Day One: Dispatches from the tradeshow floor

Interoperability was the buzzword on opening day of the 27th annual FOSE government IT trade show. A myriad of vendor solutions are being introduced to simplify the lives of the agency workers and the contractors that support them.

"The greatest productivity hit for federal agencies is that the [workers] are not getting enough of the right data," said Rick Smith, chief operating officer for the Alexandria, Va.-based Interoperability Clearing House, a public initiative to foster IT interoperability. Smith led a discussion on building enterprise architectures for agencies.

According to Smith, workers spend too much time on the phone hunting down data because present-day workflow processes don't take into account how knowledge flows through an agency.

As a result IT systems, such as customer relationship management systems, can't deliver the most timely information to the worker.

Out on the show floor, many vendors were introducing new products to simplify the flow of paperwork.

Cardiff Software, Inc., Vista, Calif. introduced a new product called LiquidCapture to add to its LiquidOffice suite of document capture tools. LiquidCapture is the first document capture system that can work with remote clients without any software being installed on the remote laptops or other computers, said Cindy Elliot, director of marketing programs for Cardiff.

Cardiff's system is Web based?users tap into it through a browser.

Elliot said that such a system would be particularly valuable to agencies with a lot of data-collecting field officers. Data and paper files can be collected on a laptop, either by scanning in paperwork or by uploading digital photos or audio files. This software bundles all the documents into one file and transmits them back to the central service, where they can be inserted into the workflow. The central servers can even kick back document packages that don't have all the required components.

By using LiquidCapture, an organization can eliminate the process of mailing paper copies of documents or even employees wandering from one floor to another looking for copying machines.

"We want to eliminate the intra-office memo envelope," Elliot said.

Documentum Inc., Pleasanton Calif., is touting the latest iteration of its Records Manager software, which has a new feature that allows organizations to capture e-mail from Microsoft Exchange servers. The e-mail can be searched and finalized as records, said Tim Shinkle, who is the government director for the Documentum's global information group.

Shinkle said that the company is emphasizing how Records Manager can be used across the enterprise. Customers may purchase individual components, such collaborative or workflow tools, and easily add additional components as the business cases for their use is justified.

In addition to new product announcements, some companies also made announcements of new contract wins. Oracle Corp., Redwood Shores, Calif. announced that it has signed a licensing agreement with Unisys Corp. Blue Bell, Pa. to provide the Oracle9i database and application server infrastructure software to the Transportation Security Administration. No potential dollar announcement has been disclosed.

Tokyo-based Trend Micro Inc. has announced that its virus scanning and server security products are being used by the Army.

FOSE is produced by Post Newsweek Tech Media, publisher of Washington Technology.

Click here for a link to more FOSE coverage