Business Editors

CHANTILLY, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 20, 2002

Information technology spending at the new Department of Homeland Security will be at least $2.1 billion in FY 2003, according to INPUT, the essential sales and marketing resource for technology vendors.

The immediate project initiatives for the Department focus on consolidation and information sharing. "To successfully achieve their goals, the Department must come to an agreement on the integration of agency-wide technologies," says Erik TerHaar, the Manager of Federal Database Services at INPUT. The technology issues facing the Department include database systems that are not mutually accessible and wireless technology that is either outdated or incompatible across the spectrum.

At INPUT's annual FedFocus 2003 conference, Jim Flyzik, the special advisor to homeland security director Tom Ridge, outlined several critical technologies that will play a pivotal role within the Department of Homeland Security: Biometrics, Data Mining Technologies, and Geospatial Information Systems.

The administration is focused on four key Department priorities: first responders, biological defense, border security, and the fusion of information and intelligence. INPUT has identified 40 active IT and 15 pre-RFP opportunities specifically related to homeland security initiatives. TerHaar says, "We anticipate an increase in procurement opportunities for security, communications, and knowledge systems over the next twelve months directly related to the homeland security initiatives."

For complete details and analysis, download the INPUT/Output(R) report at: http://www.input.com/index_v1_about.cfm?page=include_v1_infoform&ref=Media&promoid=12

About INPUT

Providing the most relevant information and analysis in the most useful formats, INPUT is the essential sales, marketing and complex procurement resource for technology vendors to government and business. Based in Chantilly, Virginia, INPUT offers an array of standardized and customized content, research, and web-based software services to help clients secure new business, address new markets and manage resources. For more information about INPUT, visit www.input.com or call (703) 378-8740.

Note to Editors: Proper use of name is INPUT.