Defense ID access control system

Intellicheck Mobilisa has received a contract from Fort Sam Houston to provide the Defense ID access control system to protect the base. Defense ID is currently in use at over 70 secure government installations. Utilizing Intellicheck Mobilisa’s patented ID reading technology, Defense ID scans various forms of IDs, such as Drivers Licenses, Military ID’s or TWIC cards, and instantly compares the data to over 100 “bad guy” lists. Fort Sam Houston, one of the US Army’s largest and oldest installations, is home to over 27,000 military and civilian personnel.

Social networking for slimmers

The cubeless enterprise social networking platform from Sabre Holdings is to be used to help companies across the United States to trim the fat. The Naturally Slim Healthy Lifestyle Class, a corporate-sponsored weight loss and wellness program launched in 1978, has begun using the online social network as a part of its program, allowing participants from companies across the United States to ask and answer questions, share tips and tricks during weak moments or plateaus, post weight loss successes and support each other in order to stay motivated and be successful in the Naturally Slim program. (Marcia Upson, president of Naturally Slim.)

$3 million on X-Ray scanning systems

Rapiscan Systems, a supplier of security inspection systems, has been awarded an order for approximately $3 million for its Rapiscan 620DV (Dual-View) Advanced Technology (AT) X-Ray scanning systems from the U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA). This order brings the total amount awarded to date to approximately $40 million since Rapiscan Systems received an Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) Order from the TSA in August 2007. This award is one of the first awards made by TSA that uses funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. www.tsa.gov.

Consumer electronics spending

The average U.S. household spent $1,229 on consumer electronics (CE) products in the past 12 months according to a new study released today by the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA). On average, men continue to spend more on consumer electronics than women, spending $902 annually compared to women, who spent $558. Young adults spent more than any other age group. Consumers ages 18-24 spent $1,056 last year on CE devices, an increase of nearly $100 from the prior year. The average household reports owning 23 CE products. The 11th Annual Household CE Ownership and Market Potential Study (May 2009) was conducted between January 29 and February 2, 2009. It was designed and formulated by CEA Market Research, the most comprehensive source of sales data, forecasts, consumer research and historical trends for the consumer electronics industry. The complete study is available free to CEA member companies. Non-members may purchase the study for $999 at myCEA.CE.org.

The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) promotes growth in the $172 billion U.S. consumer electronics industry. www.CE.org.

Service agreement for Thomson Reuters

Savvis Communications Corporation has won a three-year extension of its master services agreement with Thomson Reuters, the world’s leading source of intelligent information for businesses and professionals with 50,000 employees and customers in 93 countries. Savvis will serve as a strategic vendor to provide managed hosting and managed network solutions for a range of Thomson Reuters products and services. (Graeme Ramsey, Global Head of Network Communications at Thomson Reuters.)

Microsoft ordered to pay $200 million

According to a Bloomberg report, Microsoft has been ordered by a federal jury to pay $200 million to a Canadian company over a patented way to process electronic documents in Microsoft’s Word products. A federal jury found that Microsoft infringed a patent owned by closely held i4i LP. It is the second- largest patent jury award this year, behind a $388 million verdict against Microsoft won by a Singapore company in April. The $200 million award equals about four days of profit for the company.  The i4i dispute is over a method of processing electronic documents using embedded codes. Microsoft, argued at the trial that it didn’t use i4i’s technology and sought to invalidate the patent.

What have you spent on (or invested in) patents? We would really like to know how much it is costing the IT community to protect intellectual property. Readers might also find a search on patents interesting.

Integrated traffic video for Florida

TrafficLand, the aggregator of live traffic video, has reached agreements with the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) to integrate traffic video from five major markets across the state into its national network of nearly 7,000 traffic cameras. Similar to public-private partnerships TrafficLand has across the country, the company will install its IP video equipment at FDOT Operation Centers in Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, Jacksonville, Tampa, and Orlando. Live video from the FDOT cameras will be available to the public on TrafficLand’s free website (www.trafficland.com) and through a range of proprietary services for media and public safety agencies, delivered via its fortified network infrastructure.

Police records management system

The City of Houston Police Department, which includes 5,200 officers and 1,900 civilian personnel who serve 2.2 million people within the City of Houston, has signed a contract with Tiburon, Inc., a leading provider of mission-critical technology solutions for public safety officials, for its records management system. (Chief Harold Hurtt of the Houston Police Department.)

