Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Change, Change, Change

ExportAction has ceased to use this blog.

We found that the vast majority of companies reading it were in the US - using it as a source of sales leads, which is what we intended UK companies would do.

We have not stopped collecting market intelligence for our clients, we are just using "rifle" rather than "shotgun" techniques so information gets into the hands of the people we are trying to help.

Please visit www.exportaction.net.

Thank you.

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Construction management processes

Houston Independent School District (HISD) has selected Prolog software to standardize its construction management processes. HISD is working directly with Project 3 Technologies, a Meridian Systems Value Added Reseller (VAR), to implement Prolog Manager across the school district’s current US$1.045 billion capital improvement program. (Willie Burroughs, general manager, HISD.)

$15m to perform nuclear remediation services

Homeland Security Capital Corporation's environmental remediation subsidiary, Safety and Ecology Corporation (SEC) has been awarded a task order valued at $15.2M to perform nuclear remediation services for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Buffalo District. This project is funded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Contracted by the Army Corps through the Buffalo District, SEC will be performing remediation activities to include excavation, rail transportation, disposal, backfill, site restoration, site analysis and health & safety activities.

One millionth automated manifest system

LaserCard (www.lasercard.com) has shipped its one millionth automated manifest system (AMS) card, used for securely identifying contents of U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) shipping containers. The U.S. Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) recently renewed the AMS contract for three years through prime contractor General Dynamics Information Technology, a business unit of General Dynamics.

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

$15m for National Gang Intelligence

Sim-G Technologies has been awarded an order by the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) to design, develop, deploy, operate and maintain the FBI’s National Gang Intelligence Center (NGIC) Information System (IS). The task order, awarded under the GSA Alliant Small Business Contract, has an estimated value of $15 million over five years if all options are exercised.

Friday, October 30, 2009

QMS for FDA

MasterControl, a provider of software solutions that enable regulated companies to improve internal efficiency and reduce overall costs while accelerating time to market, and i4DM, a MasterControl partner, have been selected as the software provider and implementation team of a quality management system (QMS) for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The FDA's Office of Regulatory Affairs (ORA) selected MasterControl’s quality management software solution to be used by its agencies that are engaged in field investigations enforcement, and scientific laboratory analysis of field samples. The system will be implemented across the United States, in regional offices, district offices, laboratories and headquarters.

9.4 million beneficiaries of Military Health System

Planned Systems International (PSI), a provider of information technology (IT) solutions and services to the federal government, has been awarded a task order by the Defense Health Information Management System (DHIMS) Program Office to provide operations and maintenance support to AHLTA-Theater (AHLTA-T), the military’s electronic health record for the Military Theater environment. The task order has a total value of $8.3 million if all options are exercised.

AHLTA-T maintains a comprehensive, computer-based patient record for every soldier, sailor, airman, marine, and beneficiary entitled to DoD military healthcare in theater of operations. Under this task order, PSI and its team members, Evolvent and ASM Research, will provide maintenance, sustainment and support services, which will improve system speed, reliability, data quality, and usability of currently existing AHLTA-T products. The new functionalities will improve patient safety and quality of care for approximately 9.4 million beneficiaries of the Military Health System (MHS) TRICARE Program.

Thursday, October 29, 2009

Universal Orlando - printing efficiencies

Universal Orlando Resort is famous for creating innovative theme park experiences for its guests. That spirit of innovation also extends to helping its team members do their jobs. Universal Orlando is working to create a more productive and greener workplace – with the potential for significant printing efficiencies – through a new Managed Print Services (MPS) contract with Xerox Corporation. Xerox worked with Universal to study the organization’s work processes, and the costs associated with printing, sharing and updating scripts, proposals and promotional material. Using its Lean Six Sigma-based assessment, Xerox designed an office environment that aligns to Universal’s print budget targets, security policies and environmental sustainability objectives. The company provided on-site training and change management tips to help Universal’s team members adapt to the new technology and work processes. (Tracey Stockwell, chief financial officer for Universal Orlando Resort.)

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Northwest Savings Bank invests in software

Northwest Savings Bank, a $7 billion, full-service community bank, has selected uMonitor’s uOpen & uFund, with an integrated financial relationship switch kit, for opening and funding accounts online. uOpen & uFund automates and streamlines deposit, loan and credit card applications into one unified application and eliminates the need for multiple processes. It will enhance Northwest Savings Bank’s online banking experience by giving customers the ability to set up new deposit accounts, including checking, savings, money market and CDs. (David E. Westerburg, senior vice president and chief marketing officer of Northwest Savings Bank.)

$2.7m spend by FDA

PPD, Inc. has been awarded a contract by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to evaluate the agency’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER) post-market spontaneous adverse event surveillance system. The company will conduct a thorough evaluation of the value of the spontaneous adverse event reports to support safety-related regulatory actions and report its findings to the FDA and the public. The award of $2.7 million for year one, is part of a two-year project of FDA’s Initiative for Maximizing the Benefit of Passive Adverse Event Collection throughout a Product’s Life Cycle (IMPACT). IMPACT, launched in 2008, is intended to fulfill a Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA) IV commitment.

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Fashion college boosts business intelligence

The Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising (FIDM), a private college dedicated to educating students for careers in fashion, graphics, interior design and entertainment industries, has chosen the Smart i Appliance—powered by Talend Integration Suite’s Extract, Transform, Load (ETL) tool—to boost its business intelligence (BI) capabilities. The Smart i Appliance, a collaboration between Talend, Key Information Systems, Systech Solutions and IBM, is a plug-and-play BI appliance based on IBM’s System i (AS/400) platform. Under the terms of the agreement, FIDM uses Talend’s transformation components—such as mapping, normalizing, sorting and aggregating—to cleanse, transform and load data into a new data warehouse. (Roxanne Reynolds-Lair, chief information officer, FIDM.)

