement for the new data strategy. “With the holistic enterprise approach mapped out within this new data strategy, NGA sets forth a path for leading the way and staying ahead of our competitors.’’

Aligned to the agency’s Moonshot effort to deliver trusted GEOINT with the speed, accuracy, and precision required, the strategy calls for the accelerated, shared and trusted use of data to help NGA better deliver on its mandates.

The strategy describes four key goals being pursued by NGA to meet its mission and business needs:

— Manage data as a strategic asset: Deploy a federated enterprise data governance framework that ensures data is proactively, strategically, and consistently managed while enabling agility, flexibility, and innovation.

— Deliver data as a shared service: Provide services that deliver data — both consumed and created — directly to consumers in an efficient and intuitive way.

— Scale data and analytics capabilities: Champion data-informed innovations that transform how NGA operates; set the example for data and analytics excellence and leading practices within the IC, DOD, and geospatial community.

— Bolster data literacy in the workforce: Promote a data culture and increase the workforce’s data acumen.

About NGA

NGA delivers world-class geospatial intelligence that provides a decisive advantage to policymakers, warfighters, intelligence professionals, and first responders. The NGA is a unique combination of intelligence and combat support. It is the world leader in timely, relevant, accurate, and actionable geospatial intelligence. NGA enables the U.S. intelligence community and the Department of Defense to fulfill the president’s national security priorities to protect the nation. For more information about NGA, visit www.nga.mil.

About CITYDATA.ai

CITYDATA.ai provides pattern-of-life mobility data + Ai for smart cities. CITYDATA knows the answers to the questions “how many people are in your city today” and “what are their movement patterns?”.

CITYDATA offers five main data-as-a-service products:

  1. CITYDASH: on-demand daily mobility insights for global cities across 60 countries
  2. CITYCHAT: mobile chatbot platform for citizen engagement and data sharing
  3. CITYFLOW: fleet tracking solution for cities, transportation, and enterprise businesses
  4. CITYWORKS: mobile workforce management solution for cities and businesses
  5. CITYSDK: an embeddable component for cities to use in their mobile apps

Founded in 2020 in San Francisco, California, CITYDATA provides fresh, accurate, daily insights that are essential for smart city programs, economic development, urban planning, mobility and transportation, tourism, disaster impact analysis, sustainability, and resilience.

You can reach the company via email at business@citydata.ai if you’d like to discuss your data needs and use cases. You can also follow the company on Linkedin, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and the UniverCity.ai blog to stay updated on the newest innovations in mobility data + Ai.