<FONT SIZE=2>Warfighter Information Network - Tactical</FONT><FONT SIZE=2>Army Communications Electronics Command</FONT><FONT SIZE=2>Value: </FONT><FONT SIZE=2>$6.6 billion</FONT><FONT SIZE=2>Awarded: </FONT><FONT SIZE=2>Lockheed Martin Corp. and General Dynamics Corp. both won contracts Aug. 9 that will develop the architecture and start initial production of systems for testing. The Army will then pick between the two for full production.</FONT>
<FONT SIZE=2>If integrators want to look at the future of network-centric procurement, a good starting point is the Joint Vision 2010 and Joint Vision 2020 documents, said Louis Ray, president and chief executive officer of Matcom International Corp., an IT and engineering services provider in Alexandria, Va., that does work in military tactical data links. </FONT>
<FONT SIZE=2>In July, MTC Technologies Corp. began work on a first-of-its-kind project that essentially will turn Air Force refueling aircraft into flying data routers.</FONT>
Whatever the White House's new draft cybersecurity plan lacked in specific requirements for the private sector, it more than made up for in proposed spending to improve security at federal agencies.
The government sector is going to be the single largest vertical market for biometric technologies through 2007, when spending is expected to reach $1.2 billion, according to International Biometric Group LLC, a New York-based research and consulting firm. IBG estimated the government market for biometrics in 2002 would be $217 million. The global market for biometrics will hit $4 billion by 2007, according to IBG's annual forecast released last month. The largest biometric market segment will continue to be fingerprint technologies, followed by facial recognition and iris scanning, said Mike Thieme, director of special projects for IBG. IBG's forecast is based on vendor revenue, which it defined as sales of hardware and software that are related to the core biometric technology, with adjustments made based on a variety of economic and political factors, Thieme said.
<font SIZE="2">When Americans next year begin the ritual of completing annual tax forms, the nation'sblind and visually impaired citizens will be able to fill out 50 of the most-used formsonline for the first time. </font>
<font SIZE="2">Researchers at University ofSouthern California's Information Sciences Institute have developed a solution, calledTethernet, that provides true Internet service behind network address translation-basedsubnets and other Internet-challenged environments. </font>
<FONT SIZE=2>	From a retirement home for research-lab primates to the world's largest medical library, the National Institutes of Health has a staggering variety and number of buildings to maintain. </FONT>
<FONT SIZE=2>	The Navy Training and Management Planning System, the central data warehouse for the chief of Naval Education and Training, has incorporated a business intelligence solution from Cognos Inc., Ottawa, to allow managers to tap into reports pertaining to funding, facilities, personnel, manpower, equipment and training courses.</FONT>
<FONT SIZE=2>Defense Department CIO John Stenbit mandated the creation of a central registry of extensible markup language, or XML, components. Defense Department offices will register components they build or procure through this clearinghouse, which is run by the Defense Information Systems Agency. This registry will pave the way for offices to easily create systems that share information, said Patrick Fines of defense integrator FGM Inc., Dulles, Va. Fines is the director of the registry work that the company is doing for DISA.</FONT>
<FONT SIZE=2>	Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University have created a system that can coordinate, through software agents, an evacuation of people in an area of an escalating bioterrorism crisis. The prototype, called the Interoperability of Multi-agent Systems to Support an Escalating Noncombatant Evacuation Operation, or Tie-3, can dynamically evaluate a situation, form an evacuation plan, monitor activity and reformulate escape plans as necessary.</FONT>
<FONT SIZE=2>	A preventative health screening station offered by Computerized Screening Inc., Sparks, Nev., has gained a spot in the General Services Administration's fitness vendor catalog. The health station determines blood pressure, weight, fitness and health. It also offers the ability for users to compile and store test results along with information on physician visits, hospitalizations and prescription histories, all of which can be made accessible via the Internet. The company plans to market the stations to agencies and publicly funded health organizations. </FONT>
<FONT SIZE=2>Don't think biometric access devices are silver bullets for your security vulnerabilities. In fact, if not applied correctly, they can create new gaps in security.</FONT>
<FONT SIZE=2>When U.S. forces operating in Afghanistan capture suspected al Qaeda terrorists, they are required to take the detainees' fingerprints, photos, names and other personal information. </FONT>
<FONT SIZE=2>In early October, citizens and visitors to Athens, Ga., will enjoy free wireless network access across 24 blocks downtown. Anyone with a personal digital assistant, or handheld or laptop computer with a wireless network access card can surf the Internet or tap into Web sites of local shops. </FONT>
With more and more federal agencies relying on outsourcing, contractors are providing a wide variety of support services on behalf of the government, including travel arrangements, fingerprinting and various security checks on people and banking services to agency employees. Many contractors, however, are unaware that in taking on these contracts, they now are subject to the terms of the Privacy Act of 1974.</FONT>
Biometric technologies, once regarded as expensive and unreliable, are now a standard component of many security solutions. Congress, in fact, has begun mandating biometrics in some applications. In the wake of last September's terrorist attacks, we want to know with greater certainty who has authority to access critical facilities, computers and networks ? and who does not.
<FONT SIZE=2>From a retirement home for research-lab primates to the world's largest medical library, the National Institutes of Health has a staggering variety and number of buildings to maintain. </FONT>
<FONT SIZE=2>A preventative health screening station offered by Computerized Screening Inc., Sparks, Nev., has gained a spot in the General Services Administration's fitness vendor catalog. The health station determines blood pressure, weight, fitness and health. It also offers the ability for users to compile and store test results along with information on physician visits, hospitalizations and prescription histories, all of which can be made accessible via the Internet. The company plans to market the stations to agencies and publicly funded health organizations. </FONT>