Hyatt powers corporate intranet

Hyatt is using the Vignette Web Experience Platform to power its corporate intranet. Vignette Portal integrates information from multiple systems and allows Hyatt employees to quickly update, search for and locate accurate business and employee information. This relieves the human resources team of administrative burdens normally associated with manual processes while creating a more personalized environment for each user. Hyatt’s intranet search function spans the width of the enterprise to yield appropriate content and streamline business operations. Global Hyatt subsidiaries own, operate, manage or franchise more than 370 hotels and resorts worldwide. (Robb Webb, chief human resources officer for Global Hyatt Corporation.) www.hyatt.com.

Food safety is a major concern for hotel groups: guest confidence is invaluable. Kelsius automates temperature monitoring of refrigerators and cold rooms, simplifying task management and providing cost effective compliancy reporting for users in the food industries. http://www.kelsius.com

Savings Bank's disaster recovery capabilities

Qwest Communications has reached an agreement with Sterling Savings Bank to reinforce its disaster recovery capabilities with hosting space in Qwest’s Seattle CyberCenter. Under the three-year agreement, Sterling and Qwest are to include 350 feet of space in Qwest's Tier 1 Seattle data center. Cindy Parker, information technology director, Sterling Savings Bank: “Uptime is critical to instilling customer confidence.”

School district to replace aging PCs

Westerly Public School District, a progressive K-12 school system in Rhode Island, has selected the Pano System to deploy throughout their school district to replace aging PCs. With its Pano System deployment, Westerly has been able to fully leverage their VMware infrastructure, reduce the time spent managing desktops, save on energy costs and transform older classrooms into computer labs. Supporting more than 3,200 students and over 700 staff members, the IT department at Westerly needed to find a way to upgrade their PCs while reducing the management time typically associated with set up and maintenance. (Mark Lamson, director of technology for the Westerly Public School District.)

Business continuity and disaster recovery

Integrated Computer Solutions, a full-service information security and technology consulting firm, has completed a two-year business continuity and disaster recovery preparedness planning project with the Water Works and Sanitary Sewer Board of the City of Montgomery. The project included a comprehensive evaluation of the Board’s I.T. network architecture and systems management processes, with logical and physical security analyses and risk assessments at the downtown agency’s headquarters, as well as ten outlying facilities. (General Manager Thomas R. “Buddy” Morgan.)

ERP applications help Northern Water

The Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District has licensed multiple Lawson enterprise applications. ERP applications can help Northern Water in its efforts to improve efficiency and reduce costs – while helping with management of human resource functions as well as the organization’s large, fixed assets. Formed in 1937, Northern Water provides water for agricultural, municipal, domestic and industrial uses in northern Colorado and employs 112 full-time staff members. (John Budde, accounting and project manager, Northern Water.)

Hospital data security in Canada

Mount Sinai Hospital, an internationally recognized health care centre affiliated with the University of Toronto, has selected WinMagic’s SecureDoc full-disk encryption software to protect hospital data. SecureDoc is being installed on more than 200 laptops being utilized by physicians, administrative staff, support staff, clinical staff, IT support staff and researchers. (Prateek Dwivedi, Vice President and Chief Information Officer, Mount Sinai Hospital.) www.mountsinai.on.ca

A major concern for hospitals is keeping blood at the correct temperature. Kelsius automates temperature monitoring of refrigerators and cold rooms, simplifying task management and providing cost effective compliancy reporting for users in healthcare industries. http://www.kelsius.com

$11.4 million contract for goggles

ITT Corporation has been awarded an $11.4 million contract to supply image intensification tubes for existing night vision goggles to the United States Special Operations Command. Under this contract, ITT’s Night Vision business will provide Generation (Gen) 3 thin-filmed Pinnacle tubes. ITT Corporation generated 2008 sales of 11.7 billion. www.nightvision.com.

B2C online channel

Columbia Sportswear Company, a leader in the active outdoor apparel and footwear industries, has selected the Demandware eCommerce Platform as the foundation upon which to build its new business-to-consumer online channel. From its founding in 1938 as a small family-owned hat distributor, Columbia Sportswear has grown to be one of the world’s largest outerwear brands with annual sales in excess of $1.3 billion. Columbia offers an extensive product line that includes a wide variety of outerwear, sportswear, rugged footwear and accessories sold in more than 100 countries. Columbia.com is expected to launch on the Demandware eCommerce Platform in the summer of 2009, serving consumers in the United States, with other sites to follow to serve consumers in Europe and Canada. (Kerry Barnes, Columbia’s Vice President of Retail.)

e-Commerce for Eileen Fisher

Eileen Fisher, a clothing company with 44 retail stores and accounts at all major department stores, is to install Escalate Retail’s e-Commerce, Contact Center, Order Manager, and Fulfillment Manager modules to enhance the customer experience and drive additional revenue. Eileen Fisher designs clothes and was founded in 1984. The collection is sold by major retailers and specialty stores across the U.S. and Canada as well as in 44 company-owned stores and online at www.eileenfisher.com. (Lauren Croke, Director of Web and E-Commerce, Eileen Fisher.)

