CSC goes with heavyweights on U.S. Visit bid
Computer Sciences Corp. is teaming with EDS Corp. and Northrop Grumman Corp. for the U.S. Visit program from the Homeland Security Department.<br>
Computer Sciences Corp. hopes that having two giants in data integration by its side will help it win the U.S. Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology contract.
CSC of El Segundo, Calif., is teaming with Electronic Data System Corp. of Plano, Texas, and Northrop Grumman Corp. of Los Angeles for the 10-year program, tentatively scheduled for award May 1 by the Homeland Security Department.
U.S. Visit is a DHS initiative to provide an automated entry-exit system for the United States. It will expedite the screening of legitimate travelers while making it more difficult for criminals and terrorists to enter.
The system will be installed at airports, seaports and land-border crossings in four phases.
Although the composition of much of CSC's team, known as the "U.S. Freedom Alliance," is public knowledge, CSC waited until it had submitted its proposal to DHS Jan. 22 before revealing its final lineup.
Top executives from the alliance's three core companies ? CSC, EDS and Northrop Grumman ?were on hand when CSC unveiled its team today at the company's headquarters in Falls Church, Va.
The team's strengths for this award include an in-depth knowledge of U.S. border management systems, data and processes. The companies also have experience building and designing visitor management systems, CSC said. The core companies are all under contract to DHS.
The Freedom Alliance will compete for the contract against teams led by Accenture Ltd., Hamilton, Bermuda, and Lockheed Martin Corp., Bethesda, Md.
The field of competitors narrowed from six to three teams as deadline for proposals neared, said Tim Sheahan, president of CSC's enforcement, security and intelligence organization.
"As other teams crumbled?ours pressed on," he said.
Paul Cofoni, president of CSC's federal sector, said U.S. Visit is at the "high-end of the complexity scale," but that the company has projects at the same level. The scope and magnitude of the integration challenge may be partly responsible for the field of bidders narrowing over the past 18 months, he said.
CSC interviewed about 500 companies during the last six months before picking its team, said Ben Gianni, CSC's vice president of homeland security. Fifty companies made the cut.
Besides EDS and Northrop Grumman, other key subcontractors are: