Viken Partners with OptiSolve on Product to Detect Surface Contamination
Viken Detection says it has partnered with
OptiSolve Ltd. to help it develop the OptiSolve Pathfinder, a new proprietary surface imaging technology that provides images and spatially-specific data of contamination on surfaces. The product is being released this month. “It’s important to regain public confidence that cleaning at work, in schools, public buildings and on public transportation is effective, safe, and free from potential pathogens,” says Jim Ryan, Viken’s CEO. “This is a landmark partnership that brings together the leaders in imaging devices and environmental surveillance, to work alongside other measures like vaccines, to enable local communities and business to live and operate safely.” Viken, which has been successfully penetrating the security detection market with its handheld imaging products and vehicle and cargo scanning technology, would add a new revenue line if the Pathfinder is successful in achieving market penetration. Viken says initial production units have been deployed and have received “excellent feedback from end users.”
NEC’s US Business Launches Subsidiary to Pursue Classified Government Work
NEC Corporation of America has launched NEC National Security Systems, Inc. (NSS), which will operate under a Special Security Agreement (SSA) with the U.S. government to allow the company to pursue classified work. NEC NSS will focus solely on the U.S. federal market and on specifically on two technology areas: identity solutions and biometrics; and artificial intelligence and machine learning. “We’re moving towards software platforms as opposed to any services or hardware platforms, although we will always have a bit of that in our business,” Benji Hutchinson, president of NSS, tells HSR. “Another big shift is we will focus on building and fielding algorithms for applications that are not biometrics, such as geo-location and pattern matching from satellite imagery and sensor management and error checking on spacecraft.” The SSA serves as a firewall between the NSS and its parent, Japan’s NEC Corp. NSS’s primary customers are the Departments of Homeland Security, Defense, State, Justice and the intelligence community. NEC’s biometric matching algorithms are highly regarded and widely used by federal customers. The NSS board members are Kay Kapoor, CEO of Ary-Technologies, Francis Taylor, principal at Cambridge Global Advisors and President and CEO of FXTaylor Associates, and Michael Vickers, former undersecretary of defense for Intelligence. NSS is headquartered in Arlington, Va.