Government Technology Featured Articles

Lockheed Martin has a strong presence in the cloud security space. The company now brings its secure cloud computing expertise to the broader U.K. public sector, as part of its G-Cloud 3 framework agreement with the U.K. government. This agreement succeeds the previous G-Cloud 2 program.

Windstream, a provider of advanced network communications, recently announced that the General Services Administration (GSA) of the U.S. Federal Government has awarded the company a 10-year, multi-million dollar contract for voice, Internet, data and converged services to GSA's Region 4.

In the wake of the scandal that has rocked the Internal Revenue Service in recent days, the agency conceded in front of a Congressional hearing on its alleged hard-line treatment of tea party organizations, that it was delivering "bad customer service" and offered a mea culpa to the American people. Acting IRS commissioner Steven Miller faced harsh words from members of the House Ways and Means Committee and the episode has brought the agency under the microscope

It has been sort of a long trip for Apple's iOS 6 but the operating system, one of the most popular in the world, has finally gotten approval to officially be used by the U.S. military. When iOS 6 was officially released last fall, there were plenty of problems reported that came right along with the iOS. Eventually, Apple was able to work most of those problems out and people who were flat out told not to use the operating system can now go back and use their favorite OS.

Gemalto's Sealys ID Motion smart card software, used to provide protection to national government programs, has been granted the Common Criteria EAL7 certification. Common Criteria is a global security assessment scheme, wherein EAL7 or Evaluation Assurance Level 7 corresponds to the maximum level of security assurance.

Gate drive optocouplers offer inexpensive, reliable solutions for motor control applications. These products are ideal for motor control applications where the micro-controller should to be separated from high voltages.

Yardi, a software vendor for the real estate industry, has announced that the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation will adopt Yardi Voyager for Government as its property management and accounting platform, The Wall Street Journal reported. The move stands as a continuation of a new twenty-year business relationship with Yardi.

Senator John McCain is breathing life into this wisdom. The former presidential candidate is speaking up about his dissatisfaction with the current cable TV model, and introduced the Television Consumer Freedom Act last week, The Huffington Post reports.

TeleCommunication Systems, Inc. (TCS), a company that deals in mobile communication technology, recently received $2 million in incremental funding to provide the U.S. Marine Corps (USMC) with Deployed Engineering Services for its Wireless Point to Point Link (WPPL) systems and commercialization effort in theater.

Most people wouldn't associate a business report with innovation, but The Technology Association of Georgia's (TAG) new "State of the Industry" report website has been designed to look more like an app than a static website.

The Los Alamos approach to a quantum Internet is unusual, but at last report, so far very effective. In Los Alamos' version, a hub-and-spoke network approach is used to create the quantum Internet effect, sending messages from the various spokes to the central hub and then out along the target spoke to send the message. Interestingly, this approach uses much of what we know so far about the quantum Internet concept to produce top-notch message security.

NetApp, a provider of storage and data management solutions, said that as the number one storage provider to the federal government, it will now be in charge of delivering with delivering storage and data management expertise to the White House Military Credentialing and Licensing Initiative.

At the moment, it appears that the federal government doesn't understand just how hard it is to actually show real-time chats that are going on. Because of this, Facebook and Google, as well as other social media companies have largely been ignoring the request. The big players, like Google have even been demanding warrants when the FBI pushes on the taps. There is also the little problem of security measures such as end-to-end encryption being used by these companies. That makes it harder for hackers to get into your account.

"Joining Forces" is a White House initiative with businesses geared toward hiring war veterans and military spouses. With the recruitment numbers nearly tripling its initial goal in two years time, the initiative has proven to be a great success. As the companies gathered in the White House to celebrate the success of Joining Force and witness a number of companies receiving accolades for their outstanding contribution to this noble cause, AT&T announced its new plans and policies relating to veteran recruitment.

One of the guiding principles of most business leaders and industry innovators is the practice of delivering world-class customer service to achieve success and see it as a defining way to set themselves apart from competitors.

Applied DNA Sciences, Inc., a provider of DNA-based anti-counterfeiting technology and product authentication solutions, announced that United States Missile Defense Agency (MDA) has granted the company a Phase I research worth approximately $150,000. The research will be conducted to develop advanced and innovative methods of placing markings or coatings by using APDN's anti-counterfeiting platform for military electronics.

