The departments of Defense and Homeland Security are preparing four new communications and network projects that will generate billions of dollars in business for IT, wireless and telecom companies.
A team led by Boeing Co., Chicago, and Science Applications International Corp., San Diego, has won a $14.9 billion contract to develop and demonstrate prototypes of assault vehicles, sensors and related networking equipment for the Army's Future Combat Systems program.
A team led by Boeing and SAIC has won a $14.9 billion contract to develop and show prototypes of assault vehicles, sensors and related networking equipment for the Army's Future Combat Systems program.
<FONT SIZE=2>During the past several weeks, the Army has been preparing for war by installing hundreds of its tactical vehicles in Kuwait with a tracking system that uses satellites to transmit e-mail between troops and commanders and to show vehicle operators their precise positions.</FONT>
The Joint Chiefs of Staff is less than six months away from opening the Information Technology Development Center, a one-stop shopping center where technology companies can market their latest technologies to Defense Department users.<br>
The Defense Acquisition Regulations Council published a final rule requiring contracting officers to first review the defense inventory for commercial software and maintenance services before checking elsewhere.
<FONT SIZE=2>The Air Force wants information to flow seamlessly among its commanders and warfighters, whether it comes from a manned or unmanned aircraft, or even from space. To carry out this transformation, the Air Force in May formed the XI Command under Lt. Gen. Leslie Kenne. As part of her staff, Brig. Gen. Dan Goodrich is director of command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, reconnaissance and surveillance integration, or C4ISR integration.</FONT>
The lack of an interoperable communications system for first responders could have led to the deaths of several hundred firefighters trying to save lives Sept. 11, said Homeland Security executive Charles Cape.
The Defense Department has rethought plans to disqualify foreign nationals from jobs that include handling unclassified but sensitive information technology.
In a conference call with reporters, Electronic Data Systems Corp. officials said the Navy-Marine Corps Intranet project is undergoing changes but is not hamstrung, despite a report claiming otherwise based on an internal EDS e-mail message.
The Navy is aiming to complete testing of the Navy-Marine Corps Intranet and get the Defense Department's permission to add 100,000 more seats to the program.
The damage caused by the terrorist-commandeered jetliner that crashed into the Pentagon Sept. 11 will surely include lost data and impaired defense systems, said John Stenbit, Defense Department chief information officer.
The Army intends to centralize systems management at about two dozen major commands under the service's chief information officer, to designate a single authority to manage information dissemination, and to set up accounts for all Army personnel on the agency's enterprise portal ? all by Oct. 1.
The House Armed Services Committee Aug. 2 recommended that the Marine Corps be released from the $6.9 billion Navy-Marine Corps Intranet outsourcing initiative. The committee cut President Bush's fiscal 2002 budget request for the NMCI program by $120 million, authorizing $527 million.
The Defense Department's acting chief information officer warned that defense agencies might be moving too rapidly to outsource their information technology functions without having enough in-house experts to lead large projects.
