High tech warfare a resounding topic at TVF 2003

by Wendy Hall, Larta Staff Writer

Despite the widespread downturn in venture capital spending, Larta's annual investment conference managed to attract an industry audience of over 350 last Thursday in Beverly Hills. Amidst the twelve company presentations, the growing synergy between the defense industry and technology also managed to share some of the spotlight.

"Being in the defense industry, we have seen that there has been an increasing interest in drawing upon emerging technolgies to better serve the needs of defense," said Albert Meyers, Corporate Vice President of Strategy and Technology at Northrop Grumman, who gave the first keynote address at last Thursday's conference. Meyers' speech, Electronic Warfare In A Network-Centric World, described how the Department of Defense was looking to the defense industry, which is largely based in Southern California, to develop communication platforms for the new "digital battlefield." Comparing the current conflict in Iraq to the 1991 Gulf War, Meyers observed that the warfare information systems now available, which were only an idea during the 1991 Gulf War, offer but a small "glimpse of what a transformed military can do."

Randy Brinkley, the exiting president of Boeing Satellite Systems, continued addressing this topic in his luncheon keynote, Rewriting the Role of Space-based Communications Networks. Brinkley's keynote detailed the steep decline the satellite communications industry has endured in the past decade, acknowledging that its size allowed Boeing to absorb the downturn far better than many of its competitors. However, Brinkley noted that the industry could likely witness an upswing because of the changing needs of the defense industry and its desire for more sophisticated communications technology and innovation.

"The defense industry could prove to be a synergistic catalyst for the current satellite communications industry," Brinkley said. "When the commercial market is able to have a comeback from this, it will generate new revenues. Until then, the industry will look to the government to help sustain its core competencies."

While two of the forum's three keynote addresses focused on the nation's renewed security and defense interests and their impact on technology growth, some of the presenting companies reflected these issues as well. Orange County-based Ascendent Telecommunications, which specializes in mobility and disaster recovery technology solutions for voice communications, has products that are already being considered for defense purposes. "Essentially, all of our products are considered 'dual use'--as applicable to the military, public safety and government as to commercial enterprise," says CEO Stephen Forte. "Of our 10 patents pending, two are being accelerated due to their importance to Homeland Security."

Another of this year's companies, Secure Voice Technologies, has a patent-pending technology that functions simliarly to a lie detector, conducting voice analysis to gauge emotional information as well as help determine identity. The company says this product could be used by the U.S. Government to help the monitoring of phone calls in various foreign languages, as well as with airport security check-in. Even though the technologies produced by these companies are applicable to defense and security interests, the business strategies are not founded on the premise of generating company growth solely on providing technologies to the government.

"It appears our relevance to Homeland Security captivates the initial interest," says Forte. "[Yet] I suspect the surge of Homeland Security funds to be a relatively short-lived event, and today's investors and CEOs are wise from the bubble of the past. Our products have functionality to meet the urgent concerns of today, but also have an impressive return on investment with their daily use, that will allow us to continue our leadership in the market long after the Homeland Security initiatives shift from their present "building" mode to more of the "maintenance" mode as other aspects of government operate."

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