Here are some items of general interest that we have found or have brought to our attention by readers. Thank you!
Softsol Technologies Inc., is being awarded a Firm Fixed Price contract for $10,969,599.00.
This requirement acquired service to transform the business application software currently being used by the Defense Security Assistance Management System from Sun Microsystems Unified Development Server environment, formerly known as Forte, and using Transactional Object-Oriented Language, to a new environment and language called .NET.
Editors note: The Defense Security Assistance Management System is part of the Defense Security Cooperation Agency which comes under the Undersecretary of Defense. Forte (formerly Sun Performance WorkShop Fortran) was a development environment for applications in Fortran and C on the Solaris Operating Environment. Forte HPC also provided for C++. Sun no longer supports these products. Really, you can't call .Net a language but rather it's Microsoft's proprietary application development environment.
"Microsoft Federal has announced the addition of two critical security certifications to its Windows Mobile operating system. Windows Mobile 5.0 with Messaging and Security Feature Pack, and Windows Mobile 6 operating systems were awarded Common Criteria Evaluation Assurance Level 2+ (EAL2+).
The U.S. Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) announced it has approved Windows Mobile® for secure wireless e-mail throughout the Department of Defense (DoD). These milestones offer independent validation of Microsoft's commitment to assist governments and enterprises in meeting the ever-increasing security demands for mobile devices accessing sensitive data on information networks.
The Windows Mobile DISA STIG complements other mission-critical work Microsoft is working on across the federal government. Systems integrator partners such as General Dynamics Corp. and L3 Communications Corp. have selected Microsoft to develop an NSA-approved Secure Mobile Environment Portable Electronic Device (SME PED). The SME PED is capable of secure wireless access to the SIPRNET and NIPRNET and supports DoD 8100.2 requirements.
Common Criteria is a globally recognized standard for secure IT products. By meeting the security criteria for EAL2+, Windows Mobile is accepted under the Common Criteria Recognition Arrangement (CCRA) worldwide by 24 member countries. This means that U.S. government agencies with disparate, worldwide operations can use Windows Mobile with the assurance that they have adopted a technology platform that is universally recognized as tested to exacting security standards.
Both accreditations will help mobile U.S. government personnel become more productive and effective while accessing mission-critical data, including for example, Common Operational Picture software for combat and reconnaissance missions; Battlefield Medical Triage; Logistics and supply chain support, and more."
If your a dinosaur, like me, you will remember how long it took Microsoft to get into the Internet. Then, bang, a free browser and away they went.
Certainly one of the biggest tech developments of the past few years has been online and mobile mapping. Again Microsoft lagged behind but they've slowly been picking up speed first with Streets and Trips and recently with Maps Live. OK, they're not Google Maps and Google Earth but they're moving ahead.
Why is this important? A great many governments and agencies are committed Microsoft technologies and one stop shopping will have its' appeal (see this recent post). With the recent acquisition of Multimap Redmond is slowly building up its' expertise in how to serve up GIS information. This will inevitably go beyond the individual consumer and include government/security clients. Nothing says situational awareness like a good annotated map.
Microsoft's SQL Server 2008 is catching up with something that Oracle has known for quite a while. Users want GIS integrated with their commercial databases.
The next version of ESRI’s popular ArcGIS (v. 9.3) is designed to take advantage of this spatial technology. It's an appealing offer to users who may have avoided Oracle because of the cost or the fact they are already running MS SQL.