Workers’ compensation claims administration

City of Phoenix has selected Avizent to provide workers’ compensation claims administration and managed care services. One of the city’s top priorities is its fiduciary responsibility to its taxpayers. With Avizent’s customized claims and medical management programs, the city expects to further enhance its cost control efforts. Avizent currently serves many public employers and produces consistent savings results. The City of Phoenix will sign a three-year contract to includes all 32 city departments, such as engineering and architectural services, fire, police, public works, water, streets, budget and research, development services and public transit – to name a few. Throughout their entire operation, the city employs about 15,000 workers. Phoenix is Arizona’s capitol with more than 1.5 million residents. It is centrally located in the state and takes up more than 500 square miles. (David Booth, Personnel Supervisor for the City of Phoenix.) www.phoenix.gov.

Wi-Fi Arrays for county schools

Xirrus Wi-Fi Arrays are being delpoyed across Washington County Public Schools (WCPS), located in Hagerstown Maryland which is in the Western part of Maryland, as part of the Tri-State area including nearby Pennsylvania and West Virginia. “Our school district has 2,500 employees servicing over 20,000 K-12 students across 46 campuses – selecting the right Wi-Fi solution was critical to our future online learning, not to mention the ability to better utilize our existing facilities and resources,” said Dave Mundey, Manager of Technology & Telecommunication Services at WCPS. (Arnold E. Hammann, Director of Information Management & Instructional Technology at WCPS.)

University and healthcare campus communications

The University of New Mexico (UNM) is standardizing its university and healthcare campus communications on NEC solutions to lay a foundation that will allow seamless unified communication (UC) integration among UNM campus departments. UNM will be migrating to NEC’s UNIVERGE SV8500 communications server as it moves to a complete IP-based network over the next several years. The UNM campus includes more than 46,000 students and employees, encompassing administrative and educational buildings, as well as a health sciences center and the state’s only Trauma Level-1 and teaching hospital. (Mark Reynolds, associate director of IT services communications, University of New Mexico.) www.unm.edu.

$10.4 million SSA award

MAXIMUS has been awarded a five-year, $10.4 million contract by the Social Security Administration (SSA) to continue its work as the program data operations center manager for the Ticket to Work and Self-Sufficiency Program. MAXIMUS will maintain and update databases; access and retrieve information from SSA control files; accept data inputs; generate management information and program data reports; and provide database access and technical assistance. The Ticket to Work and Self-Sufficiency Program, part of the Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Improvement Act of 1999, is an employment program serving individuals with disabilities. The goal of the program is to increase opportunities and choices for Social Security disability beneficiaries to obtain employment, vocational rehabilitation, and other support services from public and private providers, employers, and other organizations.

Secure wireless data capability

The U.S. Army has awarded Telos Corporation a task order to engineer, furnish, and install a turn key secure wireless data capability as part of the Installation Information Infrastructure Modernization Program (I3MP) wireless edge extension at Ft. Irwin, Calif. The task order was awarded through the Air Force Network-Centric Solutions (NETCENTS) contract vehicle and will be overseen by the office of Project Manager Network Service Center, Product Manager Defense Communications Systems-CONUS (PM NSC PdM DCS-C).

Patient Financial Management

St. Luke Hospitals, located in Northern Kentucky and a subsidiary of St. Elizabeth Healthcare, is using IntraNexus SAPPHIRE Patient Financial Management. St. Elizabeth Healthcare was formed in October, 2008 with the merger of St. Luke Hospitals and St. Elizabeth Hospitals to better serve the community healthcare needs of the Northern Kentucky. The new combined health system has major facilities throughout Northern Kentucky. The merger creates a system with 1,200 licensed beds, more than 6000 employees, 927 physicians with admitting privileges and 31 primary care office locations. The health system is sponsored by the Diocese of Covington, producing an estimated $71 million in uncompensated care and benefit to the community in 2007. (Jerry Neuhaus, Assistant Director, Information Services, St. Luke Hospitals.)

