IA Academy connects geospatial intelligence community, proves low-cost professional development model

December 20, 2022 - Defence Stories

By Maj A. Martin, Canadian Forces Joint Imagery Centre (CFJIC)

The Imagery Analyst (IA) Academy is simple in design and execution: provide a professional development (PD) forum by geospatial intelligence (GEOINT) professionals, for GEOINT professionals to enhance interconnectivity across the community and promote continual growth. This local initiative celebrated its first anniversary on December 2^nd, 2022.

Every other week, analysts and practitioners gather for 60 minutes to learn something new about the discipline. Recognizing that everyone has something of value to contribute, and no one is ever done learning: anyone in the community may offer a briefing, regardless of rank or position. To date, IA Academy hosted 23 sessions by 25 briefers (from Master-Corporal/Master-Sailor to Director) from some 13 organizations – to include sister units, higher headquarters, liaison elements, even other government departments and close Allies! 

This approach creates briefing opportunities for personnel at all levels (a core skill for intelligence professionals) and allows the exploration of any aspect of GEOINT - from governance or architecture, lived experiences, innovations, and beyond. Inclusivity and humility build community. Whereas new analysts get to explore remote sensing or information integration capabilities, veteran analysts have marveled at the new analysts’ tradecraft.

A fixed schedule creates predictability, which enables easier scheduling, coordination and participation rates. Video-teleconference technologies help a dispersed constellation of 12-35 Canadian GEOINT professionals connect from Colorado Springs, USA to Wyton, UK via live broadcast - which is remarkable in a time of CAF-wide Reconstitution, proving the value added.

The desire to preserve precious, hard-earned expertise led to the creation of a virtual IA Academy Library to ensure the availability of presentations and supporting materials for future use or reference, and enable new personnel to “crash-course” on their own time. In the coming year, IA Academy hopes to find a way to record the live sessions so that discussions may also be captured, with no lost detail.

To recognize those most invested, IA Academy created two awards: (1) Certificates of Commitment to Professional Growth, awarded to high-rate participants (to accompany a Feedback Note); and (2) a serialized IA Academy Coin, awarded to briefers and key enablers along with a letter of appreciation. Thus far, 45 individuals have been recognized by IA Academy.

While establishing the initiative required an initial investment; a year later, momentum is strong and IA Academy has become largely self-sustaining, with topics being requested and actively offered by the community. So much so, that sessions are being booked over three months in advance! This, represents success: the community being actively engaged in one another’s growth as a professional corps.