Plateau Systems' learning system selected for TSA job

Prime contractor Lockheed Martin Corp. has selected a learning management system provided by Plateau Systems Ltd. of Arlington, Va., for an indefinite-delivery, indefinite quantity contract to manage all online, classroom and on-the-job security training for more than 55,000 Transportation Security Administration employees charged with protecting the nation's airports and other modes of transportation against terrorism.

Plateau Systems' officials made the announcement June 5. The TSA Specialized Security Training contract was awarded to Bethesda, Md., Lockheed Martin on May 8. The prime contract is worth $8.9 million in its first year. The contract has four option years.

In the initial phase of the contract, Lockheed Martin is developing and delivering security training to all TSA airport baggage and passenger screeners, using Plateau 4 Learning Management System to manage the scheduling, deployment and data related to online and traditional training sessions.

"Plateau has received more than a million dollars from this deal to date and expects the relationship to grow," said Plateau spokesman David Pedreira.

Plateau's software infrastructure will consolidate all of TSA's learning initiatives on one platform. This will allow individual regions and airports to manage their own training while giving TSA officials a holistic view of agency readiness, according to Plateau officials.

In addition, the learning management system will allow TSA managers to automatically create customized learning development plans for employees based on their position, and automatically alert by e-mail affected workers when threats arise or training procedures are modified.

"TSA must constantly update its training to meet new challenges," said Adm. James Loy, Transportation Security administrator. "The scope of this contract with Lockheed Martin is designed to be flexible to allow TSA and DHS to provide its employees with the specialized security training necessary to protect the American people from future terrorist attacks."