A U.S. Department of Defense agency and Microsoft will collaborate to improve Microsoft’s Virtual Earth mapping program for military and non-military purposes, the Redmond, Wash., company announced Thursday.Microsoft signed a letter of understanding with the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA), which is a “Department of Defense combat support agency,” the company said.Microsoft and NGA will use Virtual Earth, part of Microsoft’s Windows Live, for tasks such as guiding relief efforts for natural disasters. The program was used during Hurricane Katrina last year to direct first responders and government branches, Microsoft said.Neither party specified the potential military applications of Virtual Earth or its application programming interfaces beyond “national security efforts.” -Steven Schwankert, IDG News ServiceThis article is posted on our Microsoft Informer page. For more news on the Redmond, Wash.-based powerhouse, keep checking in. Check out our CIO News Alerts and Tech Informer pages for more updated news coverage. Related content feature Key IT initiatives reshape the CIO agenda While cloud, cybersecurity, and analytics remain top of mind for IT leaders, a shift toward delivering business value is altering how CIOs approach key priorities, pushing transformative projects to the next phase. By Mary Pratt May 30, 2023 10 mins IT Strategy IT Leadership opinion Managing IT right starts with rightsizing IT for value While there are few universals when it comes to saying unambiguously what ‘managing IT right’ looks like, knowing how to navigate the limitless possibilities of IT is surely one. By Thornton May May 30, 2023 6 mins Digital Transformation IT Strategy IT Leadership brandpost Designing the campus of the future starts with high-quality 10Gbps connectivity By Huawei May 30, 2023 4 mins Network Architect Networking Devices Networking feature Red Hat embraces hybrid cloud for internal IT The maker of OpenShift has leveraged its own open container offering to migrate business-critical apps to AWS as part of a strategy to move beyond facilitating hybrid cloud for others and capitalize on the model for itself. By Paula Rooney May 29, 2023 5 mins CIO 100 Technology Industry Hybrid Cloud Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe