Ascend Gets DARPA Contract to Supply TIGR Multimedia Reporting System

TIGR system screenshot(click to view full) Ascend Intelligence in Arlington, VA received a $14 million cost-plus-fixed-fee contract from the US Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA) to supply the tactical ground reporting (TIGR) system for US troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. First tested in Iraq in 2007, TIGR is a multimedia reporting system for US troops at the patrol level, allowing users to collect and share information to improve situational awareness and to facilitate collaboration and information analysis among junior officers. TIGR complements existing reporting systems that focus on the needs of users at battalion or brigade level and above. TIGR has a map-based user interface and supports multimedia and GPS input, as well as distributed search and caching capability. It uses software that runs on a laptop and taps into multiple databases containing intelligence about a particular area… TIGR’s graphical, map-referenced user interface allows multimedia data such as voice recordings, digital photos, GPS tracks to be collected and searched. The system’s data distribution architecture minimizes bandwidth use on tactical networks. According to DARPA, TIGR provides the following capabilities: “TIGR enhances local knowledge – Local knowledge is hard-won and is critical to effective operations. TIGR helps ground soldiers collect information […]