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	The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) is a U.S. Department of Defense combat support agency and a member of the national intelligence community. Its primary mission is to provide geospatial intelligence (GEOINT) to members of the U.S. armed forces and government agencies who support U.S. national security, as well as aeronautical and nautical safety. To better provide its users with access to timely, accurate, and relevant GEOINT, NGA contracted with ESRI Professional Services in 2004 for a new initiative known now as Enterprise Product on Demand Services (ePODS). One of the project’s main goals was to automate map and chart creation to gain efficiency and reduce errors. In addition, NGA sought to permit access to the most current NGA data in all domains, including aeronautical, nautical, and topographic. The ability to design and print custom maps was also high on the list of desired functionality. ePODS Functionality ePODS is a Web portal that allows users access to the system from specific NGA networks built on service-oriented architecture (SOA) using ESRI’s ArcGIS® family of products. ArcGIS Server provides the geographic information system (GIS) Web services and portal functionality. PLTS™ for ArcGIS provides a robust final touchup or “finishing” environment for aeronautical, nautical, and topographic maps and charts that NGA chooses to edit prior to publication. Using the Web interface, users select the data they need, configure the data into a map, apply specific cartographic rules, preview the end product, and print it or download a source package that includes data, instructions, and media to work locally on the maps for further refinement. ePODS produces output in several formats, including .pdf, GeoTIFF, JPEG, CADRG, and geodatabase/ArcMap™ document (MXD) downloads.



	Ongoing Development ePODS has continued to mature and offer more products to NGA’s user community. In April 2007, ePODS moved from being a prototype to an official program of record at NGA. This status provides funding through fiscal year 2015 and the opportunity to become part of NGA’s life cycle processes. Although ePODS maritime production has been ongoing since 2007, it recently passed NGA’s Operational Readiness Review (ORR)/Operational Acceptance Review (OAR). This milestone was the final step in NGA’s acceptance process and determined that the maritime service can be officially considered operational by NGA. ePODS has allowed NGA to change its focus from producing cartographic products to providing the most accurate data possible to support its customers’ needs. With the help of ePODS, NGA has significantly reduced the time required to produce maps and charts. For some maps and charts, production time has dropped from hundreds of hours to less than one. NGA further increased its efficiency by using ePODS to determine on a case-by-case basis how much production time to spend on a product based on the intended use of the product, eliminating the need to spend hundreds of hours finishing a one-off product that only will be used for quick analysis. ePODS allows NGA to focus more of its resources on data quality, integrity, and currency rather than cartographic product generation. With ePODS, NGA is able to provide its customers with timely access to relevant and accurate GEOINT data. Navigation safety is also significantly improved for military personnel and civilians with improvements in accuracy and timeliness of aeronautical and nautical charts.

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