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CROWN POINT, Ind.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--21st Century Systems, Inc. (21CSI) announced today that it has been selected by CSC (NYSE: CSC) to provide an extension of the 21CSI force protection system, Intelligent Distributed Command and Control (IDC2), in support of the Indiana National Guard’s Muscatatuck Urban Training Center (MUTC). Work will be performed under a subcontract from CSC, which has a comprehensive task order with the U.S. Army’s premier R&D electronics laboratory, Communications-Electronic Research, Development and Engineering Center (CERDEC). As called for in the agreement, 21CSI will leverage its advanced software technology to provide non-intrusive, persistent monitoring of a large, geographically diverse training site.

MUTC is a nationally recognized training center for military personnel to develop and hone urban warfare tactics, techniques and procedures. It is also used by homeland security authorities to test and evaluate complementary homeland security technologies. Housed on over 1,000 acres, the center is comprised of more than 70 buildings, one mile of tunnels and a 180-acre reservoir. Combined, these assets create the most realistic urban warfare training experience in a controlled environment.

IDC2 is built on the foundation of 21CSI’s highly versatile force protection technologies that are used to secure borders and guard valuable military assets both on land and underwater. As a primary contributor for this multi-phased, multi-year effort, 21CSI will deliver an integrated system comprised of intelligent agent-based command and control software with an integrated surveillance suite capable of monitoring intelligent sensors, cameras, motion detectors and unattended ground sensors. The networked system will provide the training center and remote command centers with a level of situational awareness and access to detailed information while permitting unencumbered access to public land located near the property. Moreover, the technology has the capability to filter the plethora of information it receives from remote sensors and cameras, and feed only the most relevant data to the end user for maximum decision making results.

“The use of IDC2 in this surveillance application further shows how 21CSI’s technology can be easily transitioned to create a multitude of products, customized for different needs, in both the military and commercial arenas,” said Jeffrey D. Hicks, Chairman and CEO of 21CSI.” “We fully expect for this system to become an indispensable part of managing this unique and necessary training facility.”

About CSC

CSC is a global leader in providing technology-enabled solutions and services through three primary lines of business. These include Business Solutions & Services, Global Outsourcing Services and the North American Public Sector. CSC’s advanced capabilities include systems design and integration, information technology and business process outsourcing, applications software development, Web and application hosting, mission support and management consulting. Headquartered in Falls Church, Va., CSC has approximately 91,000 employees and reported revenue of $17.3 billion for the 12 months ended Oct. 3, 2008. For more information, visit the company’s Web site at www.csc.com.

About 21CSI

21CSI develops decision support software to help operators manage complex, high-stress, rapidly changing environments through sound, computer-assisted data monitoring and decision making. Intelligent agents embedded in the systems enable the software to adapt, respond, and learn from individual users in a variety of different situations. Find us on the web at http://www.21CSI.com.

THE adaptation and use of information and communications technology (ICT) in the Philippines is seen as vital to the evolution of industries and businesses in the country, and, as such, it is a matter of interest for the United Nations International Telecommunications Union (ITU).

ITU Deputy Secretary-General Houlin Zhao recently visited the Philippines to see firsthand how ICT is being utilized in the country to improve economic resilience. The ITU head’s objective was to know how the current financial crisis is affecting the ICT industry in the country. The ITU also sought to gather local facts and best practices, particularly on telecommunications-related issues, ICT infrastructure, services and resources.

To address the ITU’s concerns, a tour of the different ICT hubs in Metro Manila was organized by the Commission on Information and Communications Technology with the assistance of the Information Technology Association of the Philippines.

The highlights of the ITU chief’s visit included a visit to the UP–Ayala Techno Hub in Quezon City. IBM, a tenant of the techno hub, shared its best practices and contributions to the industry. IBM Philippines country general manager James Velasquez gave a quick briefing and tour of the latest IBM facility in the country.

“From a workforce of three when we started more than seven decades ago, we now have more than 7,000 employees,” Velasquez said. To date, IBM Philippines is the only local end-to-end provider of hardware, software and service delivered to clients worldwide.

PARIS — The opening of a fiber-optic cable providing broadband to millions of people in Southern and Eastern Africa is part of an ambitious plan to expand Internet access and help spur the continent’s economy and its technology industry.

