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Marines in Iraq demand LE System's laser-based crowd control system
Dazzler creates a wall of blinding green light that forces drivers away from senstive areas; while the brass favor a B.E. Meyers-produced device, the troops on the ground prefer LE; safety officials put their foot down
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Magal wins a $6 million contract to secure Israeli army bases
Deal follows recent successes with U.S. water authorities, banks concerned about underground tunnelling, and a Scottish hospital; company will install perimeter detection and command and control systems
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DARPA seeks to replicate black ice for use in Iraq
Envisioned mobility control system would force enemies to slip, while a reversal agent applied to U.S. vehicles permits effortless apprehension; companies interested in developing “polymer ice” have until April to respond
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Northrop teams up with RADA in Israeli missile defense bid
Israel will choose a winning plan within a month, and so Northrop positions itself tactically by teaming up with a major Israeli defense company; Skyguard system uses a deuterium fluoride laser to shoot down rockets; RADA Electronics moves beyond avionics
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Smiths joins Birmngham U. to develop next-generation IMS systems
Ion mobility spectrometery has already proven itself in Smiths Detection’s Sentinel portals, but all agree that improvement in chemical detection is neccesary; £1 million project will take a close look at ionization chemistry
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Congress looks to expands America's K-9 ranks
Canine Detection Improvement Act of 2007 sets out standards for an increased push at explosives detection; airports and other critical infrastructure suffer from a lack of trained dogs; “breed American” is the new watchword, as congressmen try to take the German out of German shepherd
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NYPD refuses to use $140 million subway radio system
Long overdue and overbudget, the system is troubled by widespread interference and decrepit cabling; E.A. Technologies and Petrocelli Electric struggle to explain the problem
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Greater U.S. scrutiny of foreign investment in sensitive industries
The repercussions of the controversial DPW deal of early 2006 are very much with us, as the Bush administration scrutinizes much more closely many more foreign investment deals, and conditions approval of some of them on national security “mitigation” agreements
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London Olympics to sport photometric stereo facial recognition technology
Intriguing approach uses a single camera and multiple sequential flashes to develop a “facial skin signature”; software uses slightly differing shadows to generate a 3D image of higher quality than conventional facial recognition systems; skin color and tone can both be identified
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Sun Microsystems offer shipping containers for secure data storage
Stackable and easily shippable system holds eight server racks, a cooling system, and other critical appurtences; both DoD and FEMA see useful applications; airlifting to war zones a major possibility
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Bioscrypt snatches up A4Vision in stock swap
Deal brings together Bioscrypt’s strength in fingerprint algorithims with A4Visions’s 3D facial recognition technology; company will now offer off-the-shelf finished readers for both finger and 3D face biometrics; investors add another $8 million to the venture
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Ball Aerospace proposes asteroid-busting robots
The collective action problem aside, saving the planet may be more important than saving the homeland; basketball-sized drones would swarm the asteroid, with some exploding while others listen to vibrations; Ball looks for funding and promises a three year delivery date
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British researchers marry lip-reading to video analytics
Government hopes that software will enable them to solve crimes based on conversations gleaned from CCTV; tracking the head and lip remain a challenge, but progress is being made; Asian and African languages present difficulties
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EU seeks feedback on communications infrastructure security
Officials see risk in growing interdependancy from terrorists and other criminals; natural disasters also in play; EU commission lists ten policy objectives and invites stakeholders to email their responses
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NYC to allow citizens to upload photos during 911 and 311 calls
Breakthrough concept relies on established technology to help diffuse information; photos of suspicious individuals can be quickly uploaded to dispatch authorities; citizens protect infrastructure by keeping their eyes (and apertures) open
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The long view
Helping Strengthen America’s Critical Infrastructure
Everyday life depends on a robust infrastructure network that provides access to running water, communications technology and electricity, among other basic necessities. The experts who keep our national infrastructure secure and resilient also need a strong network to share their knowledge and train the next generation of professionals capable of solving complex infrastructure challenges.
AI and the Future of the U.S. Electric Grid
Despite its age, the U.S. electric grid remains one of the great workhorses of modern life. Whether it can maintain that performance over the next few years may determine how well the U.S. competes in an AI-driven world.