To help support its initiative to provide Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a service (PaaS) and Software as a Service (SaaS) to various state departments, the government of Maharashtra, India has selected VMware to provide virtualization and cloud infrastructure technology for its MahaGov Cloud project.

The U.S. House of Representatives has approved the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA) - aided by support from many Democrats. By a 288-to-127 vote, the bill was approved this week. Republicans also supported the measure - though it was opposed by President Barack Obama.

One of the biggest challenges enterprises face is the number of security issues accompanying bring-your-own-device (BYOD) policies. There's probably no bigger BYOD challenge than a military enterprise like the U.S. Marine Corps System Command. The Stanford Research Institute (SRI) has entered the final phase of meeting that challenge with the Trusted Handheld program.

By analyzing business processes and consolidating IT projects, the company will be helping the state gain significant savings in software licensing and technology maintenance costs which in turn will result in an expected IT budget recovery of 30 percent.

AtHoc, Inc., a company that deals in network-centric emergency mass notification systems (EMNS), recently announced that its IWSAlerts solution has been selected by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency (CBP) to alert, account for and protect 60,000 of its agents.

Federal staffing agencies in Colorado provide resources and programs to small business and have decided to coordinate agency activities. These activities will promote the formation of unique partnerships that match the needs of Colorado small businesses.

If AT&T, Verizon and Boeing get their wish, this week the House Intelligence Committee will pass a cyber security proposal that provides lawsuit immunity sought to the mega-corporations, altering privacy provisions to overcome a veto threat. The bill, the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act, was first introduced last year by committee chairman Mike Rogers, a Michigan republican, and the Maryland democrat C.A "Dutch" Ruppersberger (hip hop artists and Djs aren't the only people who get to sport baller nicknames).

Guardtime, a provider of solutions to authenticate electronic data, claimed that its Keyless Signature Infrastructure (KSI) will be delivering electronic data authentication to the government services of Ningbo CA, the Certificate Authority for the city of Ningbo in Zhejiang province in China.

An Authorization to Operate (ATO) order came down from the United States Navy earlier today as it decided to take on the Unclassified DEFIMNET MobiKEY Secure Remote Access Solution as part of the Unclassified Navy Marine Corps Intranet (NMCI) Enterprise. With this addition, naval systems just got quite a bit more secure, not to mention more versatile as well.

Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Julius Genachowski announced on Friday, March 22, that he is stepping down in the coming weeks before the end of his four-year tenure in June.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced this week the official formation of an international partnership between the state of New York and the State of Israel, in order to collaborate on the research and development of nanotechnology.

In order to advance community good and public safety, PublicStuff, the digital communications system for improving access to city services, has released a new version of its solution to help local governments turn civic inquiries into tangible community improvements.

Unified communications applications resonate well with today's budget-strapped federal agencies. These new tools help to streamline processes, increase productivity and transform the way people work. And they typically do so at a lower cost than legacy communication systems.

Computer subsystems designed for size, weight and power (SWaP)-constrained military/aerospace vehicle and aircraft installations are required to qualify in military-standard (MIL-STD) environmental/electromagnetic interference (EMI) compliance tests, to ensure that it can operate in harsh conditions onboard un(manned) aircraft, ground vehicles and maritime platforms.

Sigma Cable Company won three new government contracts last year with a total contract value of about $62 million over a two-year period. These three contracts are relate to Supply, Delivery and Installation (SDI) of low- and mid-voltage power cables.

VidOvation has a goal: to bring its innovative broadcast expertise and technology to AV and government customers at prices so affordable that it will help encourage early adoption of it. As of today, it has expanded that strategy, helping provide broadcast quality audio and video with a new focus.

Cisco yesterday introduced a new set of interoperable, multivendor communications capabilities designed for operations and dispatch centers in government and enterprise sectors such as transportation, utilities, manufacturing, healthcare, public safety and education. Included in this is the Cisco IP Interoperability and Collaboration System (IPICS) solution, an IP Command Touch Screen Console developed with IP Trade, and the Native P25 on Android Clients developed with Etherstack.

During an emergency like Hurricane Sandy, which devastated parts of the Caribbean, the Mid-Atlantic and the Northeastern part of the U.S., government-state communications are vital in order to ensure the safety of citizens that are experiencing such a catastrophe. As phone and Internet connections can be lost due to physical destruction as well as the 911 call centers, which may become overloaded with calls to the point that some are not able to be attended to, it is important that these issues are prepared for before disaster strikes.