The cable, built by Seacom, a consortium 75 percent controlled by African investors, is the first of about 10 new undersea connections expected to serve Africa before the middle of next year. The expansion will cost about $2.4 billion and will help connect Africa with Europe, Asia and parts of the Middle East at higher speeds and at lower cost.

Right now, Africa has only one submarine fiber-optic cable: the less efficient SAT-3 cable in Western Africa, owned primarily by Telkom, the South African telecom company, and last updated in 2002. Those with no access to that cable are forced to use expensive and slow satellite links.

Alan Mauldin, research director at TeleGeography, a telecommunications market research company, said Africa was the last major area where broadband access was not widespread.

“It’s completing this international Web of undersea cable,” Mr. Mauldin said. “From that point of view, it roots high-end countries like Kenya and Uganda into the Western world better than just satellite capacity.”

A World Bank report released in June said that access to better information and communication technology corresponded with economic growth. The report said that for every 10 percentage points of increase in high-speed Internet access, economic growth rose 1.3 percentage points.

The technology sector should benefit greatly, analysts said. Outsourcing services like call centers will be able to offer more competitive rates because of lower operating costs, and technology companies will be able to better communicate with clients and partners overseas.

Lindsay McDonald, a telecommunications analyst at Frost & Sullivan in South Africa, said that Africans were stymied by the lack of broadband and that better Internet service was an important platform for new businesses.

The Seacom cable will provide Internet service that is about 10 times faster than any existing service in Africa, said David Lerche, a communications analyst at Avior Research in South Africa.

The 17,000-kilometer, or 10,500-mile, cable, which became operational July 23, cost $650 million and links Eastern and Southern Africa with Europe and Asia.

Within the next year, four more submarine fiber systems are expected to be added in East Africa. The Teams cable, expected to be completed in September, will connect Mombasa to the United Arab Emirates, while the East African Submarine Cable System should be in use by the middle of next year.

Mike Bean, a software developer for IDXonline, a small industrial information technology company in South Africa, said his company paid between $2,000 and $5,000 a month for Internet access. He said the Seacom cable would allow his company to teleconference with partners overseas at a much lower price.

“Unless you’re a very wealthy business, you can’t really participate in things like that,” Mr. Bean said.

Demand is high for better communication technology in Africa, analysts say. A report released in May by Delta Partners, an advisory and investment firm for media and technology in the Middle East and Africa, said there was potential for the number of broadband users in Africa to expand to 24 million by 2011 from 2.5 million at present. The estimate was based on the percentage of mobile phone users who could afford technology with Internet access.

In West Africa next year, the Glo-1 Cable will link Nigeria and Ghana to Europe, and the Main One cable will link Nigeria and Ghana to Portugal.

However, it could still be several years before access to less expensive broadband connections becomes widely available to individual consumers, said Étienne Lafougère, the general manager for submarine network activity for Alcatel-Lucent, which has been contracted to build the majority of the submarine cables in Africa, including those for the East Africa Submarine Cable System and Teams. He said access depended on local Internet service providers updating technology and adding cables to the main system to reach more isolated areas.

Local cities have cyber security at the forefront of their minds, as institutions and homeowners become increasingly dependent on ditigal technology.

Security experts in Inland Valley cities and San Bernardino County said social security and personal privacy remain important issues since computer technology continually evolves.

"It requires constant vigilance and making sure that you are prepared," said Elliott Ellsworth, information technology director for the city of Ontario.

Several local government agencies already have made steps to tackle cyber security threats such as viruses, botnets and denial of service attacks, which could limit public access to Web sites or shut down sites entirely.

Many cities including Ontario, Claremont, Pomona and Fontana have information technology or services departments, which often provide technical support and network security.

Ellsworth said Ontario established his department over a decade ago and now operates with several network security specialists.

Dale Wishner, systems manager in Ontario's information technology department, said the best security model is often patterned after an onion.

"You try to build up as many layers as you can and slow down the hacker from getting into your network," Wishner said.

To protect private information and repeal attacks, Ontario has installed anti-virus software, spam and e-mail filters, firewalls, a specialized payroll system, application security and also routinely brings in third-party technology consultants to find cracks or holes in its system.

Novacoast, Inc., an information technology and services company, works with Ontario and other Southern California cities, state and national clients to better secure their systems from general nuisance hacking to more malicious attacks.

