NVAC stands for the National Visualization and Analytics Center, a consortium of research groups interested in visual analytics for homeland security. About two years ago the organization produced a manifesto, "Illuminating the Path", to advance the state of the art in visual analytics. I haven't completely waded through the PDFs of the report, but at least the executive summary (PDF) makes for interesting reading. There's also a nine minute video about the production of the report, embedded in the page.