NIMA Uses Technology to Support the Conflict in Iraq

June 25, 2003
Mountain View, CA

In-Q-Tel,  a private nonprofit venture funded by the Central Intelligence Agency, today  announced a strategic investment in Keyhole Corp., a pioneer of interactive 3D  earth visualization. The investment,  made in February 2003, was In-Q-Tel's first engagement with a company on behalf of the National Imagery and Mapping Agency (NIMA).

Immediately  demonstrating the value of Keyhole's technology to the national security  community, NIMA used the technology to support United States troops in  Iraq. "Within two weeks of  In-Q-Tel's engagement with Keyhole, we implemented the technology to support  our mission within the Pentagon," said Rob Zitz, Director of NIMA's  InnoVision directorate.  "Introducing technologies like Keyhole is part of NIMA's effort to  transform the intelligence business, and the way we serve our customers."

Keyhole's  EarthViewer 3-D client application uses videogame-like 3-D graphics and access to  massive databases of network-hosted earth information, including satellite  imagery and aerial photography, to produce an interactive digital model of the  earth. Keyhole's EarthSystem combines a tradition of 3-D graphics technology  for flight simulators with innovative network-streaming technology to deliver  enterprise software solutions for large business and government customers, as  well as an Application Service Provider solution for professional and consumer  users. The result is a virtual flyover experience -- so compelling that multiple TV media networks recently used EarthViewer 3-D to 'fly' over Iraqi cities and landscapes in news broadcasts  using publicly available satellite images. In addition to media customers, Keyhole solutions serve a broad range of markets including real estate, transportation, insurance, consumer and  government.

"In-Q-Tel  invested in Keyhole because it offers government and commercial users a new  capability to radically enhance critical decision making. Through its ability to stream very large  geospatial datasets over the Internet and private networks, Keyhole has created  an entirely new way to interact with earth imagery and feature data," said  Gilman Louie, CEO of In-Q-Tel.  "With Keyhole's technology, individuals can see and manipulate  their world in 3-D, meeting their business and operational challenges in  powerful geographic context."

"Keyhole's strategic relationship with In-Q-Tel means that the Intelligence Community can  now benefit from the massive scalability and high performance of the Keyhole  enterprise solution," said John Hanke, CEO of Keyhole. "By capitalizing on trends in commercial  markets, In-Q-Tel is supporting an ever-higher standard of advanced technology adoption in government. Keyhole is pleased to help set that standard for large-scale 3D geospatial visualization."

NIMA's success with Keyhole highlights the significant overlap between technology  needs across the agencies of the Intelligence Community. "By investing in Keyhole, In-Q-Tel is  helping CIA and NIMA leverage limited resources and gain access to a technology  of high potential value to both organizations," said Louie. Working  through CIA, NIMA became a limited partner with In-Q-Tel in the summer of 2002. In addition to an equity investment, In-Q-Tel  is partnering with Keyhole to further enhance Keyhole EarthSytem's compatibility with a variety of government datasets through adoption of  advanced GIS data standards.

About Keyhole Corporation
Based  in Mountain View, CA, Keyhole, Inc., is the pioneer of interactive 3-D earth  visualization and creator of the groundbreaking rich-mapping EarthViewer 3-D  system that transforms the way users interact with geographic information and  earth imagery. Keyhole's EarthViewer 3-D accelerates and enhances decisions for  business and government by enabling fast, fluid interaction with massive  network-resident databases of earth imagery and geospatial information. Users  can 'fly' from space to street level seamlessly while interactively exploring  layers of information including roads, schools, businesses, and demographics.  Further information about Keyhole is available at http://www.earthviewer.com.

About NIMA
NIMA  (http://www.nima.mil) is a member of the  National Intelligence Community and a DoD Combat Support Agency. NIMA's mission is to provide timely, relevant  and accurate Geospatial Intelligence in support of national security. Geospatial Intelligence is the analysis and  visual representation of security-related activities on the Earth. Headquartered in Bethesda, Md., NIMA operates  major facilities in the northern Virginia, Washington, D.C., and St. Louis, Mo.  areas. NIMA Support Teams serve  customers around the nation and the world.