    cartome.org

13 June 2002

Source: http://164.214.2.59/general/15mar02.html

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Release Number PA-02-03 March 15, 2002
For information, contact Joan Mears @ 301-227-2057

NIMA Awards New R& D Agreement for CBR Defense

The National Imagery and Mapping Agency (NIMA) has awarded a procurement agreement to the Chemical, Biological, and Radiological Technology Alliance (CBRTA). NIMA serves as the Executive Agent for the NTA Program and executes the program on behalf of the National Intelligence Community, Department of Defense and other government agencies. In its capacity as Executive Agent, NIMA will execute the CBRTA contract to address the CBR defense needs of such government organizations as the Federal Bureau of Investigation; National Institutes of Health; Defense Threat Reduction Agency; Centers for Disease Control; and the Department of Energy.

The CBRTA is composed of elements from the following 14 organizations:

3M, St. Paul, Minn.

Becton Dickinson, Franklin Lakes, N.J.

Black & Veatch, Overland Park, Kan.

Calspan—University of Buffalo Research Center, Buffalo, N.Y.

Cargill, Wayzata, Minn.

General Dynamics, Thousand Oaks, Calif.

Honeywell International, Minneapolis, Minn.

Johns Hopkins Univ./Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, Md.

Lucent Technologies, McLeansville, N.C.

Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn.

Motorola, Schaumberg, Ill.

RAE, Arlington, Va.

Syracuse Research Corporation, Syracuse, N.Y.

Veridian Corporation, Arlington, Va.

The CBRTA agreement is managed by 3M on behalf of the Alliance. The agreement has a term of five years and a potential value of more than $70 million.

The National Technology Alliance (NTA) is a U.S. government program established in 1987 to help the government capitalize on commercial technology advances. The NTA's purpose is to discover, initiate, influence and accelerate commercial and dual-use technology development to meet national security and defense needs. The NTA has a history of accomplishments in research, development, prototyping, evaluations and demonstrations of technology through partnerships with industry and academic institutions.

The NTA has defined four technology areas in which project tasks will be initiated:

1. Imagery, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), and Cartography

2. Digital Processing, Analysis, and Management

3. Digital Technology Infrastructure

4. Chemical, Biological, and Radiological Defense

The CBRTA transaction covers the fourth technology area. It is the second of two agreements that will replace the existing, but soon to expire, contracts and agreements that currently support NTA activities. Another transaction, recently awarded to Rosettex Technology and Ventures GroupÔ, covers the first three technology areas.

The primary goal of projects executed under these agreements will be to identify optimum solutions to Government technology challenges and create new or enhanced commercial products where the cost of development and maintenance may be shared among a broad user community. Emerging technology capabilities will also be continually reassessed, and other partners from industry and academia may be added to the teams.

The CBRTA will provide the government with best-of-class technology and commercial capabilities through an alliance of 14 members representing broad chemical, biological, and radiological (CBR) technology capabilities, including global manufacturing. This team will assess government needs, identify solutions, and collaborate on the research, development, and prototyping tasks.

CBR technology capabilities represented in the CBRTA include: detection, prevention, and intervention solutions; immune system enhancement; decontamination, First Responders products and services; vaccine development; gene therapy; protective materials; modeling atmospheric dispersion; emergency response sensor, communication, and decision management; genetic engineering; monitors, controls and sensors; food supply protection; packaging and distribution; water supply protection; epidemiology and modeling disease etiology; emergency preparedness and crisis management; personal protection; nonproliferation support; livestock protection; WMD underground facility detection; telecommunications; miniaturization and packaging for mass production; and scaleup and manufacturing.

The CBRTA will leverage government investment and accelerate product development by applying existing commercial investment of more than $5 billion per year in R&D technologies and by partnering within the Alliance to bring best-of-class capabilities together. An Alliance Advisory Group representing government agencies such as CIA, NSA, CDC, FBI, and DOE will assist the CBRTA in providing solutions that bridge needs across government agencies.

The Deputy Director of NIMA, Joanne O. Isham, said, “This Government-Commercial partnership is an important venue to help NIMA and other government agencies to meet future challenges. The CBRTA is an innovative business model that provides a new approach for NIMA to execute its responsibilities for the NTA Program. The Agency is proud of its leadership role and looks forward to implementing this evolution of the NTA program.”

NIMA (www.nima.mil) is a member of the National Intelligence Community and a Department of Defense Combat Support Agency. NIMA’s mission is to provide timely, relevant and accurate Geospatial Intelligence in support of national security. Geospatial Intelligence is the analysis and visual representation of security-related activities on the Earth. Headquartered in Bethesda, Md., NIMA operates major facilities in the northern Virginia, Washington, D.C., and St. Louis, Mo. areas. NIMA Support Teams serve customers around the nation and the world.