GAITHERSBURG, Md., Nov. 9, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- Emergency responders and county governments will now be able to look for and share critical geospatial information and maps across Montgomery, Frederick and Prince George's Counties thanks to a new interoperable data exchange (INDEX) delivered by Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT).  

"The ability for us to share information quickly and efficiently is vital to the safety of our residents and first responders," said Jack Markey, Director of Emergency Management in Frederick County, Md. "The goal of this project is to improve public safety data sharing by developing and delivering a standards-based, geospatially-referenced data exchange capability between our counties.  As initiatives like Next Generation 9-1-1 continue to progress, the need for securely and rapidly sharing accurate data to support public safety efforts will only increase.  This project marks an important step forward for our capabilities."

With the new data exchange, managers who control maps and geospatial information for local police, fire departments, 911 operators and other county government functions will be able to automatically or on-demand publish and share data and reports with managers from other counties. This is a critical need when there are emergencies that cross or are close to county borders.

"This data exchange initiative is much more than sharing information over the internet. In addition, we are leveraging the NCR.net which allows the secure transfer of all data between jurisdictions across the region," said Marshall Stevenson, Frederick County IIT/Enterprise Geospatial Information Systems (GIS) Manager.

The data exchange is the first delivery in a project funded by the Public Safety Interoperable Communications (PSIC) Grant Program which Maryland was awarded in 2009. GIS managers from the three counties quickly delivered the initial version of the needed GIS data layers to Lockheed Martin.

"The geospatial data supporting the effort is readily available from the GIS systems of the three counties," said Apollo Teng, GIS manager, Montgomery County. "We are taking existing information and building a standards-based system to share it."

"This initial contract is being seen by many in the region as an important first step and a 'proof of concept' project," said Dan Rice, Lockheed Martin Spatial Solutions vice president. "We are working with the counties on several meaningful and measurable improvements we can implement that will help our local governments communicate."

Headquartered in Bethesda, Md., Lockheed Martin is a global security company that employs about 133,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services. The Corporation's 2009 sales from continuing operations were $44 billion.

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SOURCE Lockheed Martin