$6.3m on network integration

LGS, a subsidiary of Alcatel-Lucent, has been awarded two delivery orders, totaling $6.3 million, with the United States Department of the Army to provide network integration and professional services for communications infrastructure upgrades at U.S. Army installations. The awards are under the Infrastructure Modernization (IMOD) contract and are in support of the Installation Information Infrastructure Modernization Program (I3MP) managed by the Project Manager Network Service Center (NSC) at Fort Monmouth, N.J. PM NSC upgrades and modernizes core data backbone and telecommunications infrastructure at Army installations worldwide.

$1.5 million on modeling and simulation

Alion Science and Technology has been awarded a $1.5 million order to provide modeling and simulation (M&S) support for the military’s new Mark XIIA Mode 5 Identification Friend or Foe (IFF) system. M&S and performance results will be provided to the Department of Defense International ATC Radar System, IFF, Mark XII Systems (AIMS) Program Office, which is under the direction of the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition Technology & Logistics and Warner Robins Air Logistics Center/Engineering Flight Test Squadron with John Seereiter (Chief Engineer) and Victor Hunsicker (Program Manager) at Warner Robins Air Force Base in Georgia.

Winn-Dixie forecasting and ordering

Winn-Dixie will utilize SAF SuperStore forecasting and ordering software to create automatic orders, optimize inventory and reduce out of stocks. Winn-Dixie, a leading supermarket chain based in Jacksonville, Florida, will immediately begin planning for the implementation of the computer generated ordering (CGO) solution throughout its entire 520 stores. Winn-Dixie Stores, Inc., is one of the US’s largest food retailers. The Company currently operates 520 retail grocery locations, including more than 400 in-store pharmacies. (Charlie Weston, Chief Information Officer, Winn-Dixie.) www.winn-dixie.com.

Amtrak: 1,600+ wireless terminals

Amtrak has selected ExaDigm’s XD2500 Mobile Wireless Payment Terminals to provide mobile wireless payment enabling onboard acceptance, and real-time processing of, card-based payments for ticket sales. The temrinals will be deployed nationwide for use by 1,600+ conductors and assistant conductors on all passenger routes. Amtrak has posted six consecutive years of growth in ridership and revenue, carrying more than 28.7 million passengers in the last fiscal year. Amtrak provides intercity passenger rail service to more than 500 destinations in 46 states on a 21,000-mile route system. www.amtrak.com.

3D digital projection in 1500 sites

Regal Entertainment Group, the largest motion picture exhibitor in the world, and Sony Electronics have agreed on the installation of Sony 4K digital projection systems across its entire circuit. Approximately 1,500 of the Regal screens will also be outfitted for 3D digital projection, using Sony’s newly introduced dual-lens adaptor technology. Regal Entertainment Group's theatre circuit, comprising Regal Cinemas, United Artists Theatres and Edwards Theatres, operates 6,763 screens in 547 locations in 39 states and the District of Columbia. Regal operates theatres in all of the top 33 and 44 of the top 50 U.S. designated market areas. (Amy Miles, Regal Entertainment Group’s incoming chief executive officer.)

Video conferencing saves schools budgets

Gordon County School System, a district located north of Atlanta, has chosen LifeSize HD video conferencing systems to connect its nine K-12 schools and central administration office. Facing district-wide budget reductions that reduced Gordon County’s ability to provide ongoing professional development for teachers, the integration of LifeSize systems has enabled the school system to perform remote staff development training sessions and department meetings. In the near future, Gordon County plans to implement video communications directly in the classroom to conduct classes across campuses and take virtual field trips. To procure its LifeSize systems, Gordon County utilized the federal E-Rate program, which provides eligible kindergarten through grade 12 public schools and libraries 20 percent to 90 percent discounts on approved telecommunications, Internet access, and internal connections costs. (Dr. Bill McCown, superintendent, Gordon County School District.) http://www.gcbe.org

$7.2 billion for education and employment

Making online learning more available and accessible to low-income working adults is the focus of a Capitol Hill briefing later today sponsored by the Communications Workers of America, the Alliance for Digital Equality, and the Alliance for Public Technology. The briefing will highlight a new report that stresses that the innovative use of information technology – personal computers and high speed broadband – can be a cost-effective way to help working adults expand their skills and move beyond entry-level jobs. President Obama’s economic recovery plan includes $7.2 billion to provide grants for programs that help provide educational and employment opportunities to low-income workers and other groups.