Report: Interoperable Communication Investments Drive Homeland Security, Public Safety Spending
The Los Angeles County Regional Interoperable Communications System (RICS) leads a diverse list of major justice/public safety and homeland security IT contracts planned by states and localities in 2008, according to a new report released by INPUT.
The 10 opportunities examined represent nearly $1.2 billion in total spending -- an amount that is buoyed by the significant federal grant money available to state and local law enforcement agencies. Los Angeles County's RICS program represents half of the total. Four of INPUT's top 10 opportunities are related to countywide or statewide interoperable communications.
"Interoperability is one of the rare national initiatives where the federal government is backing up its directives to the states and localities with real money," said Jeff Webster, analyst, justice/public safety and homeland security at INPUT. "It's no surprise that a recent report by the Governors Homeland Security Advisors Council found that developing interoperable communications is the top homeland security priority in the states. Major metropolitan areas, like Los Angeles, are the best places for vendors to prove they can deliver inter-jurisdictional voice and data interoperability among all types of first responders. INPUT expects to see a steady stream of opportunities like these over the next three to five years."
Rounding out the list of homeland security-related opportunities is the Virginia State Police's Virginia Intelligence Management System (VIMS). IT opportunities related to intelligence fusion have been the subject of much speculation. Major intelligence fusion IT implementations have been underway in Illinois and Massachusetts. Given rising Congressional interest in state and local fusion centers, INPUT sees this as the first of a slow but steady stream of intelligence-related opportunities.
"Vendors should not chase homeland security opportunities to the exclusion of those that meet other critical day-to-day business needs," Webster said. "Five of the top 10 opportunities address long-standing, bread-and-butter concerns such as records management, sex-offender tracking, offender case management, a centralized repository, and automated fingerprinting. However, vendors would be smart to look ahead and think about how these systems might be leveraged for homeland security purposes down the road. The interoperability and fusion angles are always strong selling points."