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TechnologyDaily Mobile
Federal Security Spigot Flows To Texas
by Maureen Sirhal
The threat of terrorist attacks on U.S. soil has prompted several states to bolster security, and Texas is among them thanks to new federal grants, Gov. Rick Perry said this week.
The Health and Human Services Department and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention awarded the state a combined $81.6 million to prepare for public health emergencies and potential bioterrorism attacks -- a 37 percent increase from the grant the state obtained in 2002.
Already, Texas has used portions of that grant to develop the Texas Health Alert Network, which links the state's health resources and provides access to information and warnings concerning health issues over a secure Internet service.
Additionally, Perry said this week that the Homeland Security Department will provide the state with $29.5 million to help emergency workers better respond to terrorism. The grant represents an 82 percent increase over the $16.2 million the state received in fiscal 2002. "This grant will help our communities purchase [hazardous-material] suits, decontamination equipment, radio systems and other equipment necessary for supporting those response plans," Perry said in a statement.
The federal grant includes: $20.7 million for equipment, $5.2 million for disaster simulation exercises, $1.6 million for basic training and $2 million for planning. About 80 percent of those funds will be funneled to the local level.
Texas also is developing a statewide Security Alert and Analysis Center.
A Model For Anti-Terrorism Cooperation
Business leaders in New Jersey are working with state officials on a terrorism-response initiative.
The New Jersey Business Force is a partnership sponsored by Business Executives for National Security (BENS) and designed to maximize the private sector's ability to detect and respond to threats. The group plans to create a Web-based "response network" to inventory resources necessary for emergencies. The online system then would match companies that can provide those services.
The Business Force also will craft training programs to coach private-sector employees about what to do during emergencies. The group will be funded through its member firms, and BENS plans to hire a full-time manager for the project.
BENS President and CEO Charles Boyd, who retired from the Air Force, said terrorist threats require partnerships. "America is facing a new kind of adversary: small cells of highly motivated terrorists, linked by a highly financed global network, that are bent on the very destruction of the United States," he said in a statement. "America needs a new response. ... It's clear that neither government nor industry alone can protect us."
BENS aims to promote the New Jersey initiative as a model for private-sector contributions to homeland security efforts in other states.
Texas Lawmaker Touts 'Open Source' Software
Texas State Sen. John Carona has introduced a measure aimed at curtailing software licensing costs for his state's agencies in a year of tight budgets.
Carona, a Republican, earlier this month introduced a bill, S.B. 1759, to encourage Texas agencies to consider "open source" software -- whose core code is publicly available and alterable -- as an option when they purchase new programs and applications.
Currently, the majority of Texas agencies use proprietary software whose underlying code is secret, said Carona spokesman Paul Reyes, and the use of such software contributes to higher licensing fees. The bill aims to spur agencies to choose less expensive open-source systems.
Carona also hopes the bill would improve the security and reliability of Texas' technology systems. Some experts have said open-source software is less prone to vulnerabilities. "Through the implementation of open-source software we may lower our information technology costs, increase the reliability and security of our systems, improve service to citizens and produce much-needed economic opportunities." he said in a statement.
Reyes said the office has received a "huge influx of support" for the measure, especially from the community that advocates use of the Linux open-source system. Lawmakers in Oregon and California are considering similar legislation.
New Jersey Announces Cancer Info Site
New Jersey Gov. James McGreevey on Wednesday announced the state's plan to create an Internet site aimed at providing more information about cancer research and therapies.
The site, New Jersey Cancer Trial Connect, will allow users to search for cancer clinical trials that can provide patients with access to the developing cancer therapies. The Cancer Institute of New Jersey will operate the site.
Users will be able to enter specific information about diagnosis and treatment history. The system then will search for a matching clinical trial.
Law Enforcement The Mobile Way
Police in Prince George's County, Md., have deployed mobile data systems that will enable officers to obtain immediate information on suspects.
The system, created by Arinc, equips each patrol car with computers connected wirelessly to national and local law enforcement databases that can identify the owners of car in seconds. Police personnel, for example, can instantly compare the names of vehicle drivers, owners, passengers or witnesses against national lists of missing children and criminal suspects.
"It connects all the patrol cars directly to the information they need -- without tying up our dispatchers on voice radio," said Jeff Youmans, Prince George's commander of mobile technology. "It has really moved our public-safety programs out of the past and into the future."
Technology As An Educational Tool
Washington has developed an Internet portal to help teachers, students and parents maximize their use of technology tools in an effort to improve education.
The Digital Learning Commons will provide access to digital learning tools and media to anyone in the state. The project is being deployed in phases, the first of which will begin in September. Fifteen schools will test and evaluate the portal in that first phase.
Washington will form a new nonprofit group to oversee the project, which has received private-sector support from groups such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
California Governor Promotes Tech Expert
California Gov. Gray Davis this week named Clark Kelso, his special adviser for technology issues, as the interim director of the General Services Department, the Sacramento Bee reports.
Kelso will replace Clothilde Hewlett, who landed the job nearly a year ago to help the state recover from a scandal involving the software vendor Oracle. The department manages the state's property and procurement processes.
The Bee also reports that state Controller Steven Westly, a former eBay executive, is looking to new high-tech tools to increase his office's effectiveness. Westly wants funding to upgrade the systems his office uses to disperse payments to state employees and contractors.
Tech Experts Tapped For Maryland Panel
Maryland Gov. Robert Ehrlich on Monday named 20 members to the Governor's Commission on the Development of Advanced Technology Business.
The new commission, composed of academics, venture capitalists, technology executives and government officials, is charged with developing a framework to help the state reinvigorate its high-tech economy by recommending policies to spur growth in the industry.
George Pappas, a patent lawyer at Venable, Baetjer & Howard in Baltimore, will chair the commission. The other panelists will include: William Brody, president of Johns Hopkins University; Anthony Caputo, chairman and CEO of SafeNet; Jennie Hunter-Cevera, president of the University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute; William Kirwan, chancellor of the University System of Maryland; and Donald McErlean, deputy assistant commander for logistics for Naval Air Systems Command.
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