Northrop Grumman races after health IT deals

Public health and homeland security are converging in the government IT market, and Northrop Grumman's Information Technology Civilian Agencies Group is pursuing opportunities in both areas, Sid Fuchs, the group's new president, said today.

From terrorist attacks to Hurricane Katrina, federal, state and local agencies are looking for IT to share information and integrate medical care delivery, as well as in basic emergency response and intelligence.

"It's not just about first responders, it's also about medical workers," Fuchs said at a news briefing. "I'm from New Orleans, and when the water started coming in one of the first things people were concerned about was disease."

Northrop Grumman's homeland security IT business is valued at about $1.2 billion, and its health IT business is about $500 million; both units are growing at about 8 percent to 10 percent a year, Fuchs said.

Northrop Grumman recently was awarded a contract to develop a prototype architecture for the National Health Information Network, sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The network will enable nationwide exchange of electronic healthcare information among disparate systems.

Northrop Grumman also is pursuing opportunities in the CDC's Public Health Information Network and in global disease and biological syndrome surveillance and in military health records.

For homeland security, the company is involved in the MaxHR human resources IT program, the Total Enterprise Automation Management Systems program and the Homeland Security Data Network, which is the Homeland Security Department's classified information-sharing network.

The company is pursuing contracts under the Enterprise Acquisition Gateway for Leading Edge consolidated IT services procurement vehicle, as well as the Secure Border Initiative-Net and other programs.

Northrop Grumman of Los Angeles has more than 125,000 employees and had annual revenue of $30.7 billion in fiscal 2005. The company ranks No. 2 on Washington Technology's 2005 Top 100 list of federal prime contractors.