Cursor on Target to host user group meeting

  • Published
  • By Justin Oakes
  • 66th Air Base Group Public Affairs
HANSCOM AIR FORCE BASE, Mass. --  The Hanscom-based Cursor on Target, or CoT, program office, is hosting their 2nd International User Group Meeting at a MITRE facility in Bedford, Mass., April 1-2.

The two-day event will offer training opportunities, the latest CoT updates, vendor best practices and a digital exercise for in-person and virtual attendees.

"Every year it's different," said Jon Jacoby, CoT lead engineer. "And by opening up the forum to international participants, it allows us to receive valuable feedback that ultimately benefits our collective customers and end users."

Cursor on Target is a technology that was developed after Sept. 11, 2001, to improve situational awareness by allowing basic information covering What, Where and When - the key attributes for describing events - to be transmitted very quickly through a set of data templates. Typical CoT messages can provide timely notification regarding friendly and hostile troop positions; targeting information; and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance data.

With more than 1,700 users worldwide operating on 300-plus systems and thousands of platforms, the annual meeting provides current and potential users the opportunity to verify and test interoperability by exchanging information, discussing future requirements and operational concerns.

Attendees can expect presentations on use of CoT in battlefield air operations, ISR, geospatial routing, fire fighting and delivery of weather data, as well as a "CoT Fundamentals" segment for those new to the CoT arena. The presentations are open to all virtual or in-residence attendees, however, the second day of the user group meeting is restricted to U.S. participants only.

In addition, there will be a digital exercise for users on both days of the event. Participants can experience live interactive CoT through a series of collaborative web scenarios.

"These exercises help develop partnerships and will allow us to see how different systems integrate," Jacoby said. "Ultimately, it proves interoperability and supports development of new systems with emerging technologies."

For individuals interested in attending this year's user group meeting, registration is required. And for users participating virtually, certain browser and connectivity requirements exist. For more information and to register, contact Jon Jacoby at jjacoby@mitre.org