CCAT, the Center for Commercialization of Advanced Technology, is an organization funded by the Department of Defense (DoD) that provides funding, marketing studies, and mentoring to labs and businesses involved in the development of technologies that can be utilized by the DoD and Department of Homeland Security (DHS), as well as commercial enterprises.
While CCAT monies helped Crossflo to fund a project using a prototype of its software, the focus of DataExchange’s marketing was assisted by the CCAT market study. This study indicated that many municipal law enforcement professionals are unfamiliar with electronic means of data sharing and prefer not to utilize complicated computers or PDAs on the job.
“This is where CCAT became so valuable,” says Crossflo CEO Renney Senn. “CCAT enabled us to test our software in a real world situation that lacked funding. This helped us to determine that the law enforcement market needed something that is very, very simple – preferably invisible to them – that doesn’t change their behaviors, that doesn’t turn their organization upside down to employ it, and can show rapid results. That is what the DataExchange product has evolved into.”
DataExchange is currently in use by the New Jersey State Police to implement data sharing among 455 local law enforcement agencies. The system is currently being tested by the San Diego Harbor Police Department, Los Angeles Port Police, and Long Beach Harbor Police to share, record, and analyze data which can be used to prevent terrorist or criminal activity.
It is also recognized by the U.S. government as one of only four initiatives using Department of Justice-issued Global Justice XML technology to enable data sharing among separate law enforcement agencies.
For more information visit www.ccatsandiego.org or www.crossflo.com.
