Air Force portal contract awarded

The Air Force has awarded a $1 million contract to Sytel Inc. to develop

a prototype of My.AirForce, the company announced Wednesday.

When completed, the Air Force portal will consolidate data from hundreds

of existing systems into a single entry point. Users will be able to access

all service information from a standard Web browser customized to their

individual needs and interests.

My.AirForce will also provide online services for airmen, such as automated,

paperless processing of personnel, medical and payroll information. The

portal might also serve commanders requiring critical battlefield information.

Initially, the portal effort will focus on providing access to data

from the installations and logistics communities. Another 22 functional

communities and major commands will be added during 2001.

"Air Force senior management has put this portal on a fast track for

development and implementation," said Lt. Gen. John Woodward, Air Force

deputy chief of staff for communications and information. "We're very pleased

to see so much functionality in less than three months and are excited about

future possibilities.

"One of our immediate objectives was to prove we can rapidly incorporate

standards-based, commercial off-the-shelf solutions to increase the decision

power of our network users," Woodward said.

Sytel is a private company specializing in providing e-business infrastructure

services.