During an emergency like Hurricane Sandy, which devastated parts of the Caribbean, the Mid-Atlantic and the Northeastern part of the U.S., government-state communications are vital in order to ensure the safety of citizens that are experiencing such a catastrophe. As phone and Internet connections can be lost due to physical destruction as well as the 911 call centers, which may become overloaded with calls to the point that some are not able to be attended to, it is important that these issues are prepared for before disaster strikes.

SecuSmart GmbH is a company that was established in 2007 with headquarters located in Dusseldorf, Germany. The goal of the company is to provide secure communications, and in 2009, the German government approved the use of the company's security application. Since then, governmental agencies, defence ministries, and many other institutions have been using SecuSmart's secure solutions. SecuSmart protects your telephone calls, text messages and mobile E-mails.

As mobile devices become the preferred choice for most consumers, it will bring with it an increasing number of attacks. Public and private organizations around the world are putting in place security measures to address the increasing threats involving mobile devices. Bring your own device (BYOD) policies for companies and increasing financial transactions on mobile devices by consumers make these devices a welcoming target. Precise Biometrics will be offering the Tactivo case, which has a built-in smartcard and fingerprint reader, for government employees.

As Australia's largest and oldest telecom company Telstra provides a wide range of solutions for individuals, large enterprises and government agencies across the country. Recently, the company announced that its new unified communications platform will be available with cloud collaboration solutions for business, enterprise and government customers. This new service will provide the company's customers the ability to use Unified Communication- as -a- Service (UCaaS) with integrated voice, video, presence, mobility solutions and mobile devices.

In today's tech-heavy defense environment, military communications needs are vast and varied. Today's military requires a complete communication solution that can support a huge volume of data transfer. Global defense and information solutions company, ITT Exelis, has developed its highly successful SpearNet radio systems, keeping today's typical military communication needs in mind.

Business is not the only sector that can benefit from big data analysis. The use of big data can improve government efficiency and service - in such fields as health and public safety.

Comtech Telecommunications, a source of advanced communications solutions, is expanding its ability to supply market-leading bandwidth optimization. The company's Arizona-based subsidiary, Comtech EF Data Corp., has been selected as the choice vendor by the United States Marine Corps for its turboIP-G2 Performance Enhancement Proxies.

Samsung will be embedding Fixmo's patented Sentinel Integrity Services technology in its smartphones and tablets. Fixmo is a mobile risk management company that helps organizations identify, mitigate and manage security on mobile devices in the workplace.

The U.S. government's interest in supercomputing, from ENIAC's hydrogen bomb simulations to NOAA's hurricane landfall predictions to the IRS's tax processing, is so well established that it's only natural the government would find Big Data tools and techniques equally as attractive. The term "big data" refers to data sets so large, they can't be captured, processed, stored, searched or analyzed by standard relational database and data visualization technologies. Nor can the data sets be stored in a normal manner. This information has to live in a data warehouse. The Federal Government regularly generates datasets of this size.

The Hong Kong Efficiency Unit is a scary-sounding name. That, or a downtown studio apartment. In truth, the Efficiency Unit is neither.

The Federal Communications Commission has chosen to offer increased regulatory assurance to manufacturers of wireless signal boosters. This latest decision of FCC has been appreciated by Nextivity Inc. While signal booster manufacturers aim to accomplish versatility for designing and implementing these products, the carriers aim to decrease the possibility for interference with their network operations. The resolution passed by the FCC addresses the requirements of both, signal booster manufacturers and carriers.

The Business Intelligence and Reporting Tools (BIRT) Project is an initiative designed for rich client and Web applications, and adds reporting and business intelligence features to these programs. BIRT looks to enhance the capabilities of various reporting requirements of a typical application.

The Federal government has a very poor success rate when acquiring software, with many front-page stories of projects that delivered negligible results having to be scrapped after hundreds of millions of dollars were spent. While software acquisitions are complicated, the root cause of the problem does not rest there; after all, the commercial world has good success with software investments.

Harris CapRock has made a name for itself as a global provider of fully managed communications that work in harsh and remote locations. Now the firm has teamed up with AIS Engineering, Inc. The two firms will be working together to provide end-to-end solutions to an intelligence community customer. This particular contract has been handed out under the Custom Satellite Solutions (CS2) Small Business task order.

Advanced Defense Technologies (ADTI) has announced plans to further develop the Sense and Avoid (SAA) technology payload for its drones and UAVs, along with partners. The SAA will be highly beneficial in defense as well as in commercial applications.

