Army taps team for command post of the future

The Army awarded a 20-month, $33 million contract to a team of four companies to expand the battlefield situational awareness technology that is used by the 1st Cavalry Division in Iraq.

Maya Viz Ltd. of Pittsburgh, Global InfoTek Inc. of Reston, Va., ISX Corp. of Camarillo, Calif., and Oculus Info Inc. of Toronto won the award to expand the Command Post of the Future system, which provides advanced visualization tools that let brigade commanders communicate, collaborate and share information.

The Command Post of the Future "allows the 1st Cavalry commanders to coordinate with all the brigades in real time, without travel," Friel said. "It also integrates data, including thoughts, plans and assumptions, from multiple systems into one picture."

The companies developed the system under an $8 million research grant from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the Defense Department's central research and development unit. Under the new contract, they will roll out the system to the 3rd Infantry Division, while they continue to provide software support for the 1st Cavalry Division, said Beth Friel, Maya Viz's chief operating officer.

Maya Viz will receive $20 million of the total contract for software development. The remainder will be split among the other three companies. The new award is the largest contract Maya Viz has received, Friel said.

Maya Viz is a privately held software company with 50 employees. It had 2003 revenue of $5 million, Friel said.

(Posted Aug. 20 and corrected Aug. 24, 2004)