OSU to benefit from defense funding

Friday, December 5, 2008

By Katie Butler and Wes Burt

(Stillwater, OK  December 5, 2008) - Oklahoma State University will receive more than $3 million in funding from the National Defense Authorization Act of Fiscal Year 2009 and the National Defense Appropriations Act which were signed into law by President Bush in October.

Of the total amount, $1.2 million will go to the Center for Telecommunications and Network Security and the National Repository of Digital Forensic Intelligence program, and $2 million is earmarked for the Aging Systems Sustainment and Enabling Technologies program.

The National Repository of Digital Forensic Intelligence program at OSU is a web-based product that was developed by a partnership with the Defense Cyber Crime Center, which houses the largest accredited forensic computer lab in the world.

“For OSU, this funding will support faculty and further exploration as well as increase prestige,” said Dr. Mark Weiser, associate dean of business administration and director of the Center for Telecommunications and Network Security at OSU.

“Every single law enforcement agency that uses the program will see the OSU logo in the upper right corner of the computer screen,” said Weiser. “It raises the awareness of OSU’s prevalence in information assurance and forensics not only in the U.S. but also in the other countries where the service is used.” The repository is available for all sworn law enforcement agencies in the U.S., Canada, United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand. Weiser will be in Australia in December representing NRDFI to all its law enforcement agencies.

“It allows law enforcement agencies to have connections with other agencies that wouldn’t normally be possible,” said Weiser.  “For example, a federal law enforcement agency may do a search and find that the Payne County sheriff’s office has information about an investigation that it can use. It saves time and addresses a huge inefficiency.”

The $2 million in national defense funds for the Aging Systems Sustainment and Enabling Technologies program represents the confidence of our congressional delegation that the military will continue to benefit by OSU’s work to link defense needs to companies in Oklahoma, according to Dr. Glenn Freedman, vice president of OSU Center for Innovation and Economic Development.

“The program helps keep many of the military’s aging aircraft flying, despite the demands of war and changing technologies,” explained Freedman.  “For instance, when a plane arrives at Tinker Air Force Base in Midwest City for maintenance, there may be needed parts that have become obsolete or are no longer made. This is where the OSU ASSET program communicates the technical specifications of the part it needs to a network of over 300 Oklahoma manufacturers.”

The Oklahoma companies can then bid for the contract to build these new parts and have a good chance to win because of their qualifications and association with OSU and the ASSET program, said Freedman. “Linking the needs of government to companies in Oklahoma also creates jobs and brings revenue to our state,” he adds.

The new funding will allow the program to expand its network of small manufacturers that are qualified and capable to supply problem parts for aging military and weapon systems, according to U.S. Senator Jim Inhofe’s office, which also points to savings of 15 to 85 percent, thanks to ASSET.

Inhofe himself called the passage of the defense bills “a tremendous victory for our men and women of the United States military, Oklahoma and for our efforts to win the Global War on Terror.”

“Here in Oklahoma, we can boast in having some of the greatest military installations and some of the best research universities in the nation,” said Inhofe.  “Importantly, the research conducted by Oklahoma State directly benefits our military.”