From saic at vision.moundalexis.com Mon Aug 2 19:42:45 2004 From: saic at vision.moundalexis.com (saic at vision.moundalexis.com) Date: Mon, 2 Aug 2004 15:42:45 -0400 (EDT) Subject: [saic] SAIC Terrorism Protection Manual Awarded GOVSEC Profiles in Innovation Award Message-ID: <20040802154230.L20580-100000@vision.moundalexis.com> August 2, 2004 SAIC Terrorism Protection Manual Awarded GOVSEC Profiles in Innovation Award http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=109&STORY=/www/story/08-02-2004/0002223300&EDATE= --- MCLEAN, Va., Aug. 2 /PRNewswire/ -- Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) announced today that it has been selected by the Government Security Expo & Conference (GOVSEC) to be a recipient of a "2004 Profiles in Innovation Award." SAIC was chosen for the award based upon the submission of its Terrorism Protection Manual (TPM), prepared while under contract to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. SAIC's Integrated Security Strategies Division submitted the TPM as an entry in the Product/Service Impact Award Physical Security Excellence category. This award recognizes a vendor organization for implementing a cutting-edge product/service and achieving physical security excellence. "Our entry was recognized for demonstrating outstanding methodological or technical innovation," said Matt Branigan, SAIC manager, Integrated Security Strategies Division. "We're honored to have been selected for the award and feel that the TPM will contribute significantly to people's safety and security." The Profiles in Innovation Awards are presented at the GOVSEC, U.S. LAW and READY! joint exposition/conference held annually in Washington D.C. This year's awards ceremony took place at the Washington D.C. Convention Center on July 29. The conference addressed a variety of security needs for federal, state and local governments, including discussion on physical security, information security, cyber security as well as topics ranging from fencing and barricades to innovative applications and identification systems. SAIC's TPM and accompanying Protective Measures Database were developed to provide state and local governments and the private sector a basis to determine their vulnerabilities and risks, based on today's national terrorist threat and implement recommended security best practices. The manual is designed for facility managers, security directors, and anyone responsible for the security of specific types of facilities. The Protective Measures Database contains and combines public, private and special venue facilities with security risk levels, threat levels and over 300 recommended protective measures into a matrix. The 300-page TPM incorporates over 300 recommended security measures for conducting vulnerability assessments. Measures include physical security, population and workforce protection, security guard force management and procedures for fences/barriers and lighting. The TPM addresses security requirements for more than 96 different categories of facilities, and is aligned for protective measures in response to the three higher national threat levels established by the Department of Homeland Security for facilities rated as low, medium and high risk. From saic at vision.moundalexis.com Wed Aug 4 18:55:12 2004 From: saic at vision.moundalexis.com (saic at vision.moundalexis.com) Date: Wed, 4 Aug 2004 14:55:12 -0400 (EDT) Subject: [saic] Nanosys, Inc. Withdraws Initial Public Offering Message-ID: <20040804145443.G20580-100000@vision.moundalexis.com> Wednesday August 4, 12:30 pm ET Nanosys, Inc. Withdraws Initial Public Offering http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/040804/new011_1.html --- PALO ALTO, Calif., Aug. 4 /PRNewswire/ -- Nanosys, Inc. announced today that it has decided to withdraw its initial public offering of common stock. Based on adverse market conditions, Nanosys has determined that it is not advisable at this time to proceed with the proposed offering. This news release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any jurisdiction, if such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration of qualification under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction. Safe Harbor Statement This news release contains forward-looking statements relating to the timing of the proposed initial public offering of Nanosys' common stock. Actual events could differ materially as a result of many factors including market conditions, investor demand for initial public offerings, Nanosys' business and financial performance, and general economic, business competitive or regulatory conditions. About Nanosys Based in Palo Alto, Calif., Nanosys is a nanotechnology company developing nano-enabled systems based on a platform technology incorporating patent- protected, high performance, and highly integrated inorganic semiconductor nanostructures. Nanosys has strategic collaborators such as Intel, DuPont, Matsushita Electric Works and SAIC to develop nanotechnology-enabled components for products in information technology, communications, renewable energy, defense and the life and physical sciences. From saic at vision.moundalexis.com Wed Aug 4 20:12:00 2004 From: saic at vision.moundalexis.com (saic at vision.moundalexis.com) Date: Wed, 4 Aug 2004 16:12:00 -0400 (EDT) Subject: [saic] SAIC picked as supply chain manager Message-ID: <20040804161119.O20580-100000@vision.moundalexis.com> 08/04/04 SAIC picked as supply chain manager http://www.wtonline.com/news/1_1/daily_news/24178-1.html --- By Roseanne Gerin Staff Writer Science Applications International Corp. won a 10-year contract worth up to $600 million from the Defense Logistics Agency to serve as supply chain manager for spare parts for Navy and Marine aircraft, the company said yesterday. The contract is for three years at $150 million, with three additional option periods worth an estimated $450 million. Under the fixed-price contract, called Generation II Integrated Prime Vendor, SAIC also will support the depot overhaul and maintenance of aircraft subassemblies, engines, ground support equipment, avionics equipment and other major items. The contract is part of the Defense Logistics Agency.s strategy for integrated logistics support to provide timely supply management and parts availability for weapon system readiness. The program will be managed from SAIC.s office in Springfield, Va. SAIC will provide support to these naval air depots: Cherry Point in Havelock, N.C.; North Island in San Diego; and Jacksonville in Jacksonville, Fla. The company provides Prime Vendor support to the Air Force at Warner Robins Air Logistics Center in Georgia, Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center in Oklahoma, and Ogden Air Logistics Center in Utah. SAIC, a San Diego research and engineering company, is No. 5 on Washington Technology.s 2004 Top 100 list of federal prime contractors. The company employs 43,000 workers and had revenue of $6.7 billion for the fiscal year ended Jan. 31. From saic at vision.moundalexis.com Thu Aug 5 11:08:01 2004 From: saic at vision.moundalexis.com (saic at vision.moundalexis.com) Date: Thu, 5 Aug 2004 07:08:01 -0400 (EDT) Subject: [saic] Yucca Mountain contractor qualifies for $11 million payment Message-ID: <20040805070730.C20580-100000@vision.moundalexis.com> August 4, 2004 Yucca Mountain contractor qualifies for $11 million payment http://www.pahrumpvalleytimes.com/2004/08/04/news/ymp.html --- By STEVE TETREAULT PVT WASHINGTON BUREAU WASHINGTON - The management contractor for the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository qualified for an $11 million incentive fee after handing over a draft license application last week, an Energy Department spokesman said. Examiners must verify 5,000 pages of material submitted by Bechtel- SAIC Co., LLC before payment can be certified, said Allen Benson, spokesman for the Office of Repository Development. The company qualified for an $11,043,476 fee by meeting a July 26 target, Benson said. Incentives were negotiated within the firm's $1.88 billion contract to manage the department's repository program. In preparing its licensing draft, Bechtel-SAIC assumed a 10,000-year radiation health protections for the repository even though that standard was thrown out by a federal circuit court on July 9. Benson said the Energy Department considers the standard still applicable until the court's mandate is finalized following an appeal period. DOE officials say they want to file an application at the end of the year and retain the 10,000-year standard at least during initial license reviews by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, although the NRC has not decided whether that will be allowed. Bob Loux, executive director of the Nevada Agency for Nuclear Projects, criticized the Energy Department for authorizing a big contractor payout when the Yucca Mountain Project faces such uncertainties. Loux, who coordinates the state's opposition to the repository, said the Yucca program is being driven by the promise of financial bonuses rather than by science. "I think they shouldn't have gotten the money," Loux said of Bechtel-SAIC. "It's clear these folks will do anything for money. The idea they would hand in a draft with a standard they know will not stand just says it all." A number of incentives were written into the Bechtel-SAIC contract, including a $15.3 million fee for finalizing a repository application by Nov. 30 and a $22 million payment if the NRC accepts the licensing package for formal review within 91 days after submittal. Loux asked the Energy Department inspector general in May to examine the Yucca management contract for possible legal or ethical violations. A spokeswoman for inspector general Gregory Friedman, contacted late Wednesday, said she could not immediately get information about the status of the request. The draft licensing package contains the results of studies and technical analyses to detail the Energy Department's claim that 77,000 tons of highly radioactive nuclear waste can be secured within the mountain in close proximity to Pahrump, Amargosa Valley and Beatty. Benson said the package will be reviewed to ensure it conforms to licensing guidelines set by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission before the payment is authorized. From saic at vision.moundalexis.com Fri Aug 6 16:17:52 2004 From: saic at vision.moundalexis.com (saic at vision.moundalexis.com) Date: Fri, 6 Aug 2004 12:17:52 -0400 (EDT) Subject: [saic] High-tech security net over Athens Message-ID: <20040806121711.B20580-100000@vision.moundalexis.com> Friday, August 06, 2004 at 0018 hours IST High-tech security net over Athens http://www.indianexpress.com/full_story.php?content_id=52497 --- ATHENS, AUGUST 5: It could very well be a scene from science fiction: machines able to detect suspicious sounds or even abrupt changes in visual patterns and alert authorities. It.s real, though, and in place for the Athens Olympics. Recent leaps in technology have led to highly sophisticated software that can turn street surveillance cameras into a security guard with intelligence-gathering skills. .It is a very vast network and it is the first time that is being operated in such scale on an international level,. said Greek police spokesman col Lefteris Ikonomou. The system - developed by a consortium led by Sandiego-based Science Applications International Corp., or SAIC - cost about $312 million and took up a sizable chunk of Athens. record security budget of more than $1.5 billion. It includes real-time images, sound and information from an electronic web of over 1,000 high-resolution and infrared cameras, 12 patrol boats, 4,000 vehicles, nine helicopters, a sensor-laden blimp and four mobile command centres. .The advancement of technology is very important,. Ikonomou said. .The system allows the users to manage a critical incident in the best way possible and in the shortest time possible because they have all the information in front of them.. From saic at vision.moundalexis.com Mon Aug 9 10:41:25 2004 From: saic at vision.moundalexis.com (saic at vision.moundalexis.com) Date: Mon, 9 Aug 2004 06:41:25 -0400 (EDT) Subject: [saic] SAIC to Help Keep Planes Flying Message-ID: <20040809064047.H20580-100000@vision.moundalexis.com> Monday, August 9, 2004; Page E04 SAIC to Help Keep Planes Flying http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A50842-2004Aug8.html --- By Roseanne Gerin Special to The Washington Post Monday, August 9, 2004; Page E04 Science Applications International Corp. will handle the nuts and bolts of keeping U.S. military planes in the air. The San Diego-based research and engineering company won a 10-year contract worth up to $600 million from the Defense Logistics Agency to serve as supply-chain manager for depot maintenance on Navy and Marine Corps aircraft. The contract, which will be managed from SAIC's office in Springfield, is worth $150 million over three years and has three option periods worth an estimated total of $450 million. Under the contract, SAIC will coordinate the production, shipment and distribution of basic parts, electronics and hardware for repairing fighter and transport aircraft and helicopters, such as the F/A-18 Hornet strike-fighter, C-130 Hercules airlift aircraft and CH-46 Sea Knight assault helicopter. The company also will support the repair and maintenance of aircraft sub-assemblies, engines, ground-support equipment, and avionics equipment. The work will be performed at the three naval air depots: Cherry Point in Havelock, N.C.; North Island in San Diego; and Jacksonville in Florida. The contract "provides another way to make sure there are parts on the shelf and that the mechanics can do their jobs while the military concentrates on flying planes," said Ed Robinson, SAIC's assistant vice president and division manager for the Integrated Prime Vendor program. The program is part of the Defense Logistics Agency's efforts to improve supply management and parts availability. The agency provides logistics support to Defense Department and other federal agencies, foreign governments and international organizations. The contract "really identifies us as one of the leaders in supply chain management with the Defense Department, and no one else is doing this kind of work at this level," Robinson said. SAIC provides similar services to the Air Force at Warner Robins Air Logistics Center in Georgia, Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center in Oklahoma and Ogden Air Logistics Center in Utah. Such work at military depots means about $100 million a year for SAIC, Robinson said. SAIC employs 44,000 workers and had revenue of $6.7 billion for the fiscal year ended Jan. 31. For more details on this and