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Oxford City outfits housing employees with tracking and recording badges
New technology allows rent collectors to quietly raise the alarm during a confrontation; push a button and an open channel is created; conversations are recorded for legal purposes; Connexion2, Vodafone, and Identicom provide the technology
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AS&E wins $13 million NATO deal
Contract covers a range of explosives detection needs, including parcel, personnel, and cargo; no ZBVs in this deal, despite company’s oft-reported success
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Zareba reports devastating first quarter numbers
With net income down 94 percent, the electrical fence company goes through growing pains as it attempts to shift from controlling livestock to controlling prisons and oil refineries
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Federal government moves forward with national fusion centers
New rules will streamline security classifications from 100 to six, removing a major obstacle to the implementation of an effective information sharing environment; new Interagency Threat Assessment Coordination Group to be based at DHS
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ERF Wireless to build $5 million network for Louisiana police and public
Unique deal bolsters Louisiana State Police communications while also serving poorer rural areas; local banks, who will also have access, will foot most of the bill, but the police will provide the towers; a unique financing arrangement provides a model for other company’s seeking a PR boost
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Chertoff reiterates support for municipal data fusion centers
Intent is to improve information sharing between federal and local authorities; agency has already invested $380 million in centers in New York, Illinois, Maryland, and elsewhere; 55 more to come on-line by the end of next fiscal year; facilitating security clearances another critical objective
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Two companies prepare to rollout lie-detection MRI scanners
No Lie MRI and Cephos are hoping to take over the polygraph market, but for now they will have to focus on marital discord and business impropriety; technique measures changes in brain activity when confronted with untrue statements; critics call it modern day phrenology
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ShotSpotter takes hold in D.C. as city moves to thwart rising gun violence
Gunshot detection system informs police when shots are fired and directs them to the scene; three D.C. homicides have so far been detected, and one suspect arrested, due directly to the technology; company takes technology to Iraq to help in the fight against snipers
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TSA canines to train on discarded NYC subway cars
Four-legged members of the National Explosive Detection Canine Team to begin specialized training for mass transit situations; 35 teams currently exist in 11 transit systems, but TSA is hoping to boost that number with improved training
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“Buy American” rules at center of USAID contracting dispute
Rapiscan and Smiths Detection complain about losing an X-ray contract with Chemonics after deal goes to AS&E in partnership with a Chinese firm; deal is legal, but seems to violate spirit of “buy American rules”
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EFF challenges FBI’s ambitious IDW project
The FBI has launched an ambitious data-collection project — Investigative Data Warehouse, or IDW — which already has more than 560 million items of information in its possession, to which more than 12,000 law enforcement agents have access
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Enforsys, Svivot receive BIRD grant to develop law enforcement decision-making solution
Knowledge is power, and two companies, one American, one Israeli, with products aiming to assist law enforcement and antiterror authorities prevent nefarious activities — and, if not prevent, help solve them — are given a grant to merge their solution to create a more powerful decision-making tool
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Virginia asks emergency responders to use common language
Approach takes HSPD-5 and NIMS requirements seriously by asking agencies to abandon 10-codes; confusion often resulted during inter-agency responses due to different associated meanings
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Attensity announces new text analytics suite
Computational linguistics-based approach ideal for sorting through unstructured data to identify hidden patterns; applications range from managing insurance claims to detecting smuggling and counterfeiting; new product brings analytics and search together under a single label
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Fuel cells' promise for low power, long run-time devices
Two New Jersey companies demonstrate a fuel cell-powered wireless camera prototype system with infrared sensing and audio capability; the device is ideal for perimeter defense, border monitoring, batlefield observation, and more
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The long view
Western Leaders Should Take Escalation over Ukraine Seriously
The United States and members states of the EU and NATO have taken significant action to assist Ukraine and pressure Russia, but there is increasing pressure to “do more.” Michael Lopate and Bear Braumoeller write that as we provide Ukraine with more sophisticated weapons, and as calls grow for allowing Ukraine to push Russian forces back over the border without requiring any concessions on the part of Ukraine, “we should be clear-eyed about the risks of escalation as we seek that victory.” They write that their research shows that “War escalation is extremely unpredictable, and most people don’t appreciate just how easily and quickly wars can escalate to shocking levels of lethality.”
Preparing National Security Officials for the Challenges of AI
Artificial intelligence (AI) is one of several rapidly emerging technologies that promise to disrupt not only multiple sectors of the U.S. economy but also the manner in which the U.S. government carries out its foundational responsibility to protect national security consistent with the rule of law and constitutional values. Steve Bunnell writes that “The United States’ national security apparatus is not known for nimbleness, nor is the law that governs it. When it comes to AI, the risk is not just that our generals will fight tomorrow’s war with yesterday’s strategy but also that the United States will lack the legal and policy guardrails that are essential to a lawful, accountable, and ethical protection of the nation’s security.”
Next-Generation Search & Rescue: Body Cameras, Live Streaming
Typically, search and rescue teams in the wilderness use radio, in-person briefings, text messaging, drones and paper forms to communicate and coordinate their efforts. New digital tools have the potential to revolutionize wilderness search and rescue efforts.