As the world leader in the analysis, storage, maintenance, dissemination and training related to geospatial intelligence, the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency invests significant resources in research and development to accomplish the agency's mission of providing timely, relevant and accurate GEOINT to national, military, and civilian customers in support of national security objectives.
The proliferation of commercial imagery analysis, geographic information system technologies, and standardized data formats, creates opportunities for collaborative research and development (R&D) between the private sector and NGA laboratories. Particular emphasis is placed on R&D initiatives that are consistent with the National System for Geospatial Intelligence (NSG) technical reference model and associated standards in the NSGI technical architecture, which may be found on the NGA homepage.
To encourage the transfer of technology between the government and private sector, and enhance U.S. competitiveness, Congress passed legislation under the Federal Technology Transfer Act of 1986 (P.L. 99-502), that promotes technology transfer by introducing the Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) as a mechanism to increase federal laboratories' interaction with industry.
It is DOD policy to use technology transfer activities to strengthen the industrial base and make the best use of national scientific and technical capabilities to enhance the effectiveness of DOD forces and systems. NGA uses CRADAs for its technology partnerships, and actively seeks commercial and academic research collaborators. Please note that a CRADA is a means to pursue joint research goals while protecting and creating intellectual property, and granting certain rights for licensing to the commercial partner.
NGA CRADA Reference Materials:
Visit the Industry Interaction Activities with NGA to learn about doing business with NGA.
Visit the Small Business Interaction with NGA and the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program pages too.
For more information regarding the NGA CRADA Program, please contact crada@nga.mil.