"Almost without exception today, the idea of hackers or attackers coming after any agency is not anymore about bragging rights at all," said Al Maslowski-Yerges, national security practice manager of Novacoast. "Their main goal is to be silent and under the radar as possible."

Maslowski-Yerges said his organization had clients that experienced a variety of attacks from Web site defacement to private information theft.

Sometimes attacks can come internally within the organization being attacked.

He added that the best way to protect an organization is to be proactive and create multiple layers of external and internal defenses as well as actively protect and maintain those defensive measures.

Cal Poly Pomona professor Dan Manson said any connection to the internet has a level of risk.

"The internet was not designed with security in mind, so security is always what we put in after the fact," Manson said.

Manson, a professor of computer information systems in Cal Poly Pomona's College of Business Administration, said a city probably would not be at the top of any hacker's list but could become a potential attack target.

He said one of the many reasons organizations go under attack is because many compromised private computers were used to launch attacks without owners knowing it.

"What I have learned about security in all my years of experience, people are the weakest link," Manson said.

Like Manson, Mt. SAC professor Robert Loya believes in security awareness as the initial step to effective protection.

Together Manson and Loya helped establish the Regional Information Systems Security Center at Mt. SAC and other partnering campuses, which focuses on raising computer security awareness within surrounding communities.

Loya, director of the center at Mt. SAC, said many people could be involved in a cyber attack.

"They usually want to be reactive and wait for something to happen to protect themselves," Loya said.

Once a hacker compromises private machines with malicious software like "bots," information can be bounced off from one computer to another, eventually crippling service Web sites with denial of service attacks. Services generally offered to the public would suddenly become unavailable.

Recent targets of such denial of service attacks included the National Security Agency, State Department and Homeland Security Department as well as South Korean government agencies.

San Bernardino County information technology officials said the region has not experienced similar attacks but they have determined that the cyber protection in place is adequate.

Tyrone Smith, assistant chief information officer and chief technology officer for the county, said his staff in the information services department compare publicized threats to their systems and determine if further action is needed to add to their security measures.

"We take security very seriously," said Steve Hall, chief information officer for San Bernardino. "We have standards to prevent Web sites from being compromised."

Information technology groups will continue to protect and upgrade local security because a cyber assault can come at any moment and cause considerable damage.

"(A cyber attack) is a serious concern," Hall said. "Any outages or any major attacks could cripple us for a period of time."

HIGH POINT – Craig Chadwell in High Point University’s Office of Information Technology has received a promotion from auxiliary service technician to network administrator.

In his new and more senior role, Chadwell is responsible for the design, engineering and implementation of HPU’s IT networks, which include the LAN, WAN, telephone system and cable TV networks. He looks after the functionality and suitability of these pervasive networks continually and will be their chief architect into the future. Beyond ensuring their general usability, he will have to keep up with the exponential growth in Internet consumption and service delivery over the networks while balancing on-demand performance with long-term environmental sustainability and cost efficiency.

“In his previous role, Craig instantly gathered the respect of his peers and was constantly praised for his quality work and customer service focus,” says Matt Brown, infrastructure services manager. “He delivers results in the face of complications and brings order and sustainability to every system he manages. His performance combined with his embodiment of High Point University’s core values made him the natural choice for this promotion.”

“It was great being a student here and it’s a great place to work,” adds Chadwell. “I really enjoy being a part of the HPU family and appreciate the trust and faith that has been placed in me with this promotion.”

At High Point University, every student receives an extraordinary education in a fun environment with caring people. HPU, located in the Piedmont Triad region of North Carolina, is a liberal arts institution with 3,700 undergraduate and graduate students from 50 countries and 44 states at campuses in High Point and Winston-Salem. It is ranked by US News and World Report No. 5 among comprehensive universities in the South and No. 1 in its category among up-and-coming schools. Forbes.com ranks HPU in the top 6 percent among “America’s Best Colleges.” HPU was included in The Chronicle of Higher Education’s “Great Colleges to Work For” 2009 listings. The university offers 68 undergraduate majors, 40 undergraduate minors and seven graduate degree programs. It is accredited by the Commission of Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, and is a member of the NCAA, Division I and the Big South Conference. Visit High Point University on the Web at www.highpoint.edu.