AFCEA Intelligence and the Naval Intelligence Professionals/Naval Intelligence Foundation (NIP/NIF) have joined forces to sponsor two annual writing contests.
The contests provide intelligence professionals with opportunities to express themselves on topics of importance to the Intelligence Community and national security.
In the AFCEA 2009 Essay Contest, on "Safety, Security, and Privacy, respondents are asked to address the following problem statement:
The value of the virtual realm for training has been recognized for some time, but now artificial reality is being exploited for many other applications. Web 2.0 capabilities have opened new doors in cyberspace, and people and organizations are embracing the new world of virtual collaboration. The only limits to using this make-believe realm may be those of human imagination. SIGNAL's May issue looks at ongoing efforts to explore collaboration in the virtual world. 
One picture may tell a thousand words, but sometimes it takes more than that to generate a particular image. That was the case with the cover of this month's SIGNAL Magazine.
Convergence and federation join forces in a new approach.
The defense intelligence community is considering an unlikely pairing of architecture approaches to enable necessary budget cuts without savaging performance. This hybrid method would team convergence and federation to allow all the disparate members of the community to strengthen their interoperability while maintaining a degree of autonomy necessary for their unique mission requirements.
A U.S. Army staff sergeant instructs others in the capabilities of the RQ-11B Raven unmanned aerial vehicle in Iraq. The increasing amount of diverse intelligence information, coupled with a growing customer base, has impelled the Defense Intelligence Agency to formulate a new strategy for intelligence collection, analysis and dissemination. 
The U.S. Defense Department may be on the brink of harnessing brain signals for intelligence analysts. 
A Tiger Shark unmanned aerial vehicle returns from a mission supporting forces in theater. Under NATO’s Multi-sensor Aerospace-ground Joint Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Interoperability Coalition 2 (MAJIIC 2) program, nine nations will continue to improve sharing of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance assets. 
This commercially available DigitalGlobe satellite image shows a backup of NATO supply trucks aused when Pakistan closed its border with Afghanistan.
A specialized U.S. Army unit is on call to provide unclassified satellite intelligence wherever needed. 
A Delta-IV Heavy launcher lifts off a pad at Cape Canaveral, Florida. The National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) is planning several satellite launches over the next few months to replace and update the nation’s aging space-based intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance infrastructure. 
Cmdr. Donald Lee, USN (r), and other Empire Challenge 2010 participants use the Base Expeditionary Targeting and Surveillance System–Combined to search for suspicious activity on the range during Empire Challenge 2010. The annual intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance demonstration examines emerging capabilities. 
The U.S. Navy’s Distributed Common Ground System–Navy (DCGS-N) is undergoing operational testing aboard the aircraft carrier USS Harry S Truman. 
Nontraditional partners and approaches characterize homeland security efforts.
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Ed Granstedt, vice president of strategy, mission solutions group, national systems, QinetiQ North America, warns that current economic conditions can favor U.S. adversaries if organizations do not invest more heavily in comprehensive information security measures.
Globalized marketplace influences how analysts view the world. 
Airborne Multi-INT Laboratory (AML) is a modified Gulfstream G3 business jet equipped with reconfigurable array sensors and data links. Developed by Lockheed Martin, the AML is a plug and play platform that allows a variety of systems to be mixed and tested to meet customer needs. 
Two U.S. Army infantrymen observe artillery fire in Afghanistan. Army intelligence analysts around the world, including those located in remote regions, will be able to access and process information far better than currently possible as a result of improvements under development at the U.S. Army Intelligence and Security Command (INSCOM). 
The key to the future overhead may lie at our feet. 
A Delta II booster launches a National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) payload into orbit. The NRO is revamping its ground architecture to enable its space-based assets to suit burgeoning new warfighter missions.
Innovative technologies help create joint solutions at the speed of war. 
Visitors to the Joint Intelligence Laboratory (JIL) in Suffolk, Virginia, view a virtual reality demonstration. The JIL is part of the Joint Transformation Command for Intelligence, U.S. Joint Forces Command (JFCOM).
A new system promises a sea change in agency operations and services.
The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency is offering its intelligence users a menu instead of serving them the food of its own choosing. A new online system being implemented incrementally will provide the agency’s customers with the capability to individually tailor their own diet of geospatial intelligence services and products.
