DRAFT - NOT APPROVED FOR PUBLIC RELEASE

Army Geospatial Enterprise Node

The Army Geospatial Enterprise (AGE) Node is an evaluation space that contains current or planned versions of the Army’s key mission command and intelligence systems that provide or utilize geospatial information. Located at the Army Geospatial Center (AGC), it serves as a platform for demonstrating, integrating, and evaluating Army, commercial, and open-source geospatial software applications and services, as well as providing an environment for AGE Certification.

The Army Geospatial Enterprise (AGE) Node supports the development and testing of software, as well as the certification of Army systems.

The AGE Node includes the following simulated Army Common Operating Environments (COEs): Data Center Computing Environment (CE), Command Post CE, Mounted CE, Mobile Handheld CE, Sensor CE, and Realtime CE. It integrates multiple computing environments by linking Programs of Record (POR) such as Nett Warrior (NW), Joint Battle Command Platform (JBC-P), and the Distributed Common Ground System-Army (DCGS-A).

The AGE Node facilitates the transition of research projects to PORs. By providing project developers with access to POR software, applications can be tested early and often for compatibility with the AGE architecture, increasing the likelihood of an efficient transition to the field. New technology and data standards can be evaluated in order to address priority gaps within the AGE and National System for Geospatial Intelligence (NSG).

Promoting Interoperability

The AGE involves hundreds of applications and mission command systems such as Enfire, and the Command Post Computing Environment. These systems have varying infrastructure, network capabilities and operational constraints. Systems and applications must integrate and function across these areas.

Department of Defense and industry partners use the AGE Node to demonstrate and resolve interoperability challenges within the geospatial domain. The AGE Node integrates new Research & Development and resolve interoperability issues throughout the development lifecycle. It supports the Army’s evaluation of geospatial standards and implementations (e.g., Open Geospatial Consortium and National System for Geospatial-Intelligence standards and profiles). This ensures the implementation of correct standards and profiles early to ensure that Army systems receive the content-managed Standard Shareable Geospatial Foundation, enabling a Common Operational Picture. By doing this, the AGE Node reduces the transition and fielding risk and, ultimately, implementation cost.

Enabling Certification

Geospatial interoperability is critical to providing situational awareness to the warfighter. Interoperability is achieved through consistent implementations of standards profiles, data models and architectures. The Army Geospatial Information Officer is responsible for certifying geospatial interoperability in accordance with Army Regulation 115-11, Geospatial Information and Services.

The AGE Node provides an environment where program managers can bring systems for evaluation and assessment of geospatial interoperability prior to Army Interoperability Certification (AIC).

Collaboration

Advancement of AGE applications and capabilities requires experimentation, collaboration and coordination with a variety of DoD entities, coalition mission partners, federal agencies, industry partners, academia and other technology providers. The AGE Node provides an ideal environment for collaboration.

Partners use the AGE Node to innovate and shape technologies. The AGE Node provides industry with insight into the unique limitations — technological, environmental or policy-oriented — of the AGE operational environment. This allows the Army to partner with industry to enhance commercial geospatial information and services technology. Commercial or open-source technologies that fill gaps in AGE requirements can be identified and experimented with, all of which supports geospatial interoperability assessment and certification.

Benefits of the AGE Node

The AGE Node benefits the AGE in a number of ways by advancing geospatial research and improving geospatial interoperability. It buys down risk for developers to transition to and implement geospatial technologies and information. The AGE Node does this by supporting the evaluation of geospatial standards, data formats and architectures against fielded systems to understand potential impacts and improvements to interoperability.  Knowledge gained through use of the AGE Node helps to shape Department of Defense (DoD) and defense-industry products.