Department of Defense
INSTRUCTION
NUMBER 5000.56
July 9, 2010
Incorporating Change 1, September 25, 2017
USD(I)
SUBJECT: Programming Geospatial-Intelligence (GEOINT), Geospatial Information and
Services (GI&S), and Geodesy Requirements for Developing Systems
References: See Enclosure 1
1. PURPOSE. This Instruction reissues DoD Instruction (DoDI) 5000.56 (Reference (a)) in
accordance with the authority in DoD Directive (DoDD) 5143.01 (Reference (b)) to update
policy, responsibilities, and procedures for the identification and funding of GEOINT
requirements for systems under development or upgrade consistent with DoDDs 5105.60 and
5000.01 and DoDI 5000.02 (References (c), (d), and (e)). All GI&S, imagery or geodesy data,
product, or services are components of GEOINT and, for the purposes of this Instruction, shall
hereafter be referred to as GEOINT.
2. APPLICABILITY. This Instruction applies to OSD, the Military Departments, the Office of
the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Joint Staff, the Combatant Commands, the
Office of the Inspector General of the Department of Defense, the Defense Agencies, the DoD
Field Activities, and all other organizational entities within the Department of Defense (hereafter
referred to collectively as the “DoD Components”).
3. DEFINITIONS. See Glossary.
4. POLICY. It is DoD policy that:
a. All acquisition programs relying on GEOINT data shall be designed to use standard
GEOINT data whose content, formats, and standards conform to those established by the
National System for Geospatial Intelligence (NSG) through community government processes.
b. All acquisition programs shall make maximum use of standard military data and digital
databases provided by the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) and the NSG.
