Sypherlink, SPAWAR Systems Center San Diego Sign CRADA to Enhance NIEM-based Info Sharing Over Hastily Formed Secure Data Networks

DUBLIN, Ohio, July 1, 2008 – Information-management-software company Sypherlink, Inc., and SPAWAR Systems Center, San Diego (SSC San Diego), have entered into a three-year cooperative research and development agreement (CRADA) focused on rapidly and securely sharing information among organizations over hastily formed secure data networks.

"This CRADA supports our work in addressing communications, command and control requirements embodied within the Chief of Naval Operations Maritime Strategy," said Nick Ramos Jr., information assurance (IA) engineer at SSC San Diego, which is responsible for the technical aspects of the formation and operation of the networks.

"Moreover, it reflects the fact that our Navy and maritime forces have been and will always be at the leading edge of America’s response to international crisis and natural disasters around the globe. Dynamic environments and rapidly changing situations require robust information systems that can quickly adapt and provide for reliable, robust multi-user interfaces with coalition partners and other on-scene organizations," Ramos added.

"Interoperability, information sharing and keeping sensitive data secure are critical during any operation or disaster response. We need to improve cross-domain interoperability among coalition forces and agencies, and this CRADA helps us take a big step toward meeting that need," Ramos said. "Our combined efforts will make any legacy system mobile-accessible, while ensuring that the data is secure and actionable only by authorized personnel in the field."

"Collaborative IT tools are critical to situations that call for ad-hoc – or ‘hastily formed’ – networks that are distributed organizational and system networks rapidly formed and configured in response to emergencies," said Sypherlink CEO James Paat.

"Sypherlink and SSC San Diego are working toward adding the NIEM (National Information Exchange Model)-based data management layer on top of these networks to provide fast, secure and authorized access to critical existing data sources – and ensuring that access would be to only the data within those sources that are relevant to the crisis," he continued.

"For example," Paat said, "in the case of an imminent natural disaster, such as a major hurricane, a local police network needs to be connected to a local fire department network and to state and federal IT systems for coordination. While the police network can provide traffic-flow, 911-call and other relevant data that should be shared, it could also contain data about criminal cases and internal affairs’ investigations, and other information that is not germane and could cause harm in the wrong hands. So, legal and security concerns beyond those related to the emergency situation must be addressed."

He explained that the NIE Gateway solution, which automates the mapping and documentation of the various data sources to be accessed, and includes the discovery and identification of all end-point data sources and repositories, enables data-sharing and intelligence efforts to quickly leverage the evolving canonical NIEM standard.

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 global 1,000 organizations, government agencies, and leading systems integrators and application/tool providers. For more information about Sypherlink, go to www.sypherlink.com/markets/government.asp.

About the NIE Gateway Solution
With unique technology, pre-built interfaces to rich information sources, and conformance to NIEM, the solution builds upon existing data-sharing efforts and minimizes the time and effort to become NIEM conformant. It rapidly links disparate systems, searches data sources, maps relationships and then presents information back via a NIEM-conformant layer, enabling every connected user and provider of information to speak the same language through a single access point. The NIE Gateway infrastructure is application agnostic and can be used to accelerate and support the creation of either a federated environment, in which disparate data sources are brought together virtually or in a physical environment that centralizes disparate data sources. Interface maps can be repurposed from one system to another and between versions of the NIEM standard, as well as with past versions of the standard, allowing organizations to benefit from previous efforts. The company recently introduced the NIEM Harmonizer out-of-the-box enhancement to the NIE Gateway solution, completely offloading to the preconfigured application the significant input of time, money and technical skills previously required. For more information about the NIE Gateway solution, go to www.sypherlink.com/gateway.

Note: Sypherlink, NIE Gateway and NIEM Harmonizer are trademarks of Sypherlink, Inc. The names of any other organizations and/or products/services mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.

For more information, please contact:

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