From Maps to Operational Intelligence: How Defense Is Changing the Mapping Workflow

From the INTERGEO show floor in Munich, SimActive CEO Philippe Simard discusses why speed, usability and data integration increasingly matter in defense mapping

At INTERGEO this week in Munich, the geospatial industry is showcasing new ways to turn mapping data into useful information. Philippe Simard, CEO of SimActive, a leading developer of photogrammetry software, sees a growing emphasis on what users can learn from a map and how quickly they can act on it.

“I see more and more companies that have a layer of intelligence over their maps,” Simard told DRONELIFE from the show floor. “The photo by itself is not the solution. The solution is the information you get from it and the decisions you can make. There are new tools that do that for you automatically.”

That shift has particular significance for defense, where information can have a short shelf life.

Built for Defense Mapping

SimActive’s roots are closely tied to defense. The Canadian company was founded to make advanced photogrammetry easier for military users, including personnel who were not mapping specialists.

Today, drones have made imagery easier to collect. Defense organizations can also draw data from crewed aircraft, satellites and other sensors. But Simard says processing can remain a critical bottleneck.

“Quite often, the end product is a quick and dirty ortho. They want to see what’s on the ground,” he said. “For an hour of collection, they don’t want to spend more than an hour for processing.”

Some mapping products may arrive days later.

“At that point the data is no longer current,” Simard said. “The whole point of the drone is to see the data now.”

That distinction can be critical for applications such as damage assessment or line-of-sight analysis. In an active defense environment, conditions on the ground can change rapidly. A map delivered tomorrow may accurately represent what was there yesterday, but it may no longer provide the information needed to make a decision today.

Accurate Doesn’t Always Mean Perfect

Speed does not eliminate the need for accuracy. But different applications require different final products.

“If you are doing an orthomosaic for a surveying company that is building a bridge, you want a perfect end product, with lots of QA and QC and final editing,” Simard said. “But in a defense application, it doesn’t matter if the color isn’t perfect. You want precision, but it doesn’t have to be pretty.”

For defense users, the goal may be a reliable map delivered quickly enough to support an operational decision.

Combining Data From Different Sources

Modern defense mapping can also involve multiple platforms and sensors. Imagery from drones, crewed aircraft and satellites may all need to come together.

“Basically, we have tools to help you spatially register different datasets,” Simard said. “SimActive was designed to allow for that, for a user to be able to take the images they have and put them together easily into usable form.”

The growing number of data sources makes the workflow itself increasingly important. Users need to move from collection to usable geospatial information without adding unnecessary complexity

Making Sophisticated Mapping Easier to Use

That requirement connects directly to SimActive’s beginnings.

“Quite often it will be the platform or sensor operator who is responsible, not a photogrammetrist,” Simard said. “In the field, teams will often rotate. It can’t be so complex that it takes a year to train.”

Ease of use, in that environment, becomes an operational requirement rather than simply a software feature.

The technology has changed significantly since SimActive began working with defense users. The underlying problem has not: sophisticated mapping has to be accessible to the people who need the information.

AI and the Next Layer of Mapping

That evolution is visible across INTERGEO, where AI, automation, digital twins and data integration are major themes.

Simard says his own view of AI has changed as he has begun using it.

“I was skeptical, but when you start using it you appreciate what it can do,” he said.

He also sees its impact extending beyond individual mapping applications.

“The companies that adopt AI at all levels are the ones that are going to thrive,” Simard said, pointing to development, support and administration. “It’s really a game changer.”

The trend Simard sees at INTERGEO points toward a broader evolution in mapping. The industry has become very good at collecting geospatial data. Increasingly, the differentiator is how quickly organizations can turn that data into something useful.

For defense, that brings the story back to the problem SimActive was founded to address: making sophisticated mapping fast and straightforward enough for the people who need the answer, while the answer still matters.