February 13, 2004, Austin, TX — Today the U.S. Army awarded a $3.5 Million contract to ConnectedWireless™ Corp in Austin, Texas to help it address chronic well-reported difficulties in tracking, and managing the flow of logistics supplies throughout the Operation Iraqi Freedom Area of Operations in Iraq and Kuwait. (see THE STRUGGLE FOR IRAQ: Official History; Army Study of Iraq War Details A 'Morass' of Supply Shortages, NYT, Feb 3, 2004) The system being fielded by ConnectedWireless™ uses Bar Code and Radio Frequency Tag technology, combined with a fully integrated satellite-based messaging and routing system, to help the Army track supplies in transit, and help direct the right items to the highest priority locations in near-real time. Formerly tested with the United States Army in Europe, and known as the Deployable Asset Visibility System or DAVS, the system is able to operate in the types of terrain that are most problematic: those austere locales far from conventional communications or IT systems. Jim Silva, ConnectedWireless' CEO said the following, "DAVS gives the military for the very first time, a type of "Fedex" capability to keep track of critical supply items regardless of where they are operating. We're thrilled to work with the Army and DoD to solve this long-standing critical requirement for the U.S. Army war-fighter." Perhaps most significant for Central Texas, the system is being deployed directly to Ft Hood's own 49th Transportation Battalion (Movement Control), currently deployed in Iraq and tasked directly to control and direct transportation and distribution of supplies throughout the region.
May 2002, Austin, TX — ConnectedWireless™, a new wholly-owned subsidiery of SPEC, incorporated in May 2002. ConnectedWireless™ was formed to focus on the DoD and commercial asset management and tracking capabilities of SPEC's Information Systems products. ConnectedWireless™ pursues the integration of new and existing technologies to provide the customer with unique solutions to asset management and tracking worldwide.
ConnectedWireless™' main customer is Air Mobility Command, who's worldwide mission of Air delivery for the DoD poses unique challenges to asset tracking and management. ConnectedWireless™ brings expertise in software and hardware development as well as global commmunications. ConnectedWireless™ will maintain a presense in O'Fallon IL and Austin Tx.
November 14, 2001, Austin, TX — Under the leadership of Savi Technology (Sunnyvale, CA), the US Defense Logistics Consortium has been established, the purpose of which is to serve the global logistics tracking needs of the DOD. The broad-based coalition includes manufacturers of real time locating systems (RTLSs) and suppliers/integrators of automated data collection systems. Savi will serve as "project manager" of the partnership as well as providing systems integration expertise. Members, in addition to offering expertise and technology, will also compete for future contracts as a single, unified group, stated Savi.
Already, Savi has been awarded the contract to build the world's largest wireless monitoring network for the DOD, with revenues, including renewals, approaching $200 million. "The military services and other defense agencies are utilizing RFID to improve the timeliness and accuracy of transportation movement information into our in-transit visibility systems," said Lt. Gen. Daniel Brown, deputy commander for the US Transportation Command.
Initial partners in the consortium include Savi; WhereNet, Unisys Corp.,
Northrop Grumman Information Technology, Systems and Process Engineering
Corp., Titan Systems Corp., Symbol Technologies Inc., Intermec Technologies
Corp., and RF Code.