HERNDON, Va., April 12, 2002 -- Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) will help the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CDF) fight forest fires in a more timely, efficient and coordinated way through the implementation of a new computer-aided dispatch and mapping system.
The Altaris(tm) Computer-Aided Dispatch and AltarisVIEW(tm) mapping systems were developed by Northrop Grumman's Information Technology (IT) sector. The Altaris(tm) suite of dispatch products will assist CDF in wild land fire resource management, command and control of fire scenes, analysis of fire locations in remote areas and delivery of emergency medical services.
"Our systems will consolidate command and control for emergency response to wildfires throughout the state of California," said Skip Funk, president, PRC Public Sector Inc., an operating unit within Northrop Grumman IT. "We will automate response and record-keeping processes now conducted manually or with outdated technology, and help the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection bring resources to the fire scene more rapidly and efficiently."
The National Weather Service Advanced Weather Interactive Processing Systems (AWIPS), developed and implemented by Northrop Grumman IT, will also be used to feed information into the CDF's computer-aided dispatch system. AWIPS will provide accurate weather information for units on the scene and assist in the analysis of predicted fire behavior for future deployment of units.
"We view this as a great opportunity to integrate two of Northrop Grumman's premier information technology programs to provide added value to the customer," said Jim Perriello, president of Government Solutions, Northrop Grumman IT. "With this combination of technologies, we are developing cutting-edge solutions for the California fire service which we can replicate for any state, federal or national fire service. The solution is portable and scalable to meet nearly any customer need."
The CDF project is designed in three phases over four years. Once fully implemented, Northrop Grumman's AltarisVIEW(tm) mapping system will provide automatic routing and recommendations to fire and emergency management personnel located at 21 dispatch centers around the state. Northrop Grumman worked with Geographic Data Technology, Lebanon, N.H., to provide geographical and street layer information for this project.
The CDF program will also include implementation of Northrop Grumman IT's Altaris(tm) Management Information System. This powerful management tool will provide the department with greater reporting and analysis capabilities to determine where efficiencies can be gained and resources need to be augmented.
The five-year CDF program has a total value of approximately $18.3 million. After initial implementation, Northrop Grumman IT will continue to provide full life cycle maintenance and upgrade support.
Northrop Grumman Information Technology is a premier provider of advanced IT solutions, engineering and business services for government and commercial clients. Headquartered in Herndon, the company's expertise spans such areas as information systems integration; command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (C4ISR); enterprise hardware and software solutions; training and simulation; base and range support; signals intelligence; space systems; health informatics; and specialized scientific, engineering and technical services.
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