other technology contracts, go to www.washingtontechnology.com. Roseanne Gerin is a staff writer for Washington Technology. From saic at vision.moundalexis.com Mon Aug 9 16:37:15 2004 From: saic at vision.moundalexis.com (saic at vision.moundalexis.com) Date: Mon, 9 Aug 2004 12:37:15 -0400 (EDT) Subject: [saic] SAIC acquires Trios Associates Message-ID: <20040809123644.C20580-100000@vision.moundalexis.com> 12:07 PM EDT Monday SAIC acquires Trios Associates http://washington.bizjournals.com/washington/stories/2004/08/09/daily1.html?jst=b_ln_hl --- Jeff Clabaugh Staff Reporter San Diego-based SAIC is expanding its local presence, acquiring Trios Associates in Lanham for an undisclosed sum. Trios Associates, founded in 1994, develops surveillance and communications systems. The company employs 225 people at offices in both Lanham and the District. SAIC says the company will be operated as the Aviation Sciences Operation and will remain headquartered in Lanham. It will also be part of SAIC's Space, Earth and Aviation Sciences division in Hampton, Va. Trios Associates' customers include the FAA, NASA and NOAA. From saic at vision.moundalexis.com Mon Aug 9 18:33:32 2004 From: saic at vision.moundalexis.com (saic at vision.moundalexis.com) Date: Mon, 9 Aug 2004 14:33:32 -0400 (EDT) Subject: [saic] SAIC completes Trios acquisition Message-ID: <20040809143300.L20580-100000@vision.moundalexis.com> 08/09/04 SAIC completes Trios acquisition http://www.wtonline.com/news/1_1/daily_news/24196-1.html --- By Roseanne Gerin Staff Writer Science Applications International Corp. completed its acquisition of Trios Associates Inc., a developer of surveillance and communications systems for the federal government, the company said today. The value of the deal was not disclosed. Trios Associates of Lanham, Md., was founded in 1994 and has 225 employees in offices in Maryland and Washington. The company provides engineering services to the FAA, NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Trios Associates will now operate as Aviation Sciences Operation and remain headquartered in Lanham, although it will be part of SAIC.s space, earth and aviation sciences business unit, based in Hampton, Va. SAIC, a San Diego-based research and engineering company, is No. 5 on Washington Technology.s 2004 Top 100 list of federal prime contractors. The company employs 44,000 workers and had revenue of $6.7 billion for the fiscal year ended Jan. 31. From saic at vision.moundalexis.com Tue Aug 10 11:06:15 2004 From: saic at vision.moundalexis.com (saic at vision.moundalexis.com) Date: Tue, 10 Aug 2004 07:06:15 -0400 (EDT) Subject: [saic] Heavy electronic net for Olympics Message-ID: <20040810070527.P20580-100000@vision.moundalexis.com> Posted on Mon, Aug. 09, 2004 Heavy electronic net for Olympics http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/business/technology/9357180.htm --- By MIRON VAROUHAKIS Associated Press ATHENS, Greece - If you're planning on attending this month's Olympic Games, you'd best be careful what you say and do in public. Software will be watching and listening. Recent leaps in technology have paired highly sophisticated software with street surveillance cameras to create digital security guards with intelligence-gathering skills. "It is a very vast network and it is the first time it is being done on such a scale at an international level," Greek police spokesman Col. Lefteris Ikonomou told The Associated Press. The system - developed by a consortium led by San Diego-based Science Applications International Corp., or SAIC - cost about $312 million and took up a sizable chunk of Athens' record security budget of more than $1.5 billion. It gathers images and audio from an electronic web of over 1,000 high-resolution and infrared cameras, 12 patrol boats, 4,000 vehicles, nine helicopters, a sensor-laden blimp and four mobile command centers. Spoken words collected by the cameras with speech-recognition software are transcribed into text that is then searched for patterns along with other electronic communications entering and leaving the area - including e-mail and image files. The system, which includes components already used by U.S. and British government intelligence agencies, covers all of greater Athens, nine ports, airports and all other Olympic cities. Ikonomou said it "allows the users to manage a critical incident in the best way possible and in the shortest time possible because they have all the information in front of them." The software used for surveillance camera recordings is designed to spot and rank possible risks, said Dionysios Dendrinos, general manager of One Siemens in Greece, one of the companies in the consortium. "They can distinguish the sound of a flat tire from an explosion or a gunshot and inform the user at the command center of the incident," he said. "This is also the case with any anomaly in the picture, such as a traffic jam." Technology also allows the users of the system at the main command center to save and analyze data from the surveillance network and beyond. And the material from the closed circuit cameras is kept for seven days, Ikonomou said, so specific incidents can be analyzed in depth. Much of that analysis is enabled by software from London-based Autonomy Corp., whose clients include the U.S. National Security Agency, that parses words and phrases collected by surveillance cameras and in communications traffic. In June, the Greek government expanded surveillance powers to screen mobile and fixed-line telephone calls during the Olympics. "It listens, reads and watches," Dominic Johnson, Autonomy's chief marketing officer, said of his company's software. Then it synthesizes. Beyond Greek and English the software understands Arabic, Farsi and all major European languages, Johnson said. Other companies in the SAIC consortium include Germany's Siemens AG; General Dynamics Corp. and Honeywell International Inc. of the United States; and the Israeli company Elbit Systems. Several Greek companies also are participating. According to the contract, the system was to be delivered by May 28, but due to construction delays at some Olympic venues - such as the main Olympic stadium - it was delivered just weeks before the opening ceremony. Nevertheless, Public Order Minister Giorgos Voulgarakis declared last week that all the security systems were in full deployment and working smoothly. There'll be other sniffing going on, of course. A network of sensors designed to detect chemical agents has also been deployed near Olympic venues and around the capital, including on the security blimp. Advanced technology is also used in the creation of the Olympic credentials, which use such security features as holograms. All cardholder information, such as a person's photo and passport number, are printed on a very thin film designed to make the cards impossible to forge. The digitally enhanced surveillance net may provide comfort to Olympics attendees, but not everyone is happy at authorities' computer-aided eyes and ears. Several groups have held protests in recent months against what they say is an invasion of their privacy, and some demonstrators have spray-painted street cameras, seeking to blind them. "The Olympic Games are accompanied with extended security measures that are unprecedented for Greece," six human rights groups said in a protest letter to Greek Parliament in July. "Although the state's right to take all necessary measures that it deems necessary is recognized, there is fear that these measures will have a negative impact on basic human rights." From saic at vision.moundalexis.com Tue Aug 10 11:08:14 2004 From: saic at vision.moundalexis.com (saic at vision.moundalexis.com) Date: Tue, 10 Aug 2004 07:08:14 -0400 (EDT) Subject: [saic] SAIC Acquires Trios Associates, Inc. Message-ID: <20040810070646.I20580-100000@vision.moundalexis.com> Monday, 09 August 2004 SAIC Acquires Trios Associates, Inc. http://www.gisuser.com/content/view/2833/ --- Written by SAIC Monday, 09 August 2004 (SAN DIEGO AND LANHAM, MD) - SAIC today announced that it has completed the acquisition of Trios Associates, Inc., a company that primarily focuses on the development, implementation and validation of surveillance and communication systems for the United States Government. Trios, based in Lanham, Md., currently has 225 employees in offices in Maryland and Washington, D.C. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. "By joining SAIC, we will be able to expand our government engineering and support activities with federal agencies," said Jim Triantos, president and founder of Trios Associates, Inc. "We are delighted with this opportunity to join one of the premier information technology and systems engineering companies in the world." Founded in 1994, Trios provides high value-added engineering solutions to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The business will be operated as the Aviation Sciences Operation (ASO) and will remain headquartered in Lanham, Md. The new ASO will be part of SAIC's Space, Earth, and Aviation Sciences Business Unit, based in Hampton, Va. Trios. clients include the FAA, NASA, and NOAA. "Trios is an excellent strategic fit within the SAIC government systems engineering and technical services business and brings strong FAA credentials that will broaden our customer base," said Henry J. Pierce, SAIC senior vice president and manager of the Space, Earth, and Aviation Sciences Business Unit. Additional Information: Visit SAIC's Information Technology and Space sections to learn more about our capabilities in these areas. From saic at vision.moundalexis.com Thu Aug 12 19:08:57 2004 From: saic at vision.moundalexis.com (saic at vision.moundalexis.com) Date: Thu, 12 Aug 2004 15:08:57 -0400 (EDT) Subject: [saic] High-Tech Security's Olympic Moment Message-ID: <20040812150754.T20580-100000@vision.moundalexis.com> Thursday, August 12, 2004 High-Tech Security's Olympic Moment http://www.bizreport.com/article.php?art_id=7814 --- A consortium of high-tech companies stitched together an electronic surveillance system for the Olympic Games. It relies on a high-power, secure data network, and taps super-secret software tools that no one seems willing to discuss publicly. If only security at the Summer Olympics were as easy as it is on TV. We've all seen crime shows featuring computerized catch-a-crook systems. You know, where a blurry photo from a surveillance camera is fed into a computer, which scans millions of mug shots and -- presto! -- matches it with a convicted felon. The reality is that computers still can't analyze faces well enough to tell Danny DeVito from Danny the Dirtbag. In fact, every time I visit a high-tech research lab, I ask when they are going to catch up with face recognition on TV. The answer is always, "Soon." So I've been skeptical about the huge electronic security system that a consortium of high-tech companies stitched together to manage surveillance and communications for the Olympic Games, which open in Athens tomorrow. It relies on a high-power, secure data network and taps super-secret software tools that no one seems willing to discuss publicly. I am intrigued by the sheer number of moving parts in this electronic shield around Athens, including a "mobile defender" system of tiny sensors hidden inside black briefcases with battery-operated radios. The 10-pound cases are designed to detect radiological or nuclear "dirty" bombs, then beam wireless alerts that will show up in a software program running on a laptop computer nearby. The mobile defender was developed by San Diego startup Soflinx Corp. with funding from In-Q-Tel, a venture capital outfit created by the CIA. "It's very Rumsfeldian," said Neil Senturia, chief executive of Soflinx, referring to Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld's fondness for portable, flexible systems. "You can set it up in an hour and you can pick up and go from event to event." The suitcases are mere specks in the vast electronic universe that is the surveillance network in Athens. According to those involved, there are 1,599 video cameras fastened to poles along city streets and at scores of sports facilities. The main stadium alone has 80 surveillance cameras feeding live footage into a closed-circuit TV network to be monitored at a regional command center, where selected video footage will be screened and fed over a private, fiber-optic line using Internet technologies to one of 11 main Olympic control centers. Other video cameras are stationed aboard Coast Guard patrol boats; along the port of Piraeus, where cruise ships will house thousands of distinguished guests; aboard helicopters; and even on a 400-foot blimp floating 4,000 feet above the games. There are also motion detectors parked along barbed-wire fences and sonar devices listening underwater to catch swimmers trying to sneak into harbors. A custom digital radio system was created to offer push-to-talk capability to 12,000 handheld radios and another 10,000 in official vehicles. Some 4,000 vehicles are equipped with global-positioning receivers that can feed their whereabouts over the radio network to the command posts, allowing organizers to monitor vehicle movements on electronic maps. "The security system absolutely is state of the art," said Robert Sikellis, managing director of Vance International/Decision Strategies LLC, in a phone interview on Tuesday from Athens, where he has been advising the Olympic organizing committee and corporate sponsors on security. There is even technology, he added, "that can distinguish the sound of a flat tire from an explosion. That is truly cutting edge." Some of the more sophisticated tools were supplied by Autonomy Corp., a London firm that also services the U.S. National Security Agency. Portions of words uttered over the Olympic video and radio networks will be transcribed into text, so Autonomy's software can analyze it for hints of suspicious chatter. Officials running the master command system said there won't be real-time computer analysis of video, but they declined to discuss what screening might take place on the video after it has been fed into the control rooms. The surveillance video has provoked howls of protest from privacy watchdogs, who consider it too intrusive. "Video is digitized and can be stored for up to a week, so events can be reconstructed if necessary," said John Gauss, senior vice president of Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC), the San Diego defense contractor that won the lead contract to create the electronic network for the Summer Olympics. Testing of the security network, comprising 29 subsystems that SAIC tied together electronically, was delayed until the last minute due to construction delays in the main stadium