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San Francisco
CrowdAI announced today that it won an AFWERX Small Business Innovation and Research (SBIR) Phase I award from the US Air Force (AF) and the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA). The joint project will explore CrowdAI’s artificial intelligence (AI) technologies to support analytic modernization at both organizations. CrowdAI specializes in pairing deep learning and computer vision (CV)—the automated exploitation of imagery and video.
With the explosive growth of imaging platforms, both government and commercial, AF and NGA analysts are now inundated with data. At the same time, conventional CV solutions have not produced desired results. CrowdAI, however, uses cutting-edge convolutional neural networks as well as proprietary techniques to build image-segmentation models. These advanced algorithms have delivered superior results to both commercial and government customers, notably in the recent fight against California wildfires: https://www.ai.mil/blog_09_16_19.html.
“It is an incredible honor to support these two GEOINT powerhouses,” Devaki Raj, CEO of CrowdAI, said of working with the Air Force and NGA. “We know their automation needs are big, but we’re confident that our platform can stand up to these challenges, just as we've done for other government clients.”
Established in 2017 by the Secretary of the Air Force and reporting to the Vice Chief of Staff of the Air Force, AFWERX is a catalyst for agile Air Force engagement across industry, academia and non-traditional contributors to create transformative opportunities and foster an Air Force culture of innovation. The ultimate aim is to solve problems and enhance the effectiveness of the Air Force.
The Air Force Research Lab (AFRL) and AFWERX have partnered to streamline the SBIR process in an attempt to speed up the experience, broaden the pool of potential applicants, and decrease bureaucratic overhead. Beginning in SBIR 18.2, and now in 20.1, the Air Force has begun offering 'Special' SBIR topics that are faster, leaner and open to a broader range of innovations.
The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) is a combat support agency of the United States Department of Defense and a member of the United States Intelligence Community. NGA is the lead federal agency for geospatial intelligence (GEOINT) and manages a global consortium of more than 400 commercial and government relationships. The director of NGA serves as the functional manager for GEOINT, the head of the National System for Geospatial Intelligence (NSG) and the coordinator of the global Allied System for Geospatial Intelligence (ASG).
