FAA picks secure mobile platform for technicians

The Federal Aviation Administration intends to deploy up to 6,000 seats of a secure mobile platform from Barrington, Ill.-based Syclo LLC to support technicians responsible for maintaining the National Airspace System.

Terms of the multi-year deal were not immediately available. Rockville, Md.-based Digicon Corp. is the prime contractor.

Digicon was selected by the FAA to optimize its National Airspace System Infrastructure Management System, which allows the agency to track and diagnose about 36,000 pieces of equipment that make up the National Aerospace System. The NAS provides communications, navigation, surveillance, display, flight planning and weather data to controllers, traffic managers and pilots.

Using Syclo's Agentry Secure mobile platform, technicians can access all equipment-related details and maintenance information, allowing better troubleshooting while on-site or at remote locations. According to Syclo officials, the improvements in tracking asset performance will ensure components are effectively monitored for pre-failure conditions and help eliminate equipment downtime.

"There are three primary benefits our mobile solutions deliver to maintenance organizations," said Richard Padula, Syclo's president and chief executive officer. "These include a significant increase in productivity, more data to help technicians work smarter and an exponential increase in asset performance metrics to help managers better plan strategic maintenance programs."

Digicon recommended Syclo to the FAA after extensive evaluation, company officials said.

"Syclo achieved all of our selection criteria," said Vic Yeates, Digicon's NIMS deputy program manager. "Not only did we want assurance of the technological competency of the platform, but we also had tight budgets and schedules to meet in the deployment of a mobile solution on behalf of the FAA."

The Agentry Secure platform is a mobile security solution that provides user authentication, data encryption and application protection on mobile devices.