and elsewhere. "It wasn't just the main stadium that was late," Gauss said. "When you go to put up cameras, it doesn't do your cameras good to have . . . bulldozers racing past the pole you have just installed." But Gauss, who returned from Athens on Sunday, said the entire system was up and running this week. Such a system doesn't come cheap. For the surveillance and communication network alone, Athens organizers are paying $312 million over 10 years to the consortium led by SAIC. All told, Greek officials estimated their security spending will approach $1.5 billion -- a whopping $90 million a day for each of the 17 game days. The price of safety obviously has skyrocketed worldwide in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States. Indeed, much of the technology being used to lock down Athens has already been deployed in the United States, including some in the Washington region. One example is crisis-management software from a Los Angeles company, E Team, which is being used heavily in Athens and also here in Washington. E Team's software allows thousands of people to view the same data and communicate with one another from scores of different control rooms. Its core tool is a Web browser, but it also includes other Internet-based features customized for monitoring emergencies. Then there is Smiths Detection, a London company that is supplying hundreds of hand-held chemical detectors, explosive-sniffers and X-ray scanners to the Olympics. In addition to its small detectors, Smiths is sending super-sized scanners to Athens that will be used to X-ray shipping containers entering seaports. Smiths operates at the frontier of what is evolving into a substantial industry -- anti-terrorist detection gear. The company supplies all sorts of systems for detecting anthrax and other harmful agents to U.S. military and federal agencies, including one that senses when hazardous substances are injected into a building's air-conditioning system. That system has been deployed recently in government buildings in and around Washington, said Bill Mawer, the company's North American president. Without a doubt, it is unnerving to consider the electronic shield that has been fabricated to guard against terrorism in Athens. Even though experts may consider it a gigantic waste of money -- many of today's tools, after all, were designed to guard against yesterday's attacks -- you can bet that these invisible shields will continue to grow bigger and more powerful, insinuating themselves ever more deeply into our lives. http://www.bizreport.com/article.php?art_id=7814 2004 The Washington Post Company From saic at vision.moundalexis.com Tue Aug 17 12:11:14 2004 From: saic at vision.moundalexis.com (saic at vision.moundalexis.com) Date: Tue, 17 Aug 2004 08:11:14 -0400 (EDT) Subject: [saic] SAIC is supply chain manager Message-ID: <20040817081043.H20580-100000@vision.moundalexis.com> 08/16/04; Vol. 19 No. 10 SAIC is supply chain manager http://www.washingtontechnology.com/news/19_10/datastream/24229-1.html --- Science Applications International Corp. won a 10-year contract worth up to $600 million from the Defense Logistics Agency to serve as supply chain manager for spare parts for Navy and Marine Corps aircraft. The contract is for three years at $150 million, with three option periods worth an estimated $450 million. Under the Generation II Integrated Prime Vendor fixed-price contract, SAIC also will support the depot overhaul and maintenance of aircraft subassemblies, engines, ground support equipment, avionics equipment and other major items. The program will be managed from SAIC's office in Springfield, Va. From saic at vision.moundalexis.com Tue Aug 17 12:12:54 2004 From: saic at vision.moundalexis.com (saic at vision.moundalexis.com) Date: Tue, 17 Aug 2004 08:12:54 -0400 (EDT) Subject: [saic] Enterprise architecture: Where do we go from here? Message-ID: <20040817081121.G20580-100000@vision.moundalexis.com> 08/16/04 Enterprise architecture: Where do we go from here? http://www.washingtontechnology.com/news/19_10/cover-stories/24217-1.html --- By BRAD GRIMES Integrators prepare next steps on IT blueprints By all accounts, it was an impressive feat. Last summer, the Homeland Security Department had four months to develop an enterprise architecture so it could prepare its 2005 budget request. Without an architecture that mapped information technology systems to specific business functions, the Office of Management and Budget could have denied DHS the funding it wanted for new projects. More importantly, without an enterprise architecture, the department itself could not identify effectively what IT programs it needed. "We had to come up with a description of the 'as-is' components of 22 agencies coming into the department, an initial 'to-be' architecture, and a technology and project transition plan," said Lee Holcomb, chief technology officer at DHS. "In terms of applications alone, we discovered more than 2,000 that we needed to better manage at the department level." DHS hired Science Applications International Corp. of San Diego to help create its architecture. SAIC experts, who had worked with several of the department's legacy agencies, analyzed IT systems across DHS' more than 700 disparate computing systems and identified several areas for consolidation. SAIC found, for example, that DHS had at least eight programs to manage ports of entry and 14 for issuing credentials. DHS completed the first version of its architecture in September 2003 in what Holcomb called "record time." To put that in perspective, it took a year to develop one portion of the Defense Department's business enterprise architecture. The DHS effort is just one of many federal enterprise architecture projects under way. OMB reported that agencies spent $1.4 billion on enterprise architecture and planning in fiscal 2003, according to market research firm Input Inc. of Reston, Va. The government is estimating $1.5 billion in 2004 spending and requesting $1.7 billion for fiscal 2005. As agencies put into place the first blueprints of their IT environments, systems integrators and other contractors face the question of what happens next. Agencies will need help creating more detailed versions of their architectures. SAIC, for example, is already helping DHS with a second version of its plan. But the importance of this work goes well beyond the creation of an enterprise architecture. Contractors now must focus on winning the follow-up -- and possibly more lucrative -- work of implementing enterprise architectures. "Once you get an initial architecture out, you can add more detail to it," said Karl Kropp, director of SAIC's Center for Enterprise Architecture. "You can also work on getting it implemented and actually working with programs. And that's where you see opportunities arise for solutions developers and integrators." Eventually, all IT projects will have an EA component. Integrators that understand an agency's architecture will be better positioned to offer solutions that complement and enhance the overall design. "It's a matter of not looking at enterprise architecture as an opportunity in and of itself," said Payton Smith, manager of public-sector analysis at Input, "but looking at it for what it will force agencies to do in terms of managing their architectures going forward." The state of EA (continuation of main story) Despite stepped-up spending on EA in recent years, most agencies' architectures can best be described as immature and needing additional iterations that fill in the details about applications, systems and infrastructures. For example, the Government Accountability Office in November 2003 reported that since 2001, 22 agencies had improved the maturity of their architectures, 24 had backtracked and 47 remained the same. The situation is unchanged today, said Randy Hite, GAO's director of IT architecture and systems issues. "There are factions that are doing very well, and there are factions that are not doing as well," Hite told Washington Technology. Except for high-profile contracts such as SAIC's work on the DHS architecture and IBM Corp.'s development of the Defense Department's business enterprise architecture, the work so far, while plentiful, has been somewhat ad hoc. Much of it has been purchased as consulting through task orders and General Services Administration schedules, Smith said. Industry officials estimate that about half the government's EA spending goes to the private sector. "The projects associated with enterprise architecture tend to be buried because of their relatively small value," said Ray Bjorklund, chief knowledge office at market research firm Federal Sources Inc. in McLean, Va. "They're very important, but you're not going to see $20 million EA projects." Many agencies will rely on in-house IT staff to do asset discovery and mapping using tools they've bought on their own, including Computas Metis and Popkin System Architect. Most of the work has been designed to help agencies get a handle on what their architectures look like. "The next step is to develop the go-to point. What do they want their architecture to look like going forward?" Smith said. EA implementation (continuation of main story) Ultimately, enterprise architecture will be an inherent part of any IT-related contract. Experts have said integrators should build a related practice and understand the architectures of various agencies. Several integrators have said they see healthy business in helping agencies validate their architectures and prepare business cases for OMB that demonstrate the link between new projects and underlying architectures. "We're beginning to see RFPs come out with enterprise architecture language in the statement of work," Kropp said. "Basically, 'Thou shalt conform to the enterprise architecture' so that you can ... minimize duplication and diversity, because in many cases it's duplication and diversity that drives up an agency's costs." Besides fine tuning and validating architectures, agencies will begin working on the technology infrastructures that reflect those architectures. Soon, analysts say, OMB will start pushing agencies to consolidate IT systems and eliminate redundancies. This should present an opportunity that integrators can begin planning for now. By analyzing agencies' architectures, integrators can predict what systems OMB might identify as redundant. They can then proactively develop solutions to help agencies consolidate those systems and conform to OMB's requirements. Consolidation efforts among multiple agencies are already under way. GSA and OMB have started a line of business initiatives, which aims to establish common solutions and architectures that multiple agencies can use to perform core functions, including financial, grant and human resources management. "It's like e-gov 2 in that they're looking at back-office processes and seeing where economies of scale can be obtained and solutions can be deployed across government," said Carolyn Brubaker, e-government solutions specialist in the federal unit of Microsoft Corp., Redmond, Wash. As system consolidation takes place, agencies also will begin migrating to a services-oriented architecture to take advantage of reusable software components within and among agencies, said government and industry experts. The Defense Department's Network-centric Enterprise Services project is one high-profile, services-oriented architecture initiative. Such an architecture takes advantage of Web services and Extensible Markup Language (XML) to deliver applications over an Internet protocol network. "We're seeing a trend toward taking common functionality out of government business systems and putting it into shared infrastructure," said Kerry Champion, chief technology officer of Westbridge Technology Inc., a Mountain View, Calif., developer of secure XML messaging solutions. Champion said Westbridge's products are being evaluated in Defense Department and intelligence community for building secure, services-oriented architectures. As system consolidation, services-oriented architectures and other technology initiatives roll out, they'll likely come under separate task orders of whole new procurements, scrubbed clean of any enterprise architecture label, analysts said. "They may be called 'modernization' or something like that," said Input's Smith. Michael Beckley, vice president of product strategy for Appian Corp. of Vienna, Va., said his company would recognize EA opportunities by the solutions they called for. "I'm picking up a pile of RFPs, and they say things like 'gateway,' 'knowledge management,' 'portal,' and 'application integration,' " Beckley said. These technologies provide part of the foundation of EA implementation. Appian was behind development of the Army Knowledge Online portal, considered one of the largest deployment of Web services in government. Help for contractors (continuation of main story) The mere existence of enterprise architectures will help all government contractors. When an agency has an enterprise architecture in place, integrators can avoid pitfalls like the ones hampering EDS Corp.'s work on the Navy-Marine Corps Intranet, where the EDS team continues to turn up undocumented IT systems that must be accounted for. "My greatest point of frustration while I was at the Defense Department was failing to get the Navy to understand the need for an architecture in that circumstance," said John Osterholz, the department's former director of architecture and interoperability and an executive at BAE Systems North America Inc. When an integrator needs to pull together disparate systems, Osterholz said, it runs the risk of "undisclosed dependencies." An enterprise architecture can help mitigate that risk. Richard YoungAs long as integrators stay well versed in agencies' architectures, they have a lingua franca for talking about future IT requirements. "The government has actually done industry a huge favor by coming out with these architectures," said Richard Young, above, chief architect at Microsoft Public Sector. "They've created an environment where industry can simplify the conversation they're having with different government officials. I don't have to sit there and lecture someone on the definition of collaboration or data warehousing" because they've already established the working definition. Said SAIC's Kropp: "An architecture is really an expression of requirements. Now agencies can express requirements in a more robust fashion." Staff Writer Brad Grimes can be reached at bgrimes at postnewsweektech.com. EA crystal ball As agencies finalize their enterprise architectures, contractors must anticipate next steps and follow-on opportunities. Washington Technology asked integrators what they saw as the