Lithium-ion batteries will be kept on the new F-35 fighter jets - even though "similar" batteries have created problems for civilian airliners.

TrustComm Inc. has bagged a General Services Administration, or GSA, deal and will be included on GSA's IT Schedule 70 with contract number GS-35F-195AA. The U.S. Dept. of Defense is offered protected COMSATCOM solutions by TrustComm. TrustComm's aptitude for implementing worldwide, managed COMSATCOM solutions for the DoD has been further extended with the latest contract.

Technology Associates EC (TAEC) announced on February 7 that it has finished diversifying its defense sector to focus its business on wireless telecommunication service, International Business Times reports. TAEC aims to continue to grow as a leading technical services support contractor for both the communications industry and government partners.

Canada's Minister of Industry, The Honourable Christian Paradis, has announced a repayable contribution to Engineering Services, Inc. to develop the next generation of mobile robotics. The Canadian government will contribute US$773,000 under the Strategic Aerospace and Defense Initiative (SADI) to the Toronto-based company. The technologies, which will be developed jointly between ESI and the University of Toronto, will find applications in law enforcement, defense and other security applications.

Sealevel has unveiled a PCI Express synchronous serial interface, 5402e, ideal for use with the well-appreciated Zilog Z85230 Enhanced Serial Communication Controller or ESCC. Military, satellite, radar, banking and other applications needing a sturdy synchronous communications normally prefer the synchronous serial adapter, Zilog Z85230 ESCC.

Public stock company Consip S.p.A. has just announced its framework agreement for contact center services of public administrations. The company, owned by Italy's Ministry of the Economic and Finance (MEF), is offering this agreement to contenders from several economic operators in the country, but the agreement has not officially been made with any one specific operator yet.

According to a recent announcement made by Nelson Enterprise Technology Services (NETS) and Intercom Federal Systems (Intercom), the U.S Department of State has awarded the two companies a Mentor-Protege Program agreement. NETS and Intercom will join forces to provide IT services to the Department of State.

It's a concerning sign of the times that the U.S. government needs a cyber warfare strategy, but with the frequency of cyber attacks not only in the United States but around the world - Twitter was recently hit by a "sophisticated cyber attack" that exposed the passwords of around 250,000 users, for example - it is definitely a necessity.

With more Americans accessing the Internet via mobile devices rather than desktop PCs, and mobile broadband subscriptions on the rise, the U.S. government recently outlined its Digital Government Strategy, which has three main objectives.

Defense forces have to face a wide range of hostile situations while serving the nation on their missions overseas. In order to maintain their physical and mental health in a sound state, it's imperative that they're provided with nutritious food on a regular basis. Combat Feeding Directorate of U.S. Army Natick Soldier Research, Development and Engineering Center introduced a new military rations technology solution to the veterans from a town named Hopkinton during their monthly veterans' breakfast.

World Wide Technology, company supplying technology products, services and supply chain solutions to the commercial, government and telecom sectors, has been awarded the Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) project for the U.S. Army Medical Command under the Armed Forces Health Longitudinal Technology Application and Clinical Application Virtualization contract.

Mission-critical telecommunication provider Inmarsat Government recently introduced a new service that will enable broadband global area network users from U.S. military and civilian organizations to obtain better quality and quicker access to data.

Currently, there doesn't seem to be much industry research about how technology, especially GIS technology, is being implemented by local governments and how they are using intelligent mapping technology.

We are living in the age where internet has become like second nature for millions of people. Businesses, common people, government organizations and professionals all depend on the Internet for all type of information and electronic transactions. However, getting a stable, safe, and resilient cyberspace has always been serious challenge for many public and private organizations, particularly defense organizations.

The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), developers of major technological advancements including computer networking and NLS, will be putting technology stemming from its High Energy Liquid Laser Area Defense System technology to use as early as 2014 throughout a series of ground-based firing tests.

It wouldn't be the first time real life has sought to create something from science fiction, but now the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is hoping to create a modern version of self-destructing tapes and other devices.

Telework Exchage, a public-private partnership that raises awareness on the advantages of telework, has just changed its name to Mobile Work Exchange and has now been assigned with engaging in discussions with the federal government over mobile IT environments.

Hughes Communications India, Ltd. (HCIL), a broadband satellite network and services provider, recently won a $4.5-million (Rs.246 million) contract to deliver comprehensive educational content via the INSAT-4CR satellite network to schools and educational institutions across Punjab. The contract is the largest for a satellite-based education network across India.

