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.