future of enterprise architecture projects. Jim BaldoJim Baldo . enterprise architect, Northrop Grumman IT "The anticipated next step, after you map all the business processes and rules and get them validated and put into a tool, is to go into existing assets and decide what can be eliminated and what can be expanded. We're beginning to see RFIs and RFPs with methodologies for realizing the enterprise architectures." Andras SzakalAndras Szakal. chief architect, IBM Federal Software "There are very few opportunities for us to define an enterprise architecture. The lion's share of the opportunities to affect the goals of an enterprise architecture will be through the implementation of programs." John Osterholz . vice president of C4IS at BAE Systems North America Inc. and former DOD director of architecture and interoperability "I'm no longer bidding an architecture job. I'm bidding a job whose natural lifecycle description is in terms of an architecture. ... Over time, integration will be less of a heroic job and more of an expectation." Debra StoufferDebra Stouffer. vice president of strategic consulting, DigitalNet Holdings Inc. "Companies have a lot of opportunities to offer service components that provide solutions to e-gov goals. ... Integrators have advantages in being able to work issues across agencies and departments." Ernst Volgenau . chief executive officer, SRA International Inc. "A lot of work is in independent validation and verification, checking over the EA work of an agency. More often than not, it is embedded in a larger contract." Michael Beckley . vice president of product strategy, Appian Corp. "The real money in new opportunities in enterprise architecture is doing one of two things: helping a department or agency webify an application in a way that's compliant with Web services, or working at a strategic level in helping CIOs define what enterprise architecture standards should be." Enterprise software: Quality issues? After a Government Accountability Office report in March said the Defense Department may have wasted $8 billion in fiscal 2003 on poorly written software, solutions providers have been lining up to tell Washington Technology how they can help agencies and integrators improve their software development processes. In the GAO report, the Defense Department estimated it spends 40 percent of its research and development budget on software, which is becoming an increasingly important part of weapons systems. According to the Defense Science Board, the new F/A-22 Raptor fighter under development will rely on software for 80 percent of its functionality. GAO said lapses in software quality have contributed to a 127 percent increase in cost of developing the F/A-22. "The primary reason software is so unreliable, insecure and expensive to develop is a lack of developer testing," said Alberto Savoia, chief technology officer at Mountain View, Calif.-based Agitar Software Inc. "Studies show that the cost of finding and fixing bugs grows exponentially as you move from design and development through integration and deployment." Agitar sells Agitator and Agitar Management Dashboard applications, which automate developer testing throughout the design process and display metrics onscreen. The privately held startup sells almost exclusively to commercial customers, but Savoia said Agitar's backers, including Silicon Valley venture capital giant Sequoia Capital, have begun introducing the company to the government market. Number Six Software Inc. of Arlington, Va., specializes in improving the development process. The company puts teams of software engineers on projects to help manage development and software portfolios. Its customers include Booz Allen Hamilton Inc., the National Institutes of Health and the State Department. According to Paul Moskowitz, Number Six's vice president of marketing and sales, inconsistent methods, undefined roles and brittle software architectures are among the primary reasons software projects fail. To make matters worse, changing requirements and "scope creep" make it hard to keep any project on track, Moskowitz said. Jim KAneJim Kane, chief executive officer of the Herndon, Va.-based Software Productivity Consortium, said his group -- which includes Boeing Co., Lockheed Martin Corp. and Northrop Grumman Corp. -- is committed to developing quality programs. "It's why they became members in the first place," he said. "They have a passion for good software engineering." The SPC maintains a staff of engineers that works with integrators and competes for contracts to provide independent validation and verification on government software programs. "We also work with contract suppliers to bring their products up to CMMI 3 compliance," Kane said. Capability Maturity Model Integration Level 3 is a measurement of software best practices sponsored by the Defense Department. Several integrators, including SPC members Raytheon Corp. and Science Applications International Corp., recently announced programs that have earned CMMI 3 certification. From saic at vision.moundalexis.com Mon Aug 23 10:59:24 2004 From: saic at vision.moundalexis.com (saic at vision.moundalexis.com) Date: Mon, 23 Aug 2004 06:59:24 -0400 (EDT) Subject: [saic] Minimizing Mischief in Venezuela, Stabilizing the U.S. Oil Supply Message-ID: <20040823065907.H20580-100000@vision.moundalexis.com> 08/21/04 Minimizing Mischief in Venezuela, Stabilizing the U.S. Oil Supply http://www.petroleumworld.com/sati082104.htm --- By Stephen Johnson and Ariel Cohen, Ph.D. Venezuelan President Hugo Chvez is systematically leading his country into dictatorship by provoking internal conflict and characterizing his internal opponents as traitors. Beyond Venezuela, he sees himself replacing Fidel Castro as the leader of Latin America's radical left--uniting the region against U.S.-style democracy, free markets, and American influence. Chvez derives popular support from fellow ideologues and a small but committed segment of Venezuela's largely poor population, and he is beginning to use the hemisphere's dependence on Venezuelan oil to encourage leftist movements elsewhere and to pressure other countries into acquiescing to his activities. By politicizing and mismanaging the state petroleum industry, Chvez is jeopardizing vital U.S. interests in the Western Hemisphere. The good news is that the majority of Venezuelans do not support Chvez's evolving dictatorship. Opponents have succeeded in petitioning for a referendum to recall him from office on August 15. Democratic governance and free markets are making slow strides in Latin American countries formerly ruled by dictators. While oil resources give him power, countries can buy oil from other vendors. The bad news is that Chvez has consolidated his hold over Venezuela's public institutions and is manipulating the electoral system in his favor. Increasing global demand for petroleum has given him an international power base, and his anti-American political agenda--fueled by petrodollars--could threaten nearby fledgling democracies and flourishing markets. To strengthen Venezuela's thread-like hold on democracy, cut the potential for regional destabilization, and deter manipulation of energy markets, the United States should help to keep Venezuela in the hemisphere's democratic fold; promote private property rights and the rule of law, including in the natural resources sector; develop alternate sources of petroleum; and engage Latin America more effectively to help allies strengthen democratic institutions and market economies. Reform, Then Reversal Venezuelan leaders have never permitted either true representative democracy or really free markets. Until 1958, Venezuela was ruled by generals who first taxed coffee exports and then--after its discovery in 1917--petroleum. They created a welfare state and led citizens to believe that all could benefit from this underground treasure. In 1958, the country rejected military dictatorship in favor of civilian-elected rule. The first president, Romulo Betancourt, tried to institute free-market policies, but an economy and political system run by insiders and ratified by elections proved resistant to change. During the 1970s, Venezuela nationalized its oil industry and gradually incurred increasing debt through runaway government spending on social programs designed to placate the middle class and the poor. The roller coaster of rising and falling market prices failed to sustain subsidies and programs to provide menial jobs to otherwise unemployed citizens. As a result, the average Venezuelan actually became poorer. In 1992, a band of army officers led by Lt. Col. Hugo Chvez Fras attempted to overthrow President Carlos Andrs Prez. Although court-martialed and jailed, Chvez emerged a hero. In 1998, he was elected president on promises to clean out corruption and reduce poverty. Once in office, Chvez promoted a new consitution to consolidate his powers and began to constrain the business community, civil society, and rival politicians. By 2001, Venezuelans had begun to protest his attempts to nationalize the Venezuelan Workers Union and turn schools into political indoctrination centers with Cuban curricula and teachers. Massive demonstrations followed in 2002. When 150,000 protesters marched on the presidential palace on April 11, Chvez reportedly ordered snipers to fire on them. Top generals convinced him to resign and replaced him with a hastily assembled junta headed by protest organizer and Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Pedro Carmona. The Rio Group of 19 Latin American presidents1 denounced the event as a coup, while the United States guardedly urged Venezuelans to restore democratic order. Accounts of what happened next vary, but the junta attempted to dissolve the National Assembly and dismiss other elected officials. The military withdrew its support for the insurrection and brought Chvez back two days after his departure. The president later denied his resignation, and no investigation occurred to reveal what transpired.2 Later, opponents tried to force another resignation by staging a massive national strike (December 2002-January 2003) that spread to the state oil company, causing a temporary shutdown in January 2003. When that failed, more democratically minded detractors prevailed to seek a referendum on his presidency. >From Friend to Foe Until the Chvez presidency, oil-rich Venezuela had been at peace with its neighbors and a firm American ally. Shortly after coming to power in Cuba in 1959, Fidel Castro visited President Betancourt in Caracas and asked him to join an alliance against the United States. Betancourt refused, and an angry Castro began sending insurgents to overthrow Venezuela's democracy in 1961. In the 1970s, President Carlos Andrs Prez discouraged further external aggression by improving relations with Cuba, as well as the Soviet Union and China, while remaining a friend to the United States.3 But the situation changed in 1998. As a presidential candidate, Hugo Chvez campaigned against the "savage capitalism" of the United States. On August 10, 2000, he became the first foreign leader to visit Saddam Hussein since the Gulf War, and he allegedly aided Afghanistan's Taliban government following the September 11, 2001, attack on the United States.4 At the same time, Chvez said that Cuba and Venezuela were "called upon to be a spearhead and summon other nations and governments" to fight free market capitalism.5 He cut back U.S.-Venezuelan military cooperation on counternarcotics by refusing overflights of U.S. aircraft tracking drug smugglers. In May 2004, Defense Minister Jorge Garca ordered the U.S. military mission to leave the Fuerte Tiuna offices that it had occupied for the past 50 years.6 Since his brief departure from power in April 2002, Chvez has charged the United States with complicity in what he now calls an attempted coup against him. After a June 24, 2004, U.S. Senate hearing on the situation in Venezuela, Chvez characterized U.S. Congressmen as "dogs of war, those that intend to dominate the world, those imperialists."7 Within Venezuela's immediate neighborhood, reports suggest that Chvez has aided the narcoterrorist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). Videos and documents revealed by dissident Venezuelan military officers portray official promises of supplies and refuge as well as the existence of several FARC fronts on the Venezuelan side of the Colombia-Venezuela border.8 In Bolivia, Chvez reportedly has close ties to indigenous activists Felipe Quispe and Evo Morales, who helped lead an uprising that forced elected President Gonzalo Snchez de Lozada from office in October 2003. And in El Salvador, Venezuelan troops sent to help victims rebuild after a devastating earthquake in 2001 were nearly declared persona non grata for allegedly urging villagers to support the leftist Farabundo Mart National Liberation Front. 9 President Chvez's Fifth Republic Movement (MVR) party is allied with the Brazil-based Foro de So Paulo--an organization of some 39 leftist parties and guerrilla organizations from 16 countries in the hemisphere. It shares Chvez's anti-American agenda, opposing U.S. counternarcotics collaboration with Latin America and the Free Trade Area of the Americas, which it characterizes as an annexation of the region to the United States.10 Opening a rival front, Chvez inaugurated the first Peoples Bolivarian Congress on November 25, 2003, in Caracas. It reportedly brought together 400 representatives from 20 Latin American countries expressly to condemn the policies of the United States, U.S. Southern Command, the International Monetary Fund, and the World Bank. 11 Oil Politics and Mismanagement When the United States became a net oil importer in the 1970s, friendly Venezuela was a founding member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and a top supplier to the American market. Even though it nationalized its oil industry in 1975, creating the state oil company Petrleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PDVSA), reform-minded politicians proposed giving back shares to every Venezuelan family while exploration and production was reopened to foreign participation in 1996. Chvez put further reforms on hold and set a precedent by expropriating foreign assets. His 1999 constitution prohibited future PDVSA privatization, while his 2001 Hydrocarbon Law doubled royalties on foreign operators from 16.67 percent to 30 percent and required a majority government stake in future joint ventures.12 During the December 2002 national strike, the Venezuelan military seized an information technology company jointly owned by PDVSA and the U.S.