DHS awards Northrop Grumman HR-management system contract
Officials at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in Washington chose experts at Northrop Grumman Information Technology in Herndon, Va., to implement and maintain a new human-resources management system, known as MAXHR.
Under the terms of the contract, Northrop Grumman IT will provide overall integration and program management for the new system; in-depth functional expertise for pay, performance, classification, labor relations, adverse actions, and appeals; communications, training, and organizational-change management; and implementation of an enterprise-wide information-technology system in line with President George W. Bush's E-Government initiative.
Northrop Grumman team members include Watson Wyatt Worldwide in Washington; Gene Rouleau & Associates in Silver Spring, Md.; BearingPoint in McLean, Va.; Catapult Technology Ltd. in Bethesda, Md.; Spectrum Solutions Group in Vienna, Va.; and STG International Inc. in Alexandria, Va.
Smiths Detection provides explosives trace-detection equipment for TSA
Engineers at Smiths Detection in Pine Brook, N.J., are providing Ionscan 400B explosives trace-detection systems to the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) in Washington.
The TSA issued $5.6 million in add-on orders for the systems. The equipment will be used to screen for explosives at checkpoints and for checked-baggage inspection. The Ionscan 400B can detect trace amounts of more than 40 explosives or narcotic substances in less than 10 seconds. More than 6,500 Ionscans are already deployed at airports throughout the world, including approximately 4,000 across the United States, supplied under the TSA program to enhance aviation security.
Smiths Detection North America, based in New Jersey, is part of Smiths Detection, which is one of four operating divisions of Smiths Group plc. Smiths Detection offers solutions to detect and identify explosives, chemical, and biological agents, weapons, and contraband. For more information, visit www.smithsdetection.com.
New DHS operations center shares information and manages domestic incidents
The new Homeland Security Operations Center (HSOC) is operational as the primary, national-level nerve center for real-time threat monitoring, domestic-incident management, and vertical and horizontal information-sharing efforts.
Operating 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year, the HSOC provides situational awareness and monitoring of the homeland, coordinates incidents and response activities, and issues advisories and bulletins to homeland-security partners as well as specific protective and countermeasure guidance. The cornerstone of the HSOC is its ability to use the Homeland Security Information Network to share threat information and provide real-time interactive connectivity with governors, homeland-security advisers, law-enforcement partners, and critical-infrastructure operators in all 50 states and more than 50 major urban areas.
The HSOC serves as a valuable conduit, providing ongoing situational awareness to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) secretary as well as the White House. The HSOC also utilizes mapping and graphical aids to help translate information and determine if additional protective measures are necessary, DHS officials say.