Alion Science and Technology, a company that delivers engineering, IT and operational solutions to strengthen national security, announced that it has been awarded a contract by the Department of Defense (DoD) to study the impact of potentially reallocating or sharing the radio frequency (RF) bands.

To help members of the 113th Congress become more informed about Internet policy, the Internet Innovation Alliance (IIA) has released a 2013 Broadband Guide aimed specifically at America's current lawmakers. One of the guide's biggest assertions? "No one owns the Internet."

Harris Corporation, an international communications and information technology company, has launched a new UL-Band power amplifier.

Motorola Solutions Inc. has been making some estimates, and it predicts that growth in its government business will be moderate in 2013. Business is still expected to grow, but very slowly, with percentages just in the single digits.

Boeing's flagship 787 aircraft currently sit grounded, as engineers examine the lithium-ion batteries needed to power its electrical systems after a series of in-air fires. Fixing the problem to the Federal Aviation Administration's satisfaction and delivering a solution to existing aircraft plus compensating airliners for lost flight time is going to dig into the company's bottom line. Such financial drain may impact Boeing's entry into NASA's commercial crew program, the CST-100 commercial space capsule.

Industry Canada, a regulatory authority responsible for increasing Canada's presence in global trade and building an efficient marketplace, has joined the league of OFCOM, UK, and ACMA, Australia by implementing LS telcom's spectrum management system. It is designed to support regulatory authorities worldwide in its effort to deliver e-government in spectrum management.

At a news conference at North Las Vegas-based Bigelow Aerospace, NASA discussed a new $17.8 million test project that will be sent to the International Space Station. The project is an inflatable room, similar to a bounce house, which can be stuffed into a 7-foot tube for delivery.

In 2002, a Boeing 757 charter plane owned by Israeli company Arkia Airlines was fired upon with two shoulder-launched Strela 2 surface-to-air missiles in Mombasa, Kenya, a tourist destination frequently visited by tourists from Tel Aviv. The two missiles narrowly missed the 757 that was carrying 261 passengers. This incident made Israeli officials take an attack of this kind very seriously, and prompted them to take measures that would prevent it from happening in the future. With the help of Elbit Systems Ltd., an anti-missile defense system was developed and the first tests were recently carried out successfully.

TeleCommunication Systems, Inc. (TCS), a major player in mobile communication technology, has received an order from the Australian Defence Science and Technology Organization (DSTO) for its Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT) satellite systems. The Defence Science and Technology Organization (DSTO) is part of Australia's Department of Defense.

Cornet Technology, Inc. (CTI) has agreed to resell $5M worth of xG's xMax mobile broadband equipment over a three year term. The company announced the deal, which is subject to placing purchase orders, saying that CTI has been granted non-exclusive rights to selling xG's products to its range customers, including those from the United States Government and Department of Defense.

Zephyr Photonics, a source of innovative and advanced photonic solutions for government agencies, communication companies and defense prime contractors, recently introduced its Semiconductor Fabrication and Foundry Services business unit. The newly launched Semiconductor Fabrication and Foundry Services business unit will successfully match the growing demands of fabless semiconductor companies, with Zephyr's growth, fabrication, testing and production capabilities.

Accenture, the global consulting, technology services, and outsourcing giant, has secured several landmark contracts from the United States Navy to evaluate and audit its IT and financial transaction process systems. The contracts will keep Accenture working with the U.S. Navy for at least three years.

EagleView Technologies recently entered into a definitive merger agreement with Pictometry International, leading provider of geo-referenced aerial image capture and visual-centric data analytics solutions. Post the signing of this agreement; both companies have merged their business into a one entity. The transaction was closed on January 7, 2013.

EagleView Technologies recently entered into a definitive merger agreement with Pictometry International, leading provider of geo-referenced aerial image capture and visual-centric data analytics solutions. Post the signing of this agreement; both companies have merged their business into a one entity. The transaction was closed on January 7, 2013.

It is said that "communication is key," but nowhere is this more critical than in the military, where lives can be at stake with every decision. The delivery of the U.S. Navy's Mobile User Objective System (MUOS) by Lockheed Marting will ensure the men and women of our military will have a secure and capable communications package.