-based Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC).13 Such expropriations could jeopardize the investments of international major oil companies--such as Mobil, ChevronTexaco, and ConocoPhillips--in oilfield development projects like those in Venezuela's Orinoco basin. According to its 2004-2009 development plan, PDVSA projects $37 billion in new investment, including $10 billion from international companies.14 For the moment, PDVSA is dependent on U.S. refineries, which partially supply its CITGO gas station chain. PDVSA owns refining facilities located in Louisiana, Illinois, Texas, New Jersey, and Georgia as well as several installations in Europe.15 Irresponsible tampering with U.S. and international company activities by the Chvez government could prompt legal proceedings against Venezuelan holdings in the West. Using Oil as a Political Tool Chvez uses oil as a political tool to advance his hemispheric and global ambitions. He played a key role in the 1999 and 2003 OPEC decisions to cut production and coordinate policy aimed at driving oil prices higher. In 2000, Chvez visited Iran, Iraq, Libya, and Saudi Arabia, further agitating for production cuts and quota enforcement. The same year, he promised Fidel Castro 53,000 barrels of oil a day on concessionary terms in exchange for the services of Cuban doctors, teachers, and intelligence experts. Besides supplying the United States with 1.5 million barrels of oil a day (mbd), Venezuela provides most of the petroleum consumed by U.S. allies in the Caribbean and Central America. Their leaders know that opposing Chvez in any significant fashion could result in less favorable sales terms or cuts in deliveries. In September 2003, President Chvez accused the Dominican Republic of harboring Venezuelans--like former President Carlos Andrs Prez--who allegedly might conspire against his government. He then stopped oil deliveries, prompting a temporary energy crisis while Dominican officials scrambled for new suppliers. Beyond the hemisphere, Chvez is preparing to shift PDVSA's customer base toward Asia and an increasingly oil-thirsty China, making Venezuela less dependent on petroleum sales to immediate neighbors. A deal signed on July 14, 2004, to build oil and gas pipelines between the Maracaibo Basin in Venezuela and the Caribbean and Pacific coasts in Colombia may seem innocuous, but it would enable Venezuela to ship petroleum to China without using the Panama Canal. This would make it more critical than ever for Chvez to secure a plithe hemisphere. Mismanagement Threatens the Future During its 20-year history before Chvez, PDVSA built a reputation for smooth operation and competence, but the 2002-2003 national strike devastated the oil giant. Some 35,000-40,000 skilled workers, including fire fighters, walked out while spillage and fires ensued. Production capacity dropped from three mbd to 600,000 barrels. Chvez fired 18,000 skilled managers and workers, further underminin PDVSA's precarious situation.17 To regain and maintain pumping capacity at an estimated 2.5 mbd, PDVSA engineers reportedly "goose" wells by pumping air and water into them to coaxVenezuela's viscous petroleum to the surface, endangering the long-term viability of existing fields. Despite recent high oil prices that have provided a fresh infusion of cash, PDVSA remains in disarray. Venezuelan economist Gustavo Garca calculates that this year's internal investment fell from $5 billion to $4.3 billion while salaries went up 60 percent despite no apparent increase in productivity or number of employees.18 Without reinvestment in equipment and maintenance, PDVSA will not be able to maintain current production levels. Moreover, Chvez has reportedly channeled between $1.6 billion and $3.7 billion from PDVSA into a special account that he is using to finance social programs to influence voters in the upcoming referendum on his presidency.19 Recall and Prospects President Chvez's Bolivarian Constitution contemplates a referendum process for recalling public officials. Fortunately, opponents of various political stripes--including some former Chvez allies--have agreed to settle differences with the president at the ballot box. The bad news is that Chvez has tried to intimidate and divide opponents or otherwise block a vote. Two months after President Chvez's brief departure from office in 2002, the government invited former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and later the Organization of American States (OAS) to broker talks between the administration and the opposition, leading to a binding referendum as an alternative to civil conflict. Shortly thereafter, the National Electoral Council (CNE) was packed with Chvez allies who blocked several efforts for a recall. Finally, the CNE allowed an official period for gathering signatures--known as the firmazo--in late 2003. Once organizers collected names on government forms, it changed the rules on how the forms should have been filled out and then dragged out a review process to "repair" or rehabilitate some of the disqualified signatures. In May 2004, under pressure from the OAS and the Carter Center, Chvez grudgingly allowed a re-examination, known as the reafirmazo, of nearly a million signatures thrown out by the partisan CNE. It turned out that petition organizers had 2.56 million names--130,000 more than were needed to trigger a recall. As a result, the CNE scheduled a referendum for August 15, 2004. For its part, Venezuela's opposition umbrella group--the Democratic Coordinator--has united to support a 10-point platform to create jobs, attract investment, fight poverty, strengthen local government, institute checks and balances, rebuild public institutions, and open the government to citizen participation. Moreover, if Chvez loses the referendum, opponents promise to hold a primary to select their candidate. Chvez has declared that he will run again for his Fifth Republic Movement party even though the constitution is unclear on whether he can do so. Despite the opposition's willingness to play by the rules, many signs point to possible fraud by the government, even though some polls show the president with a 50-50 chance of winning the referendum. Specifically: The CNE will use new touch-screen voting machines from a company of which it is part owner. Technical glitches and power outages could disenfranchise thousands, thus producing fewer votes than needed to recall the president.20 Rigged software could alter vote totals. Similar touch-screen systems without paper trails are under fire in the United States.21 Government teams in military trucks have circulated in pro-Chvez neighborhoods, credentialing new voters. No such efforts have been made in opposition barrios. The regime alepting a $53,000 grant for electoral observation from the U.S.-funded National Endowment for Demon has accepted thousands of doctors, teachers, and intelligence agents from Cuban dictator Fidel Castro. Chvez has earmarked from $1.6 billion to $3.7 billion worth of state oil income to spend on poor voters during the campaTV stations to broadcast his speeches without equal time for opponents. In June, he revealed plans to enlist millions of "patriotic" electoral patrols to surveil neighborhoods under the authority of a campaign committee of high government officials known as the Comando Maisanta. Curbing Mischief Hugo Chvez is no democrat. At home, he has concentrated the powers of the state in his presidency, expropriating budgets from municipal governments, strengthening the national police, and packing the Supreme Court with cronies.23 Abroad, he appears to be in the initial stages of creating a confederation of nations opposed to the United States that is sustained by ol and united by an improvised nationalist ideology. History suggests a future of conflict and povert, both for those under his rule and for all those who are allied with him. Other countries in Latin America share some of Venezuela's economic characteristics--abundant resources and high rates of poverty that make them easy prey for populist demagogues. A bloc of states united in leftist authoritarianism and oil extortion could ignite the flames of armed confrontation again in the Western Hemisphere. To avoid needless conflict as well as a possible energy crisis, the United States should help direct Venezuela back toward democracy, develop alternate sources of petroleum, and engage Latin America more effectively to help allies stt economies. Specifically, the United States must: Encourage a free and fair electoral process in Venezuela's August 15 referendum. The Organization of American States, the Carter Center, and observers from other countries and international organizations sympathetic to Chvez have been invited to witness the vote. It is in America's interest to support the OAS observer mission and to urge all impartial monitors to uphold electoral standards that protect Venezuela's citizens from partisan intimidation, ensure equal party representation at the polls, guarantee fair opportunity to vote, permit equal access to broadcast and print media by all sides, allow observers freedom to monitor and report on all aspects of the vote, and ensure an independent auditand paper trail for any voting machines used. The United States should urge allies to condemn fraud by any party, but if fraud is committed by the government and the outcome is altered as a result, OAS members should be ready to invoke theto pursue a rectification or suspension of Venezuela's membership. The World Bank should be poised to suspend loans to Venezuela as well. However, if a fair vot results, all parties and observers should respect the outcome. Constrain mischief if Chvez remains in office. Whether ornot he wins the referendum, wins a follow-on election, or manipulates the process to remain in office, the United States, the OAS, and democratic neighbors must not relent in applying pressure on Venezuela to abide by norms contained in the Democratic Charter. U.S. Members of Congress should increase visits with counterparts in the National Assembly to advocate legislative oversight to curb executive branch excesses. The U.S. National Endowment for Democracy should continue funding election observers and local NGOs committed to strengthening democratic institutions. The United States and democratic allies should insist that Chvez dismantle and disband armed partisan gneighboring countries. Encourage timely political and economic reforms . If Chvez's opponents win the referendum and subsequent presidential elections, the United States should support the OAS in coliberties to prevent reprisals by violent loyalists. Washington and allies such as the Group of Friepain)24 should be willing to support reforms to roll back Chavez's police state and jump start a new market economy. The task will be daunting: to reverse decrees allowing expropriation of private property, repeal unduly restrictive business laws, restore local authority over municipal budgets and services, retirengthen separation of powers, and rewrite Venezuela's convoluted socialist constitution. Through diplomacy, the United States should encourage Venezuelans to safeguard PDVSA from presiential pilfering and put it in the hands of Venezuelan citizens through stock offerings. The creation of a transparent national oil fund fed by royalties would provide a sagement of the industry. A majority stake ownership by the private sector would be more likely to attract the capital needed to meet PDVSA's 2009 production target of 5 mbd and develop super-heavy oil fields alternate sources of petroleum and gas to avoid energy extortion. Besides increasing domestic exploration, America should be prepared to shift oil purchases to Brazil, Canada, Ecuador, and Mexico to compensate for potential cuts in Venezuelan production. Moreover, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) should help dependent Latin American and Caribbean nations diversify their energy sources. Promote property rights. The DOE should also encourage consultations between energy coporations, Latin American governments, and NGOs with expertise in property rights, such as Peru's Institute for Liberty and Democracy, to establish, guarantee, and enforce private and corporate roperty rights, including rights to subsurface minerals and hydrocarbons. Enhancing such rights could even help the rural poor, some of whom may own land with petroleum deposits, and could also diminish exploitation of energyr democratic institutions and market economies throughout Latin America. The United States must increase support for the countries neighboring Venezuela, many of which--like Bolivia and Ecconomies. It must strive to improve peoples' representation in political parties, enhance separation of powers, and promote equal treatment of all citizens before the law in order to increase confidence in democratic institutions as opposed to demagogues. Congress should ratify recently concluded trade pacts with Central and South American countries, and the White House should support regional economic reforms to enable entrepreneurs to start new businesses and the poor to accumulate wealth. Better integrated societies with accoutable governments and abundant economic opportunities are more able to resist the spell of charismatic dictators. Conclusion On August 15, 2004, Venezuela's citizens will go to the polls to decide whether to retain or recall President Hugo Chvez. During the five years he has been in office, he hasivided the nation through demagoguery, destroyed an already anemic privte sector through bad economic policy and conflict, caused 12 percent of the population to slip into extreme poverty,25 and created a climate of fear by dispatching partisan political gangs advised by Cuban intelligence officers. Logic would suggest that he be recalled, but fraud or fear that personal security depends on loyaltto Chvez could well keep him in office. In view of its political andmerican policies, Venezuela should no longer be considered a reliable supplier of oil. Moreover, mismanagement, diversion of funds, and shifting alliances to match the political goals of President Chvez could keep PDVSA from raising enough capital to stay competitive and maintain production levels. Both the United States and neghbors that depend on nues to support revolution beyond his country's borders.s must not abandon Venezuelans who seek a democratic and free-market renewal. All their leaders, including Chvez, should be actively discouraged from populist rule and guided toward institutions of public service by a comes and sanctions. To a lesser degree, similar problems exist elsewhere in Latin America. There too, the United States should redouble efforts to ensure that pluralism and free choice defeat authoritarianism and misery. 1. An informal consultative body formed in 1986. 