FOSE 2002: Security, solutions and smart spending

The Transportation Security Administration is accepting proposals for a smart-card system to authenticate transportation workers, such as pilots and fight attendants. The system will use biometric identifiers, such as fingerprints, iris scans or encoded photographs, to identify workers and passengers.

NASA and the Transportation Department are developing a system that will help air traffic controllers better mange flow of air traffic. The Traffic Flow Automation System will track and schedule aircraft flights around major airports. Hewlett-Packard Co., Palo Alto, Calif., will provide the hardware and software under a five-year cooperative research and development agreement that was signed in April 2000.

Government Computer News owned by PostNewsweek Tech Media, which also owns Washington Technology, announced winners of its annual IT innovation awards, which spotlight products with exceptional value to federal buyers.

Among the 11 winners are the KnightStar Firewall/Virtual Private Network solution from CyberGuard Corp., Fort Lauderdale, Fla.; the Mobile Data Wireless Display from Panasonic Computer Solutions Co., Secaucus, N.J.; and the Cstation L1000 desktop personal computers from 2C Computing, Inc., Huntsville, Ala.

Value-added reseller Tadpole Technology plc, Cambridge, England, has signed a business pack with Sun Federal, the government unit of Sun Microsystems, Inc., Palo Alto, Calif., to provide Unix servers and laptops for the Navy's Tactical Advanced Computer Joint Workstation contract.

Foster City, Calif.-based iManage Inc. has partnered with both services firm Computer & Hi-tech Management Inc., Virginia Beach, Va., and integrator Ciber Inc., Greenwood Village, Colo., to offer collaborative content management software to public-sector clients.

Aquilent of Laurel, Md., the newly independent e-government unit that was formerly Commerce One e-Government Solutions, has signed a partnership with its former company, Commerce One Inc., Pleasanton, Calif., to exclusively sell its software on its General Services Administration schedule, as well as use it for public-sector solutions.More than 200 new products were announced at FOSE, according to the event's organizers.

BridgeHead Software, Woburn, Mass., revealed its new e-mail management system. MailStore automatically categorizes and stores e-mails into archives on organizational policies.

DataDirect Networks Inc., Chatsworth, Calif., released a storage area network device. The S2A 3000 Silicon Storage Appliance supplies an aggregate bandwidth from 100 to 400 megabytes per second and features plug and play compatibility and network virtualization capability.

Levit & James Inc., Leesburg, Va., released version 2.0 of its text-formatting aid. CrossEyes provides a visual view of formatting and coding elements in a Word document, allowing typists to troubleshoot buggy Word files. New features include automatic refreshes and unique color codes for each formatting category.

Macromedia, Inc., San Francisco, released compliant Flash MX development software and Macromedia Flash Player 6. The software enables people with disabilities to interact Macromedia Flash applications and content using accessibility aids, such as screen readers.

SSB Technologies, Inc., San Francisco, and Adobe Systems, Inc., San Jose, Calif., announced a release of their jointly developed Web-based accessibility portal. AskAlice helps organizations immediately assess their compliance with Section 508 accessibility standards.