Medicago Inc., a bio pharmaceutical company developing effective and competitive vaccines based on proprietary manufacturing technologies and Virus-Like Particles (VLP), has been awarded an Indefinite Delivery / Indefinite Quantity (ID/IQ) contract from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). Officials with Medicago said the company is now allowed to bid for the manufacturing and delivery of certain tobacco-produced proteins, for which the company has already demonstrated a proven ability.

If you're a fan of reality television, perhaps you're getting bored with the current choices. If big-haired, fake-tanned dimwits; obnoxious children and people eating bugs to survive in the wilderness just aren't doing it for you anymore, perhaps it's time to turn to the biggest knock-down, drag-out show in town: politics.

A well-known U.S. nuclear lab has removed two pieces of technology equipment made in China out of national security anxiety.

These days, unmanned security solutions are gaining prominence in both government and private sectors. Unmanned security solutions are more reliable than ever and are cost effective when compared to traditional security solutions.

The Hilton Hawaiian Village recently played host to about 700 employees of the State of Hawaii, community leaders and assorted members of the public as Gov. Neil Abercrombie, Government Technology Executive Events and the Center for Digital Government put on a massive array of presentations showing off the advancements that are powering state government in business and information technology.

Washington had to face down a lot of technological issues this year, and on a staggering variety of topics. Debates and committee reports flew fast and furious all through the beltway, and lobbyists threw their hands in at every opportunity.

Hunan Gintoten Camellia Technology & Development, a tea oil provider in China, has formally shown its intent to rent Diaoyu Island and neighboring islets. An official request for government endorsement in this regard was filed on December 25, 2012 at the State Council, the Land and Resources Bureau, and the Bureau of Oceanography of the People's Republic of China.

U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Under Secretary, Rafael Borras, and Chief Procurement Officer, Dr. Nick Nayak, have been awarded the Federal Small Business Champions of the Year awards by the Government Technology & Services Coalition (GTSC).

Specialty Systems, Inc. (SSI), a systems integrator in the military, law enforcement and commercial markets, recently signed a Reseller Partnership agreement with Quipa US, a software company delivering a new and revolutionary approach to secure network connectivity.

Broadview Networks has been honored by the State of New York Department of Public Service for the third time in the past three years. The annual Service Quality Commendation Program recognizes organizations that offer commendable service to their customers. These commendations come at the suggestion of the State of New York Office of Telecommunications.

The entire healthcare industry is under pressure to improve quality, decrease complexity and increase efficiency. The healthcare organizations need to protect their electronic information assets and develop trust for the proper flow of information within the healthcare system.

View Systems Inc., a provider of security products for schools, banks and government institutions, recently announced an agreement with Armorin, LLC, a Brazilian security solutions and armored cars service provider, to market, sell, assemble, install and service View System's product line throughout South America. View Systems provides security and surveillance products to law enforcement facilities such as correctional institutions.

Santeon Group has entered into a new contract with the MITRE Corporation to provide Agile coaching and consulting services to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, a division of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The contract, which is applicable for 2012 and all of 2013, was given to the company based on its successful performance during the first contract that was awarded in January 2012.

Cyber security for government departments in the U.S. is a huge business. As the U.S. government is turning more to the Internet for its operations, it is investing a significant amount of money in cyber securities for its departments; and that's music to the ears of companies that provide cyber security products.

There is hopeful news for the struggling Research in Motion company - with word this week that a key U.S. agency will at least test RIM's forthcoming BlackBerry 10. The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE), which plans to have its employees switch to Apple's iPhone, plans to test the BlackBerry 10 starting early next year. The test will feature BlackBerry smartphones and BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10 - which will let the government run the phones on networks.

The Air Force Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Agency recently awarded General Dynamics Information Technology a two-year, $6-million task order, to provide technical support services to the Air Force Joint Worldwide Intelligence Communications System Enterprise. General Dynamics, as per this contract, will help the Air Force modernize its communications networks and integrate with national-level Intelligence Community Information Technology Enterprise and Desk Top Enterprise initiatives.

AMERICAN SYSTEMS, one of the largest employee-owned companies in the United States with approximately 1,500 employees nationwide, recently won a GSA Connections II task order worth $56,000,000 from the United States Army Reserve Command.

Balfour Beatty Communities, LLC, which provides development, renovation, operation, financing, and management services for military housing projects, has attracted attention for their commitment to customer service. It is this commitment that recently garnered them the 2012 National Multifamily Customer Service Award for Excellence by CEL & Associates.