2. The junta made uncharacteristically rapid and peculiar decisions, suggesting it was under pressure from the officers. The military also summoned Venezuelan civic leaders to the palace to sign a pledge supporting the junta. Thismay have been a ruse to draw out Chvez's adversaries in order to discredit them. One of the particiants in the insurrection, General Lucas Rincn, escaped punishment and is now the Minister of Interior and Justice. In a similar strange incident in May 2004, Chvez claimed that on a farm outside Carcas, his police had captured Colombian paramilitaries who were plotting to assassinate him. Eventually, 102 were charged and shown to reporters in Venezuelan army fatigues. A National Assembly deputy called it a publicity stunt to distract attention from the referendum drive to recall Chvez from office. See James Menendez, "Chavez Foils `Assassination Plot,'" BBC News, May 9, 2004, at news.bbc.coff Paramilitar,'" BBC Mundo News, June 29, 2004, at news.bbc.co.uk/hi/sstm (June 30, 2004). 3. Cuban insurgents initially tried to recruit Venezuelan collaborators, but pro-Soviet Venezuelan communists resented the Cuban intrusion, while other supporters left to develop a concept that embraced indigenous pride and sought an alliance between radicals and soldiers eager to re-establish military rule. It was called la Revolucin Bolivariana after Simn Bolvar, a hero of South American independence. As a junior officer, Hugo Chvez was undoubt Venezuela, Cuba `One Team,'" Reuters, September 6, 2001. 6. "Venezuela Asks U.S. Military to Leave Base Offices," Reuters, May 12, 2004. 7. "Chvez califica de `perros de la guerra' a congresistas de EE.UU.," Associated Press, June 27, 2004. 8. "Colombia evlitares venezolanos," El Tiempo, January 31, 2002, at www.terra.com.co/actualidad/internacional/31-01-2002/nota47739.html (March 27, 2002), and Javier Ignacio Mayorca, "740 de las FARC en Vene, at www.analitica.com/va/vpi5521076.asp (April 1, 2002). 9. Giaconda Soto, "El Salvador se retracta y permite permanencia de militares venezolanos," El Nacional, May 3, 2001, at www.el-nacional.com/3, 2001). 10. "Resoluo a favor da revoluao bolivariana da Venezuela," Foro de So Paulo, 10th Encounter, Havana, Cuba, December 7, 2001, at pt.uol.com.br/site/teste/textos/10venezuelap.asp (March 27, 2002). 11. "Primer Congreso Bolivariaeclaration, Web site Rebelin-Resistencia Global, November 30, 2003, at www.rebelion.org/sociales/031130congreso.htm (June 30, 2004). 12. Energy Information Agency, An Energy Overview of Venezuela, Privatization Status, p. 2, at www.fe.doe.gov/international/venzover.html (July 27, 2004). 13. Established in 1996, Informtica, Negocios y Tecnologa, S.A. (Intesa) provided computer services to the state oil giant, SAIC exercising a 60 percent share. In May 2002, the Venezuelan government notified SAIC that it wanted to terminate the partnership and madea buyout offer. Before the parties could come to an agreement, PDVSA president Ali Rodrguez ordered a lockout and the army seized Intesa's assets. The U.S. Overseas Private Investment Corporation grasman declared it would not support future investments in Venezuela. See Bruce V. Bigelow, "SAIC to Recoup Some Losses in Venezuela Deal," The San Diego Union-Trib.com/uniontrib/20040720/news_1b20saic.html (July 30, 2004). 14. "Venezuela Says OPIC Ruling Won't Hurt Investment," Reuters, July 21, 2004. 15. Ibid. 16. Chvez might then shift tactics from aiding Colombking revolutionaries in Colombian elections. 17. Frances Robles, "Oil Accidents Mount in Venezuela," Miami Herald.com, January 21, 2002 (July 27, 2004). 18. Victor Salmeron, "PDVSA aument partida de salarios en 60%," El Universa4, at http://www.eluniversal.com/2004/07/30/eco_art_30158C.shtml (July 30, 2004). 19. Matthew Robinson, "PDVSA Spending May Hit Venezuela Oil--Analysts," Reuters, July 12, 2004 (July 27, 2004). Lowernit, 2004 Country Report. 20. Some 3.8 million are required to exceed the number that re-elected Chvez president in the 2000 contest following the adoption of his new constitution. 21. See Jon E. Deformers' Now Attack Costly Election `Reform' of E-Voting," NewsMax.com, July 30, 2004, at www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2004/7/29/115913.shtml (August 2, 2004). 22. "Nacionalizados 236 mil extranjeros en dos meses," El Nuevo Siglo, July 6, 2004, at www.elnuevosiglo.com.co/noticia.php (July 6, 2004). 23. On May 18, a slim majority of pro-Chvez deputies in the National Assembly passed a law xpanding the Supreme Justice Tribunal from 20 to 32 justices and made it possible to approve and remove appointees by a simple majority vote. See "Venezuela: Judicial Independence Under Siege," Human Rights Watch, June 17, 2004, at www.hrw.org/english/docs/2004/06/17/venezu8855.htm. 24. Organized b Brazil and the United States in January 2003 to hold President Chvez accountable for promises to abide by electoral procedures outlined in his own constitution. 25. Jackson Diehl, "A Missile from te South," The Washington Post, August 2, 2004, p. A17. Stephen Johnson is Senior Policy Analyst foratin America and Ariel Cohen, Ph.D., is Research Fellow in International Energy Security and Russianand Eurasian Studies in The Kathryn and Shelby Cullom Davis Center for International Studies at The eritage Foundation. The authors wish to thank Intern Santiago Pinzn for his assistance with this research. Its views are not necessarily those of PETROLEUMWORLD. Editor's Note: This article was orignally published by The Heritage Foundation, on Aug 12, 2004. Petroleumworld reprint the article in the interest of our readers. Petroleumworld encourages persons to reproduce, reprint, or broadcast Ptroleumworld Editorial articles provided that any such reproduction identify the original source, htp://www.petroleumworld.com and it is done within the fair use as provided for in section 107 of the S Copyright Law Internet web links to http://www.petroleumworld.com are appreciated. Petroleumworld News 08 21 04 Copyright The Heritage Foundation 2004, All rights reserved From saic at vision.moundalexis.com Mon Aug 23 11:17:36 2004 From: saic at vision.moundalexis.com (saic at vision.moundalexis.com) Date: Mon, 23 Aug 2004 07:17:36 -0400 (EDT) Subject: [saic] SAIC to improve cargo gate system at Port of Miami Message-ID: <20040823071704.M20580-100000@vision.moundalexis.com> 08/19/04 SAIC to improve cargo gate system at Port of Miami http://www.washingtontechnology.com/news/1_1/daily_news/24296-1.html --- By Gail Repsher Emery Staff Writer Science Applications International Corp. will upgrade the Port of Miami.s security gate facilities, officials of the San Diego company said today. SAIC.s Security and Transportation Technology unit will perform the work, which includes installing software and hardware and upgrading the existing network communications and systems integration to the port.s security system. The company declined to release the terms or value of the contract. SAIC will streamline the port.s security gate operations by simultaneously increasing security and expediting traffic flow, validating all drivers and equipment, and improving remote command-center capabilities, according to company officials. SAIC will implement its Vehicle and Cargo Inspection Systems gamma-ray scanning technology, vehicle identification technology and weigh scales. SAIC.s design also includes driver transaction technology that combines card readers; voice-over-IP camera, microphone and speaker units; and other transaction processing technologies. All of this will be integrated into the port.s security information system, according to the company. SAIC was chosen for its experience integrating technologies at terminals worldwide, said William Kelly, SAIC senior vice president and manager of the Security and Transportation Technology unit. From saic at vision.moundalexis.com Mon Aug 23 11:18:37 2004 From: saic at vision.moundalexis.com (saic at vision.moundalexis.com) Date: Mon, 23 Aug 2004 07:18:37 -0400 (EDT) Subject: [saic] SAIC to update Port of Miami systems Message-ID: <20040823071807.A20580-100000@vision.moundalexis.com> August 19, 2004 SAIC to update Port of Miami systems http://southflorida.bizjournals.com/southflorida/stories/2004/08/16/daily43.html --- San Diego-based Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC) said the Port of Miami has chosen its security and transportation technology business unit to be systems integrator to upgrade the port's security gate facilities. The company said its cargo gate system project will include software, hardware, upgrading existing network communications and integrating port security systems. Neither the Port nor SAIC gave a dollar value to the contract. "This program will support the redevelopment of the Port of Miami's dynamic cargo operations hub," SAIC said. SAIC said its systems design includes Vehicle and Cargo Inspection Systems (VACIS) gamma-ray scanning technology, vehicle identification technology, weigh scales and driver transaction technology, which includes card readers, VoIP camera, microphone and speaker units. "The SAIC team was selected because of our experience integrating solutions for intermodal terminals worldwide," said William J. Kelly, SAIC senior vice president and manager of the security and transportation technology business unit. "Being selected by the Port of Miami is especially gratifying, as they have continued to lead the port community with innovations in gate process and security." Under the terms of the contract, the gate configuration will streamline the port's security gate operations by increasing security, expediting traffic flow, validating driver and equipment missions and enhancing remote command center capabilities. From saic at vision.moundalexis.com Mon Aug 23 20:07:09 2004 From: saic at vision.moundalexis.com (saic at vision.moundalexis.com) Date: Mon, 23 Aug 2004 16:07:09 -0400 (EDT) Subject: [saic] Telcordia Advances Network Services Efficiency to Customers Worldwide; Announces Teleglobe as A Customer Message-ID: <20040823160617.U20580-100000@vision.moundalexis.com> 08/23/04 - 7:15pm (UK) Telcordia Advances Network Services Efficiency to Customers Worldwide; Announces Teleglobe as A Customer http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=3396208 --- Business Editors/High-Tech Writers PISCATAWAY, N.J. . (BUSINESS WIRE) . Aug. 23, 2004 . Telcordia Delivers on Three of Its Key Strategic Initiatives: Wireless Market Penetration, an Expanded International Footprint, Extending IP Expertise Telcordia Technologies is leading the charge to enable network operators worldwide to capitalize on emerging revenue opportunities from advanced services and increased network efficiencies. The Network Services Platform market Telcordia serves is projected to expand from 2.3 billion in 2004 to 3.4 billion in 2007. This market continues to evolve as consumer demand for data and advanced services increases, requiring carriers to efficiently prepare their networks and cost effectively meet operational demands. .Global carriers are turning to Telcordia for fast, cost-effective solutions to rapidly introduce new services. Telcordia is addressing the need for new value-added services and adapting its business to deliver services that our customers want most,. said Teresa Vega, Group President, Wireless, Cable and Emerging Markets, Telcordia. Further advancing its strategic leadership position, Telcordia today announced that Teleglobe International Holdings Ltd, a leading wholesale telecommunications operator providing advanced international voice, data, and mobile signaling services to carriers and ISPs in over 240 countries, has selected the Telcordia(R) ISCP(R) Compact to add converged Intelligent Network (IN) capabilities to its global telecommunications network. .We chose Telcordia for their solid global deployment record together with the flexibility and scalability of the product,. said Henri Alexandre Vice President of Engineering for Teleglobe. .To successfully and quickly integrate the services of recently acquired Voice over IP (VoIP) network leader ITXC Corp, we require a partner that clearly understands the complexities of converging VoIP and TDM and someone we can count on to provide critical infrastructure building blocks to help enable Teleglobe provide great value to our international customer base.. Launched just three months ago as part of the Elementive(TM) Portfolio, ISCP Compact delivers an open, flexible, and converged platform while providing a smaller footprint and peak price performance. Adapted for this market from the original ISCP product, ISCP Compact is just one example of how Telcordia is facilitating the rapid deployment of IN-based applications for services, including converged mobile prepaid across various networks and technologies. ISCP Compact is a scalable platform that can grow incrementally along with an operator.s business. It provides operators, such as Teleglobe, with a high-performance, high-availability, multi-application environment that enables them to realize revenue generation from the delivery of advanced services. In addition, it provides an open, scalable platform that easily integrates with the Teleglobe networks and IT environments. About Teleglobe Teleglobe is a leading provider of international voice, data, Internet and mobile roaming services with over 50 years of industry expertise in international telecommunications. Teleglobe became a public company trading on the NASDAQ under the symbol TLGB with the acquisition of Voice over IP (VoIP) network leader ITXC Corp. in May 2004. Teleglobe owns and operates one of the world.s most extensive telecommunications networks, reaching over 240 countries and territories with advanced voice, data and mobile signaling services. Teleglobe is the carrier of choice to more than 1, 200 wholesale customers, representing the world.s leading telecommunications, mobile operators and Internet service providers. Carrying over 11 billion minutes per year, and a significant portion of the world.s Internet traffic, Teleglobe.s network is consistently ranked among the most robust and reliable, performing at the high end of industry standards. Detailed information about Teleglobe is available on the company.s web site at www.teleglobe.com. About Telcordia Technologies, Inc. Telcordia Technologies, Inc. is a leading global provider of telecommunications software and services for IP, wireline, wireless, and cable. By delivering on its Elementive strategy of providing flexible, standards-based solutions that optimize complex network and business support systems, Telcordia enables customers to aggressively reduce costs and grow revenues. Telcordia, a subsidiary of Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), is headquartered in Piscataway, NJ, with offices throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, Central and Latin America. (www.telcordia.com) Telcordia Technologies is a wholly owned subsidiary of SAIC. Statements in this announcement other than historical data and information constitute forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. A number of factors could cause our actual results, performance, achievements or industry results to be very different from the results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Some of these factors include, but are not limited to, the risk factors set forth in SAIC.s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the period ended January 31, 2003, and such other filings that the Company makes with the SEC from time to time. Due to such uncertainties and risks, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof. . 