Cites SDI's SAMSON(SM) Methodology as Key to Driving Improved Operational Efficiencies, Situational Awareness across LAX User Groups

LOS ANGELES, Aug. 25, 2011 — (PRNewswire) — SDI (System Development.Integration, LLC), a systems integrator specializing in airport command center security technologies and infrastructure, congratulates client Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA) on receiving one of 10 Government Computer News magazine's Honorable Mentions for "Outstanding Information Technology Achievement in Government" in 2011 for its Airport Response Coordination Center project at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX).  LAWA cited SDI's rapid deployment capabilities and SAMSON(SM) delivery model as key contributors to the 15-month, expedited project's success.

The 24th annual GCN Awards honor federal and state & local government for their extraordinary IT accomplishments and significant contributions to the performance of their agencies.  Chosen from a list of more than 200 nominations, projects were judged on their net impact on the host agency and its customers; the degree of innovation in the technology plan carried out, and the quality of leadership in the team that carried the projects to fruition.

LAWA's $13.9-million ARCC facility co-locates airport operations, airport police, and maintenance services personnel to deliver enhanced situational awareness for improved customer service and better management of operations and emergency response. The ARCC's physical design accommodates airside and landside operations, Police and Construction & Maintenance Services divisions, as well as other governmental agencies, including the Transportation Security Administration.  Additionally, a separate section of the ARCC, called the Incident Management Center, is activated during a major incident or airport emergency, with assigned workstations for managers of response teams.  The IMC provides a collaborative environment with shared access to information used from event response through recovery, until the airport fully resumes normal operations -- reducing response time to incidents that could impact the traveling public.

LAWA chose SDI, with over 20 years of live Category X airport command center expertise and a track record of rapidly delivering mission-critical security and command center systems and infrastructure, to act as its airport technology and operations integration team. SDI worked side-by-side with architects, construction teams and a dedicated, cross-functional LAWA team – including Facilities, IT, Police/Security, Operations teams, and Airport executives – to host Concept of Operations (CONOPS) workshops to determine operational requirements that would drive the physical layout of the ARCC's 9,000 square foot facility, as well as its underlying technical architecture.

The SDI-designed technical architecture empowering the ARCC spans 26 disparate technologies - including traditional security systems (video surveillance, access control, fire systems, and computer-aided dispatch), work management, gate and bus management, building automation, and geographic information systems (GIS).   SDI rapidly tested, configured and deployed new state-of-the-art software and equipment, and integrated new systems with existing legacy systems and infrastructure.

"The single point of integration gives us a domain awareness that was not previously attainable with individual subsystems. For instance, we can view all CCTV cameras from a single workstation or on the video wall.  We can see all types of alarms – fire & life safety, access control, CAD events – displayed together.  We can automatically notify a pre-set group of people – at the same time – that an incident has occurred," states Dominic Nessi, Deputy Executive Director/Chief Information Officer at LAWA.

ARCC's integrated design is based on SDI's SAMSON (Situational Awareness Management Solution and Operational Network) model, featuring NICE's Situator physical security information management system (PSIM) – which shares data, graphics and digital video data from all of the ARCC sub-systems on a shared video wall or on individual workstations – to provide a common operating picture to all of the ARCC users. Following its SAMSON model, SDI programmed its CONOPS findings and Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) into the business logic that drives the ARCC's PSIM.  When encountering a situation like a terminal evacuation and repopulation or a power failure, for instance, users are now automatically prompted through the approved procedure to respond to the incident and provided the information that they need to perform their job quickly, dramatically increasing efficiency and reducing response times.

"Bringing these groups together, in the same space, helps them get a broader understanding of how they are all impacted by events taking place across the airport. They can see what actions other teams are taking, hear what they are saying or what questions they are asking, as they manage their response to those events.  Having this across-the-board improved awareness helps everyone to make better, faster, smarter decisions about their part of the response," states Jacqueline Anna Yaft, Deputy Executive Director of Operations and Emergency Management for LAWA.

Enforced by post-technology implementation training of ARCC users as part of SDI's extended technology support services, users have embraced the shared environment, and are proactively identifying new ways to leverage the center across the emergency response and operations areas. The dual-operational facility complies with the Federal Emergency Management Agency's National Incident Management System (FEMA NIMS), so that multiple levels of government can work efficiently and effectively together by eliminating redundancy and confusion during an emergency response.  The LAX Airport Response Coordination Center also will serve as a crucial link to the City of Los Angeles Emergency Operations Center for comprehensive response, resource allocation and communication with city leaders.

The LAWA Team will be featured in the October issue of GCN and honored at GCN's annual awards gala dinner and reception Oct. 19. Complete coverage of GCN's awards can be found at http://gcn.com/articles/2011/08/05/2011-gcn-award-winners.aspx.

About Los Angeles International Airport

Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) is the seventh busiest airport in the world and third in the United States, offering more than 565 daily flights to 81 destinations in the U.S. and over 1,000 weekly nonstop flights to 65 international destinations on more than 75 air carriers.  LAX is the busiest origin-and-destination airport in the U.S., with more passengers beginning or ending their journeys at LAX than at any other U.S. airport.  LAX is part of a system of three Southern California airports – along with LA/Ontario International and Van Nuys general aviation – that are owned and operated by Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA), a department of the City of Los Angeles that receives no funding from the City's general fund.  In 2009, LAX served 56.5 million passengers, processed nearly 1.7 million tons of air cargo, and handled 544,833 aircraft operations (landings and takeoffs).

About SDI

SDI is a systems integrator focusing on mission-critical systems and infrastructure of organizations that are directly impacted by Homeland Security issues. With substantial private and public sector experience, SDI provides vendor-independent advisory services, technology delivery and SmartSourcing(SM) long-term support to our nation's critical environments to achieve a higher level of security, increase productivity and reduce operating costs. SDI embodies the technical breadth, depth of talent, and complex systems experience of a national, top-tier systems integrator - with a reputation of sticking with our projects until our obligations are met and our clients are successful. For more than 19 years, we've been there for our clients, and people are taking notice. Visit us at www.sdienterprises.com.

SOURCE SDI

Contact:

SDI Los Angeles World Airports Government Computer News magazine Dawn Nash Pfeiffer, SVP of Marketing for SDI Phone: +1-312-580-7516 Email Contact Web: http://www.sdichicago.com