SPS To Put Nautical Charts Online For The National Oceanic And Atmospheric Administration
Arlington, VA, January 6, 2000 – Software Performance Systems, Inc. (SPS) announced today that it has been awarded a contract by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Office of Coast Survey to develop and host a Business-to-Business electronic commerce site for the distribution of nautical charts. The development contract is valued at $415,000 with further options for hosting and support.
NOAA is developing the e-commerce site under a grant from the Federal Information Technology Innovation Fund. The Fund was established to provide “seed” money for innovative IT federal agency projects that provide more efficient and effective delivery of service to the public. Projects are selected for funding by the Government Information Technology Services Board.
The nautical chart is the fundamental tool of marine navigation. Under the existing system, the Office of Coast Survey prints nautical charts in batches, places them in storage, and issues the charts for sale from inventory. Because critical navigation information displayed on NOAA’s charts is updated weekly, inventoried charts available for purchase could be two or more years out of date by the time they are sold. In order to make the most current charts available to the public, NOAA plans to implement print-on-demand by continuously updating digital files of all charts. Charts will then be printed from the digital files when ordered rather than printed in batches and stored.
Electronic commerce for online ordering and production control will drive this real-time chart production system. The same technology will allow customization of each chart by adding data from other federal agency or state Port Authorities. Next-day delivery will put up-to-date charts in mariners’ hands quickly. Simultaneously, the e-commerce system can transmit digital information directly to mariners who have web access.
"This new area of business with NOAA gives us the opportunity to support the innovative efforts of the Office of Coast Survey,” said Joseph D. Linza, Vice President of SPS’s Strategic Solutions Division. “The result will put nautical chart information into mariners’ hands that is more up-to-date than is currently available. With this award, SPS continues to implement our strategy of being recognized as the experts for e-commerce in Government. SPS is applying our Business-to-Business XML components to integrate NOAA with their agents and printers. The system will use a Java-based architecture running on a Linux server. We’re excited to begin our relationship with NOAA and to have the opportunity to contribute to this timely project.”
About SPS
Software Performance Systems, Inc. (SPS), a small business based in Maryland, is
a privately held information technology services provider.
Established in 1995, SPS specializes in the design and integration of large
Web-based solutions for State and Local Governments and commercial
clients. SPS has been honored with many national awards, including:
#10 ranking in the Computerworld Top 100 Best Places to Work in IT, Deloitte's
Virginia Technology Fast 50 and North America Technology Fast 500, and as a SBA
Exporter of the Year. More importantly, SPS solutions helped our clients win
prestigious awards, including the Grace Hopper Federal Government Technology
Leadership Award, the E-Gov Pioneer Award, the Excellence.gov Grand Prize
Award, and the Government IT Agency Award for Excellence in Government.
SPS...proven over time.
Contact Information
Software Performance Systems, Inc.
Sid Chowdhary, VP State and Local Government Solutions Division
240-949-8825 / 1-866-734-6777
SChowdhary@goSPS.com
www.goSPS.com
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