A McLean, Virginia-based technology solutions company announced today that it’s signed a $1.8 million contract to support “critical” cross-agency information within the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
Officials from Alion Science and Technology – a company that says it regularly works for the U.S. Department of Defense, civilian government agencies and businesses – say they’ll provide program management, systems integration, analysis, exercise development, and support, test and evaluation of information sharing technologies.
According to Sue Archer, Alion’s senior vice president and operational solutions group manager, the homeland security department will benefit from her company’s experience in controlled unclassified information and suspicious activities reporting.
Alion’s work should lead the federal agency toward a road map of best practices in information-sharing, Archer said.
“Alion’s technical expertise and operational support services are currently in use by U.S. government organizations to support the improvement of processes, outcomes, and metrics,” Archer said.
Specifically, Alion says it will be expected to review how the agency’s current stakeholder organizations acquire, manage, analyze, and distribute information external to their operations.
With that information, Alion officials say they’ll outline a set of best practices supported by advanced technology and software capability. The contract will expire in April 2009, according to the companies.
The work is critical to the homeland security department, which leads the nation’s efforts in evaluating vulnerabilities and coordinating local, tribal, state, federal, and private entities to ensure the most effective protection and response.
“The collection, protection, evaluation, and dissemination of information to the American public, state and local governments, and the private sector is central to this task,” officials say.
Alion says its subcontractors include Eastport Analytics, Innovative Analytics and Training, and Swan Island Networks.
Established in the wake of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, the U.S. Department of homeland security is responsible for protecting against terrorist attacks as well as responding to natural disasters. The agency, by working within the civilian sphere, serves as a counterpart to the defense department, which is charged with overseeing military actions abroad.
Michael Dinan is a TMCNet Editor. To read more of his articles, please visit his columnist page.
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