30 . MT/ny* From saic at vision.moundalexis.com Wed Aug 25 13:26:35 2004 From: saic at vision.moundalexis.com (saic at vision.moundalexis.com) Date: Wed, 25 Aug 2004 09:26:35 -0400 (EDT) Subject: [saic] Consultant: Malmstrom not likely to be closed Message-ID: <20040825092549.I20580-100000@vision.moundalexis.com> 08/25/04 Consultant: Malmstrom not likely to be closed http://www.greatfallstribune.com/news/stories/20040825/localnews/1111377.html --- By JAMES E. LARCOMBE With the next round of base closure and realignment decisions just nine months away, Malmstrom Air Force Base appears to be in a strong position to avoid closure or a significant loss of personnel, according to officials from a defense consulting company. Science Applications International Corp. officials on Tuesday outlined the key points of a study intended to highlight Malmstrom's potential to seek new missions. "We do not think there is any serious threat to Malmstrom in the BRAC process," SAIC staff member Bob Shields told about 25 Great Falls government and business leaders. The key element in that belief? The 200 missiles with nuclear warheads at the center of Malmstrom's main mission. While talk of reducing the United States' military arsenal always is present, SAIC officials said, the deterrent value of land-based intercontinental ballistic missiles is not being disputed. In addition, a federal Nuclear Posture Review process appears to have agreed that there is no reason to reduce the nation's supply of 500 land-based nuclear missiles. "As far as I'm aware, decisions about what's to stay active and what's to be stockpiled in our nuclear arsenal have been made and are not currently up for review," said Tom Garwin, another SAIC official specializing in nuclear weapons issues. In a world of emerging threats and the potential development of nuclear missile programs by "rogue states," it is unlikely that a move to reduce land-based missiles will gain a solid foothold in the United States any time soon, Shields said. "I just think it's not a political reality," he said, noting the nation's defense strategy is a key issue in the presidential campaign. Neither candidate is advocating cuts in nuclear missiles, he added. "To be portrayed as weak on defense, in the current campaign, would be political suicide," Shields said. Garwin said other components of the nation's nuclear arsenal, including submarine-based missiles and those that could be launched by aircraft, face strategic challenges and are closer to obsolescence than the Minuteman III missiles based at Malmstrom and bases in North Dakota and Wyoming. The Malmstrom missiles, while aging, are the most modern in the ICBM inventory and are more cost-effective than other nuclear weapons systems. The missile views were music to the ears of base backers, who have been working on the assumption that Malmstrom might be excluded from the BRAC process. "We think we have a huge opportunity here," said John Koslosky, a retired Great Falls banker hired to help raise money for base development efforts. Koslosky Tuesday announced a drive to raise $600,000 to attract new missions to Malmstrom and boost the military's economic presence across the state. Malmstrom is an economic linchpin in Great Falls and northcentral Montana, contributing more than $134 million per year in payroll and direct spending in the regional economy. Malmstrom has about 3,363 personnel with about 5,000 dependents. In addition, more than 370 civilians work at Malmstrom. Considering indirect spending and other factors, Koslosky said Malmstrom contributes more than $400 million to the regional economy each year. Malmstrom is believed to provide about 35 percent of the economic base in Great Falls. The fund-raising campaign, conducted by a group called B.A.S.E., short for Building Alliances for Strategic Enhancement, is off to a good start. The Northrup Grumman company has pitched in $5,000, while local government units have put up money to pay for the SAIC study released Tuesday. State government could get in on the fund drive soon. Mark Simonich, director of the state commerce department, says about $100,000 may be available in Community Development Block Grant funds. Simonich said officials from the Great Falls Development Authority are working with Cascade County to formally apply for the money. From saic at vision.moundalexis.com Wed Aug 25 15:37:16 2004 From: saic at vision.moundalexis.com (saic at vision.moundalexis.com) Date: Wed, 25 Aug 2004 11:37:16 -0400 (EDT) Subject: [saic] SAIC Locates Unmanned Vehicle R & D Facilities in Pittsburgh Message-ID: <20040825113633.F20580-100000@vision.moundalexis.com> Wednesday August 25, 9:56 am ET SAIC Locates Unmanned Vehicle R & D Facilities in Pittsburgh http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/040825/clw037_1.html --- - Fortune 500(R) company to continue key role on Carnegie Mellon Red Team effort - SAIC will tap region's robotics expertise to build staff PITTSBURGH, Aug. 25 /PRNewswire/ -- The Robotics Foundry, an independent, non-profit economic development organization, and Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), #289 on the Fortune 500 and the largest employee-owned research and engineering firm in the United States, announced today that SAIC is locating its Center for Intelligent Robotics and Unmanned Systems in Pittsburgh. SAIC had been operating a similar facility near Denver but recently concluded that the center is better located in Pittsburgh due to the recent increase in unmanned ground vehicle activity taking place in southwestern Pennsylvania. Current plans include moving two researchers to the Pittsburgh location and hiring two to three additional staff in the fourth quarter of 2004, with additional hires to follow in 2005. "We are committed to developing the most technologically advanced unmanned systems in the world to support national security at home and abroad, and we feel strongly that Pittsburgh offers unique robotics and related industry expertise and talent that can help us achieve this goal," said Dr. Ray O. Johnson, SAIC senior vice president and manager. "The combination of our collaboration over the past decade with Carnegie Mellon and Pittsburgh-based companies, such as Applied Perception, the opportunity to play a lead role on the Carnegie Mellon University Red Team, and the industry momentum generated by the Robotics Foundry and the region's leaders, has cemented our opinion that southwestern Pennsylvania is destined to become one of the leading centers in the world for mobile robotics." "I'm very pleased to see that SAIC has decided to open a facility here," said Congressman Mike Doyle, who represents the City of Pittsburgh and a number of other communities in Allegheny County. "This defense contractor's decision makes a strong statement about the important role that Southwestern Pennsylvania is playing in the emerging robotics industry." SAIC spends millions on research and development activities, developing new technologies while solving problems for its clients. As a leading developer of tactical mobile robotic systems for clients, SAIC is focused on designing intelligent systems that will offer greater independent capabilities. These systems, with their increased autonomy, will take on more complex missions and thereby reduce the need for humans to be in harms way. SAIC is equipping many of the advanced devices with increased perception, mobility, and route planning capabilities. "We are pleased to welcome SAIC to the region," said Bill Thomasmeyer, president of the Robotics Foundry. "As a major player in unmanned ground vehicles, their presence in the region will provide university researchers and our growing group of emerging agile robotics companies with greater access to certain enabling technologies, greater visibility into certain markets, and a strong teammate with whom to pursue various robotics projects and market opportunities." SAIC's most recent local project has been as a contributor of significant resources and technology to the Red Team. The Red Team was formed by Fredkin Research Professor William "Red" Whittaker in 2003 to pursue the goal of winning the Grand Challenge, a field test designed to accelerate research and development in autonomous ground vehicles that will help save lives on the future battlefield, staged by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). The Red Team advanced the furthest in the 2004 Grand Challenge and is a favorite to win the 2005 Grand Challenge, now scheduled for October 8, 2005. SAIC will occupy office space and research facilities at a Craig Street location in the short term and is planning to move to the Carnegie Mellon University Collaborative Innovation Center, currently under construction, in early 2005. About SAIC SAIC is the nation's largest employee-owned research and engineering company, providing information technology, systems integration and eSolutions to commercial and government customers. SAIC engineers and scientists work to solve complex technical problems in national and homeland security, energy, the environment, space, telecommunications, health care, transportation and logistics. With annual revenues of $6.7 billion, SAIC and its subsidiaries, including Telcordia Technologies, have more than 44,000 employees at offices in more than 150 cities worldwide. More information about SAIC can be found on the Internet at http://www.saic.com . About The Robotics Foundry The Robotics Foundry is an independent, non-profit economic development organization that directs dual-purpose programs and initiatives intended to accelerate the growth of the applied robotics industry and to establish a significant industry cluster in the "RoboCorridor" encompassing western Pennsylvania and beyond. The Robotics Foundry is located at 4514 Plummer Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15201. From saic at vision.moundalexis.com Wed Aug 25 20:06:54 2004 From: saic at vision.moundalexis.com (saic at vision.moundalexis.com) Date: Wed, 25 Aug 2004 16:06:54 -0400 (EDT) Subject: [saic] Olympic Security Message-ID: <20040825160509.Q20580-100000@vision.moundalexis.com> August 26, 2004 Olympic Security http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/08/25/1093246605489.html --- By Bruce Schneier If you're watching the Olympic games on television, you've already seen the unprecedented security surrounding the 2004 Games. You're seen shots of guards and soldiers, and gunboats and frogmen patrolling the harbors. But there's a lot more security behind the scenes. Olympic press materials state that there is a system of 1250 infrared and high-resolution surveillance cameras mounted on concrete polls. Additional surveillance data is collected from sensors on 12 patrol boats, 4000 vehicles, 9 helicopters, four mobile command centres, and a blimp. It's not only images; microphones collect conversations, speech-recognition software converts them to text, and then sophisticated pattern-matching software looks for suspicious patterns. A total of 70,000 people are involved in Olympic security, about seven per athlete or one for every 76 spectators. The Greek government has reportedly spent $US1.5 billion on security during the Olympics. But aside from the impressive-looking guards and statistics, was the money well-spent? In many ways, Olympic security is a harbinger of what life could be like in the US. If the Olympics are going to be a security test bed, it's worth exploring how well the security actually worked. Unfortunately, that's not easy to do. We have press materials, but the security details remain secret. We know, for example, that SAIC developed the massive electronic surveillance system, but we have to take their word for it that it actually works. Now SAIC is no slouch; they were one of the contractors that built the NSA's ECHELON electronics eavesdropping system, and presumably have some tricks up their sleeves. But how well does it detect suspicious conversations or objects, and how often does it produce false alarms? We have no idea. But while we can't examine the inner workings of Olympic security, we do have some glimpses of security in action. A reporter from the Sunday Mirror, a newspaper in Britain, reported all sorts of problems. First, he got a job as a driver with a British contractor. He provided no references, underwent no formal interview or background check, and was immediately given access to the main stadium. He found that his van was never thoroughly searched, and that he could have brought in anything. He was able to plant three packages that were designed to look like bombs, all of which went undetected during security sweeps. He was able to get within 60 feet of dozens of heads of state during last Friday's opening ceremonies. In a separate incident, a man wearing a tutu and clown shoes managed to climb a diving board, dive into the water, and swim around for several minutes before officials pulled him out. He claimed that he wanted to send a message to his wife, but the name of an online gambling website printed on his chest implies a more commercial motive. These two incidents are anecdotal, but they illustrate an important point about security at this kind of event: it's pretty much impossible to stop a lone operator intent on making mischief. It doesn't matter how many cameras and listening devices you've installed. It doesn't matter how many badge checkers and gun-toting security personnel you've hired. It doesn't matter how many billions of dollars you've spent. A lone gunman or a lone bomber can always find a crowd of people. This is not to say that guards and cameras are useless, only that they have their limits. Money spent on them rapidly reaches the point of diminishing returns, and after that more is just wasteful. Far more effective would be to spend most of that $US1.5 billion on intelligence and on emergency response. Intelligence is an invaluable tool