Intelligence community taps Zoomdata for improved data visualization

The U.S. intelligence community will have access to a new big data analytics visualization platform after its innovative startup-focused venture capital firm invested in Zoomdata last week.

Following a strategic investment and technology development agreement from In-Q-Tel, Zoomdata — who claims to be the “fastest” visual analytics platform for big data — will extend the capabilities of the IC’s big data visual analytics platform to better meet the its expanding need to rapidly mine intelligence information.

Zoomdata will provide intelligence agencies technologies such as “data sharpening,” which provides real-time streaming and analytics.

Justin Langseth, CEO of Zoomdata, said in a release the advantages of this investment would “make it much easier for IC agencies to test, develop and deploy solutions that leverage our unique big data visual analytics capabilities in the cloud without individual contracts that have to be negotiated every time.”

Zoomdata’s chief of marketing, Nick Halsey, told FedScoop the company has a “very powerful and open security model.” Although, Halsey wouldn’t comment on the specific agencies implementing Zoomdata, he said the company’s services would be available to those with access to Amazon Web Services’ GovCloud as well as its highly secured Commercial Cloud Services program.

Halsey noted that those without proper credentials to access something will also be unable to search or view analytics for it. However, as user credentials change, the access to data in Zoomdata changes in real time, he said.

In-Q-Tel Investment Partner Brian Smith touted the benefit Zoomdata would bring to the IC in the release.

“By adding highly scalable and secure capabilities to the platform, Zoomdata will help make government agencies more effective in gaining actionable insights faster from historical information as well as streaming, real-time data sources,” Smith said.

The investment from IQT is not Zoomdata’s first foray into the federal government space. Since launching in 2012, Zoomdata has inked several partnerships with the federal government, including scoring a spot on NASA’s governmentwide SEWP contracting vehicle.

And that involvement could still extend in scope and range following this partnership, Langseth said in the release.

“We’ve seen tremendous interest in Zoomdata in the federal sector,” he said.

In-Q-Tel did not respond to FedScoop’s request for additional comment by publication time.