Sypherlink, Computer Aid (CAI) Partner To Help Fusion Centers Turn Data Into Useful Intelligence, Maximize Effectiveness

DUBLIN, Ohio, and ALLENTOWN, Pa., March 4, 2008 -- Sypherlink, Inc., the information-management-software company with patented automated mapping and rapid virtualization software, and Computer Aid, Inc., (CAI), a 25-year-old technology software and services company, have entered into a partnership focused on helping fusion centers turn data into useful, actionable intelligence to counter terrorism, abate crime and better respond to emergency situations.

"’The problem we face is not a lack of information, but rather a flood of it. It’s like trying to sip water from a firehose,’" said Sypherlink CEO James Paat, quoting FBI Deputy Director John Pistole from his address at the National Fusion Center Conference last March. "The Sypherlink-CAI partnership is focused on mitigating the deluge at fusion centers around the country, where intelligence and law-enforcement professionals have to sift through mounds of unrelated and often unintelligible data, decide what’s important and determine how best to use it," Paat continued.

"Fusion centers, where officials from myriad federal, state and local agencies share information as a team, have been identified as critical components in anti-crime and anti-terrorism efforts, but there are many acknowledged challenges to making them as effective as they can and should be," added Paat. "What Pistole described is just the proverbial tip of the iceberg."

Sypherlink and CAI have partnered to help address the key challenges facing these centers, now located in most states at the urging of the U.S Department of Homeland Security. These challenges include:

• disparate-database incompatibility;
• establishing an appropriate technology infrastructure; and
• the need to conform to federal data-sharing standards, which affects the ability to share data across regions and obtain grant funding.

Without conformance to such standards as the joint DHS-DOJ National Information Exchange Model (NIEM), now a requirement for most federal grants, funding is becoming increasingly difficult.

"CAI has proven public safety expertise and is known for best practices in implementing a successful fusion center," added Paat, citing the work that CAI did setting up the NYPD’s Real-Time Crime Center, the high-tech information analysis center in New York City, for the world’s largest police force. CAI, he said, was responsible for the technical architecture of the application software and for the design, development and implementation of the center.

"The Sypherlink NIE Gateway solution for enriched, enhanced government data-exchange provides fusion centers with fielded, existing technology that supports data integration, incorporates data from the private sector, and is NIEM conformant," said P. Brian Sullivan, CAI’s director of Public Safety. "Combining our knowledge and experience in software development and services with Sypherlink’s NIE Gateway solution ensures that fusion centers are properly equipped with the technological tools to meet current needs and support future growth."

"Together," said Paat, "our partnership can help fusion centers jump the hurdles they now have to navigate, enabling them to laser focus on their collective mission to reduce crime and keep America safe."

About Sypherlink, Inc.
Sypherlink is an information-management-software company that intelligently links critical information across disparate data sources. Its two distinct patented technologies automate much of the data sharing and integration processes, providing government and corporate-sector organizations with faster, more cost-efficient ways to locate, manage and use information. Its core technology is a heuristics matching technology that automates the discovery and mapping of data. Its virtualization technology for rapid prototyping provides the capability to access multiple physical, disparate data sources from a single, virtual query. The company’s client/partner base includes Acxiom Risk Mitigation, ASG, Battelle, COPLINK, D&B, the FBI, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, IBM, Raytheon and Unisys Corporation. In 2007 Sypherlink tripled its revenue and struck a number of strategic partnerships, including one with Polytechnic University in New York City. For more information about Sypherlink and its government solutions, go to www.sypherlink.com/markets/government.asp.

About Computer Aid, Inc.
CAI was founded in 1981 to provide quality information services to companies of all sizes. CAI has developed time-tested repeatable processes and procedures that allow projects to be completed on time and at agreed-to budgets. These processes and procedures have become the backbone of CAI’s application development methodology. Today, CAI has offices in the United States, Europe, Canada and The Philippines, and offers a broad spectrum of methodology-based IT service offerings that focus on delivering best practices IT solutions through process and metrics. For more information, go to www.compaid.com.

Note: Sypherlink is a trademark of Sypherlink, Inc. The names of actual companies, organizations and/or products and services mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.

For more information, please contact:

Rick Sacks
(973) 467-8728
rick@smartpr.net