ERIS, L-3 STRATIS and Virginia Tech Launch Management Initiative
ERIS Technologies, LLC, has entered into a public-private partnership with Virginia Tech and L-3 STRATIS to co-develop an integrated security and incident management center of excellence at Virginia Tech's campus in Blacksburg, Va.
This landmark initiative establishes a new infrastructure for fostering continuous development and advancement in the field of campus and facility security and management. The center will enable Virginia Tech to showcase the partnership's advanced platform that integrates applications for campus security, incident management and response, facility management, energy monitoring, and cyber security.
The platform, as implemented at Virginia Tech, will provide facility managers, emergency personnel, and IT security professionals a fully integrated common operating picture, or "dashboard." The management perspective and control delivered through this dashboard will be complemented and enhanced by Virginia Tech's expertise in security, state-of-the-art building management, and energy management. Overall, the platform will offer users broad situational awareness through its real-time single interface that will display relevant information about critical systems in buildings and campus infrastructures, including extensive tactical information. It will also provide unique views into both two- and three-dimensional information for identity management, access control, geospatial data and sensors integration, building management, energy management, cyber security, and security systems.
"This will firmly position Virginia Tech in the forefront of smart building technology worldwide," said Joseph Boggs, managing member of ERIS. "Additionally, we plan to support the Blacksburg community at large by hiring students and others in the region to be part of the process; we foresee tapping the Virginia Tech campus as a full-scale test and demonstration environment."
Earving Blythe, Virginia Tech's vice president for information technology and chief information officer, said, "This is a rare opportunity for us to explore the integration of our existing processes for communications with our campus safety, incident management, and facility management personnel. The partnership will help us leverage our unique strengths and knowledge of cyber security and advanced computational infrastructures in the new arena of smart building systems integration. Visitors and interested partners are to be welcomed to the demonstration center included in this project."
"We are entering a new era for campus first responders and facility managers, as well as for educational institution administrative leadership," said Les Rose, president of L-3 STRATIS. He continued, "This platform and the partnership developing will help first responders become more effective at saving lives and property, and at protecting the vital infrastructure of our colleges and universities. It will also bring about the genesis of a new model for creating, documenting, and sharing best practices for incident management."