[April 29, 2010] Covia Labs adds former DHS, NSA official Tweet (United Press International Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) The direction of Covia Labs Inc.'s work on interoperable communications solutions will be advised by a former U.S. Homeland Security Department top official. Stewart Baker, the assistant secretary for policy following the creation of the Homeland Security Department during the George W. Bush administration, has signed on to provide business advisory services to Covia. Baker, who also served as National Security Agency general counsel in the early 1990s, is expected to provide what Covia called "strategic counsel" for the company's development of its interoperable communications software platform solutions. Covia said it selected Baker for his government insider experience guided by the lessons learned following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The breakdown of communication technologies during the attacks has been widely cited as needing improvement. "From firefighters responding to a call, to soldiers in the battlefield, to police at a crime scene, our personnel are challenged to communicate with their mission partners because of proprietary, incompatible communications equipment," Baker said in a statement. Copyright 2010 United Press International, Inc. (UPI). Any reproduction, republication, redistribution and/or modification of any UPI content is expressly prohibited without UPI's prior written consent. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]