Despite pervasive problems, government and industry have taken some positive steps toward creating interoperable wireless communications in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
For three days last month, tech companies took center stage at the 2004 FOSE trade show in Washington. They demonstrated products, discussed the government IT market and sought business partners for contract bids.
"Injury and Illness Recordkeeping Training," an Occupational Safety and Health Administration seminar, has been seen by more than 15,000 people ? mostly human resources and administrative personnel at companies affected by its requirements ? since its debut Dec. 12, 2001.
When Michael Jalbert came to E.F. Johnson Inc. in early 1999, the company was losing money, had been delisted from Nasdaq and was facing class action lawsuits from shareholders.
As Defense Department agencies move to streamline supply-chain operations using wireless networks, they struggle to keep secure the growing number of 802.11b-based wireless networks.
AT&T Government Solutions won a $61.3 million contract from the National Communications System to provide priority calling services for government and industry officials during emergencies.
GigaBeam Corp. has developed a point-to-point wireless technology that uses very high radio frequency to deliver the speed of fiber networks directly to agencies and enterprises.
The departments of Defense and Homeland Security are preparing four new communications and network projects that will generate billions of dollars in business for IT, wireless and telecom companies.
Voice over IP vendor Avaya Inc., Basking Ridge, N.J., has integrated session initiation protocol into its latest products through its new Avaya Converged Communications Server. SIP allows agencies to employ presence awareness across IP phones and other devices so people can indicate whether they are available and how they can be reached--via phone, instant message or other communication method. If a manager needs to schedule a phone conference, he can see who is available based on presence icons.
A new, mobile, digital video system from Schaumberg, Ill.-based Motorola Inc. will let police shoot full-motion video from their cars and transmit the images to headquarters.
Boeing Co. aims to capture half of the $200 billion the Pentagon is expected to spend on network-centric operations during the next 10 years, a Boeing official said.
A unit of SBC Communications Inc. has won the right to compete for telecommunications services that federal agencies will buy in 2004. Analysts estimate this business is worth about $12.5 billion.
Voice over IP technology took a step toward acceptance for military command and control applications when the Defense Department certified that solutions from Basking Ridge, N.J.-based Avaya Inc. met security requirements.
The federal government's proposed $10 billion Networx telecommunications and networking program could get a dramatic makeover following a General Services Administration review of industry complaints and suggestions.
The White House has identified 18 agencies that will not receive funding to upgrade their information technology systems until they fix security problems. "Agencies need to secure what they have," not layer new projects on top of vulnerable IT infrastructures, said <b>Karen Evans</b>, administrator for IT and e-government in the Office of Management and Budget.
A major consolidation of Texas' health and human services functions should produce a wave of fresh opportunities for integrators over the next three to five years.
Business continuity, the process of ensuring that computer systems run in the event of an emergency, is receiving fresh attention in the government market, and not only because of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. In an increasingly networked world, business continuity has come to mean something new.