Services for Microsoft Stimulus360

Mississippi Department of Information Technology Services (ITS) has awarded a contract to provide installation, configuration, implementation and training services for Microsoft Stimulus360. Stimulus360 is the Microsoft solution that helps public sector agencies track, measure, and share information about federal stimulus programs. Working with subcontractor partner Information Strategies, Inc., Infinite Group will deliver an enterprise virtual-hosted environment for the Mississippi Department of Finance and Administration (DFA), who will use Stimulus360 to comply with a number of requirements for receiving and dispersing funding received via the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) enacted by Congress on February 17, 2009.

Handheld biometric readers sold

MaxID and CoreStreet have sold ten iDLMaxG TWIC-accredited handheld biometric reader devices to the United States Coast Guard. The iDLMaxG units delivered to the Coast Guard are bundled with the CoreStreet PIVMAN Client software, which provides a TWIC-compatible solution that has been in operational use for more than three years in the DoD, Department of Homeland Security (DHS), various states, and is on the FIPS 201 Approved Products List.

Electronic traffic and citation payments system

nCourt, LLC's electronic traffic and citation payments system has been selected by Dauphin County, Pennsylvania for use by 18 District Courts. With an average of 250,000 citations processed in the county per year, the nCourt system will enable users to easily enter their plea and submit payments through an easy-to-use, convenient service that is available via both phone and Internet.

Monday, October 26, 2009

$750,000 contract to develop a modular software framework

SSCI, a developer of technology solutions for defense and industrial suppliers, has been awarded a $750,000 contract from the U.S. Air Force to develop a modular software framework for testing and evaluation of navigation sensors and algorithms. The Small Business Investment Research (SBIR) contract leverages SSCI’s leadership in technology enabling intelligent autonomous land-based and aerial unmanned systems to perform their missions in hostile or challenging environments. In order to encourage adoption by sensor manufacturers, the project is being developed in open source format, with code available for download at http://code.google.com/p/functionalnavigation.


Escalators at McCarran International Airport

KONE, one of the world’s leading elevator and escalator companies, and Power Efficiency Corporation, a clean tech company have installed the EcoStart on escalators at McCarran International Airport (LAS), the nation’s seventh-busiest airport. Operated by the Clark County Department of Aviation, in 2008 the airport served more than 44 million passengers. The KONE EcoStart is a motor efficiency controller that soft starts an electric motor, bringing it from rest to full speed. Once it is at full speed, the EcoStart monitors the motor and improves its efficiency when operating. By conserving energy, the EcoStart supports the building’s sustainability programs and contributes to environmental protection efforts. McCarran and the four general aviation facilities in the Clark County Airport System are owned by Clark County, Nevada and operated under the policy direction of the Board of County Commissioners, the authority of the County Manager and the management of the Director and Deputy Director of Aviation. McCarran International Airport is part of the Clark County Airport System, which owns and operates five airports, including four general aviation facilities: North Las Vegas Airport, Henderson Executive Airport, Jean Sport Aviation Center, and Overton/Perkins Field.


$875,000 for the design, manufacture and delivery of a new circuit card

Orbit Instrument Division has received an award from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) valued at $875,000 for the design, manufacture and delivery of a new circuit card assembly in support of the Automated Radar Terminal System (ARTS) 11E and 111E keyboard configurations. The ARTS keyboard configuration was designed to support 15 sensors, 10,000 simultaneous tracks, and over 200 displays within air traffic control towers. ARTS 111E is currently operational at a number of Terminal Radar Approach Control (TRACON) facilities nationwide. The ARTS systems have been a reliable part of the Terminal domain for over 30 years.

Cessna certification

Cessna Aircraft Company, a Textron company, has been granted a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) supplemental type certification (STC) for the IS&S-developed AdViz flat panel display system now available for retrofit in some legacy Cessna Citations. The AdViz system will initially be available for purchase through the nine Cessna-owned Citation Service Centers, and will later be distributed through the Cessna authorized network. AdViz is based on the IS&S Vantage Cockpit/IP system, an open architecture flat panel display system that allows operators to upgrade their aircraft to a glass cockpit while leaving existing third party avionics installed in the aircraft. This allows the operator to select the best of breed new equipment and minimizes the cost and down time of the upgrade.

Policy administration and customer billing services

American Family Insurance has selected Guidewire Insurance Suite products, Guidewire PolicyCenter and Guidewire BillingCenter to deliver policy administration and customer billing services. (Bill Westrate, Personal Lines Vice President, American Family Insurance.)

U.S. Customs and Border Protection

Envisage Technologies will implement its Acadis® Readiness Suite at six U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) law enforcement training academies across the United States thanks to a contract award from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. (Meka Seawright, chief of the Technology Resource Branch for the Office of Training Development (OTD). CBP is one of the Department of Homeland Security’s largest and most complex agencies, with over 41,000 employees to manage, control and protect the Nation’s borders. Its priority mission is to keep terrorists and their weapons out of the United States. Its responsibilities include securing and facilitating trade and travel and enforcing hundreds of federal regulations, including immigration and drug laws. OTD is responsible for centralized leadership and direction of all Customs and Border Protection (CBP) training programs and establishes standards and policies for designing, developing, delivering, and evaluating training.