against terrorism, and it works regardless of what the terrorists are plotting even if the plots have nothing to do with the Olympics. Emergency response is no less valuable, and it too works regardless of what the terrorists manage to pull off. I don't expect anything to happen this year at the Olympics. As a result, major security contractors will tout that result as proof that $US1.5 billion was well-spent on security. What it really shows is how quickly $US1.5 billion can be wasted on security. After the Olympics are over and everyone goes home, the world will be no safer for spending all the money. That's a shame, because that $1.5 billion could have bought the world a lot of security if spent properly. Bruce Schneier is a world-renowned security technologist. His latest book is Beyond Fear: Thinking Sensibly About Security in an Uncertain World. He can be reached at www.schneier.com. From saic at vision.moundalexis.com Wed Aug 25 22:05:27 2004 From: saic at vision.moundalexis.com (saic at vision.moundalexis.com) Date: Wed, 25 Aug 2004 18:05:27 -0400 (EDT) Subject: [saic] PEC Solutions Awarded Tasking by the Department of Veterans Affairs Message-ID: <20040825180448.Q20580-100000@vision.moundalexis.com> August 25, 2004 04:05 PM US Eastern Timezone PEC Solutions Awarded Tasking by the Department of Veterans Affairs http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20040825005506&newsLang=en --- FAIRFAX, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 25, 2004--PEC Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ NM:PECS) a professional technology services firm specializing in high-end e-Government solutions, today announced that the company was awarded a subcontract under the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Austin Automation Center (AAC), Global Information Technology Support Services (GITSS) contract to provide information technology (IT) services. PEC is a subcontractor to Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) under the GITSS program. GITSS is an acquisition program comprising a number of Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (ID/IQ) contracts and is sponsored and managed by BuyIT.gov -- the VA's newly created Federal Acquisition Center. The work being performed by PEC under this contract is a continuation of information technology services through the new VA acquisition program. Under the terms of the subcontracting agreement with SAIC, PEC will provide a variety of technology services related to Microsoft network and systems engineering, implementation, and management technology services. PEC will plan and implement the VA Central Office's (VACO) transition to Microsoft Windows(R) Active Directory(R) and develop standards for Microsoft Windows 2000(R) and XP(R) security and configurations. About SAIC SAIC is the largest employee-owned research and engineering company in the United States, providing information technology, systems integration and eSolutions to commercial and government customers. SAIC engineers and scientists work to solve complex technical problems in national and homeland security, energy, the environment, space, telecommunications, health care and logistics. With annual revenues of $6.7 billion, SAIC and its subsidiaries, including Telcordia Technologies, have more than 44,000 employees at offices in more than 150 cities worldwide. More information about SAIC can be found at www.saic.com. About PEC Solutions, Inc. PEC, founded in 1985, is a professional services firm that helps government clients harness the power of the Internet and other advanced technologies to improve mission performance. The company specializes in Web-Enabling Government(R) by providing secure, interoperable technology solutions for clients in homeland security, criminal justice and intelligence, defense, and civilian agencies within the federal government and at state and local levels. PEC is based in Fairfax County, Virginia, with offices around the United States. Visit the company on the Web at www.pec.com. From saic at vision.moundalexis.com Fri Aug 27 10:56:52 2004 From: saic at vision.moundalexis.com (saic at vision.moundalexis.com) Date: Fri, 27 Aug 2004 06:56:52 -0400 (EDT) Subject: [saic] SAIC Offers Practical Energy Management(C) for Improving Energy Efficiency Message-ID: <20040827065612.U20580-100000@vision.moundalexis.com> Thursday August 26, 10:01 am ET SAIC Offers Practical Energy Management(C) for Improving Energy Efficiency http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/040826/dcth010_1.html --- MADISON, Wis., Aug. 26 /PRNewswire/ -- Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) today announced that its Practical Energy Management (PEM) program now is available nationwide. Originally developed for the state of Wisconsin's Focus on Energy Program, PEM is designed to help companies integrate energy management into their ongoing business practices for the purpose of reducing their energy use and costs. It provides a template that users can populate with their specific information to quickly and easily establish a sound program for managing energy resources within their organization. "Many organizations want to improve their energy management, but don't have the time, know-how or management support to identify savings opportunities nor to create an effective ongoing program," said John Nicol, SAIC senior engineer and manager of PEM. "PEM is a complete package that enables a facility to jump-start their energy management effort and build a foundation for justifying investment in energy efficiency." PEM is not simply a how-to guide. The three-ring binder and CD include formatted spreadsheets for estimating the energy use of facilities and equipment. Other spreadsheets enable users to estimate energy and cost savings from implementing best practices for common systems such as lighting, process steam, compressed air, heating, cooling and ventilation. PEM also includes document templates that users can modify to fit their needs for things such as energy policy statements, energy project prioritization and energy team meeting agendas. PEM was developed by SAIC for Wisconsin companies to help overcome barriers to effective energy management. A survey taken in 2002, found that less than five percent of Wisconsin companies have a formal energy management program and only 25 percent have any sort of energy efficiency effort, let alone a formal program. In most companies the "energy person" is selected by default and has little if any interest or training in energy-related matters. Since 2003, SAIC has worked with the Focus Program and the state's major electric and gas utilities to deliver PEM to representatives of roughly 400 organizations through 18 half-day seminars across Wisconsin. A recent survey of seminar participants indicates that PEM has a high rate of adoption. More than 60 percent of those surveyed stated that they used PEM in developing their energy programs including tracking utility costs, forming energy teams, monitoring energy using equipment and prioritizing among energy efficiency projects. Thirty percent of survey participants completed one or more energy saving projects. PEM users found the material to be practical, comprehensive, organized and easily adaptable. The calculation tools supported efforts to justify energy efficiency investment to management. PEM can be delivered in a variety of methods ranging from the half-day group seminars to a series of five two-hour classroom sessions designed for progressive implementation of the material to intensive on-site assistance for individual companies. PEM is suitable for large or small organizations in the public or private sectors. It can be delivered to individual companies or through cooperating organizations such as utilities or business and professional associations. To learn more about Practical Energy Management and how SAIC can deliver it to your organization, your customers or your members, please contact John Nicol at (608) 277-2946. From saic at vision.moundalexis.com Fri Aug 27 10:58:14 2004 From: saic at vision.moundalexis.com (saic at vision.moundalexis.com) Date: Fri, 27 Aug 2004 06:58:14 -0400 (EDT) Subject: [saic] SAIC watches over Olympics Message-ID: <20040827065707.Y20580-100000@vision.moundalexis.com> Friday, August 27, 2004 SAIC watches over Olympics http://www.fcw.com/fcw/articles/2004/0823/web-saic-08-26-04.asp --- BY Judi Hasson Published on Aug. 26, 2004 Science Applications International Corp., the prime contractor for the computerized security system at the Olympics in Athens, Greece, is using a Global Positioning System developed by an Israeli firm to track more 2,500 police and law enforcement vehicles in the city. The location of every marked vehicle is available on laptop computers and large screens at more than 100 command centers that feed into the central command post, which is using 1,300 cameras, sensors, secure communications and other devices to monitor security at the events. "The Greek authorities wanted the ability to determine where their vehicles were for response purposes in case of incidents," said David Tubbs, a project director at SAIC, in a telephone interview from Athens Aug. 24. Tubbs said he did not know if the marked vehicles were being used to protect dignitaries at the games. "That is up to the government [and] the organizing committee," he said. "We don't tell them how to use it. We just give them the capability." The vehicle identifier is provided by subcontractor Cellocator, an Israeli company that specializes in vehicle security. The technology uses GPS to send information via a preferred communications network to a control center. The center can contact the vehicle, request information and remotely control certain features. In light of heightened terrorism alerts, the Greek games have been described as the most secure in Olympic history. Tubbs said SAIC is using a combination of closed-circuit television and tools such as motion detectors. Much of the technology is not new. Tubbs, a former FBI agent who worked at the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City and was an FBI observer at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, said the tracking system had been used at the previous games. "The Olympics is not [a place where] you want to test out new technology," he said. In the United States, U.S. Border Patrol officials and those at local governments, are considering using similar surveillance systems. John Gauss, senior vice president of SAIC, said many applications are available for homeland security. In addition to the vehicle tracking system, those include a secure radio network and sophisticated robotic cameras that send alerts in the event of an intrusion. "The cameras are very sophisticated," Gauss said. "You can remotely control a camera from a command center. The cameras have microphones that come with them." SAIC's work will not end when the Olympic flame is extinguished Aug. 29. The company's $302 million fixed-price contract includes leaving behind a secure legacy system for the Greek government. From saic at vision.moundalexis.com Mon Aug 30 21:26:08 2004 From: saic at vision.moundalexis.com (saic at vision.moundalexis.com) Date: Mon, 30 Aug 2004 17:26:08 -0400 (EDT) Subject: [saic] SAIC Makes $4 Million Gift To The Beyster Institute At UCSDs Rady School Of Management Message-ID: <20040830172518.X20580-100000@vision.moundalexis.com> August 30, 2004 SAIC Makes $4 Million Gift To The Beyster Institute At UCSDs Rady School Of Management http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/newsrel/campaign/SAIC_08_30_04.asp --- By Lindsday Orth The University of California, San Diego announced today a gift of $4 million from Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) to the Beyster Institute at the Rady School of Management. SAIC made this gift in honor of Dr. J. Robert Beyster upon his retirement as SAICs chairman of the board. The gift will be used to promote global entrepreneurship, employee ownership, and economic development through consulting, training and international projects at the Beyster Institute. Through this gift, Dr. Beysters dedication to employee ownership will be passed along to the next generation of business leaders, while also providing many innovative opportunities for the Beyster Institute and the Rady School, said Robert S. Sullivan, dean of the Rady School. Dr. Beysters dedication to employee ownership over the past 35 years and commitment to rewarding employees fairly for their efforts has been a cornerstone in SAICs success, said Ken Dahlberg, SAIC chairman, president and chief executive officer. The SAIC Board of Directors is pleased to approve and establish a lasting legacy honoring Dr. Beyster for all his accomplishments by making donations in his name to both the Beyster Institute and the Foundation for Enterprise Development. Established by Dr. Beyster in 1986, the Beyster Institutes purpose is to understand, support and promote the roles of entrepreneurship and employee ownership in growing companies and in society. The Institute was integrated into the Rady School in June 2004. SAIC is the nation's largest employee-owned research and engineering company, providing information technology, systems integration and eSolutions to commercial and government customers. SAIC engineers and scientists work to solve complex technical problems in national and homeland security, energy, the environment, space, telecommunications, health care, transportation and logistics. With annual revenues of $6.7 billion, SAIC and its subsidiaries, including Telcordia Technologies, have more than 44,000 employees at offices in more than 150 cities worldwide. More information about SAIC can be found on the Internet at www.saic.com. The Rady School continues UCSDs tradition of excellence, risk-taking, and breakthrough innovations, attracting the top business researchers and educators in the world. The Rady School presents an integrated approach to business and technology and emphasizes cross-boundary collaborations and programs with UCSD centers of excellence: science, engineering, medicine, economics and international relations. The charter class of executive MBA students will enroll in fall 2004, and the charter class of full-time students is slated for fall 2005. This gift contributes to the $1 billion fund-raising goal of The Campaign for UCSD: Imagine Whats Next. Campaign priorities include supporting students and faculty through scholarships, fellowships and endowed chairs; creating and expanding academic programs; funding research endeavors and health sciences advancements; and providing innovation funds and unrestricted support. To date, UCSD has raised $619.4 million; the campaign is scheduled to conclude in June 2007.