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By Greg Trauthwein, Editor The story surrounding the creation ofthe Morrelly Homeland Security Centerin Bethpage, NY, is not far afield from similar clusters of expertise around the world. Faced with the loss of traditional defense business on Long Island, the cen- ter is the result of government investment and the brainchild of a dedicated groupof executives and corporations that col- lectively aspire to meld their accrued knowledge and experience with emerg- ing technologies to create a new center of excellence, with an eye on the future technological needs across many mar- kets. While Morrelly Homeland SecurityCenter is not a maritime security entity, per se, the technologies it is creating aredesigned to be plug and play? for any number of homeland security operations,including the ever-expanding field of maritime and port & harbor security. The purpose of the Morrelly HomelandSecurity Center is to develop, design and produce products for the Homeland Se-curity Market. The ultimate goal is to get like-minded companies under the same roof to achieve this. They [Ken Morrelly and Phil Teel of Northrop Grumman] really took to heartthe new mission, as he recognized the po- tentially huge, new market for Homeland Security products and services in thewake of 9/11, and recognized that the companies best situated to address thisneed are the defense companies,? said Frank Otto, President, Long IslandForum for Technology (LIFT) and Presi- dent of the Homeland Security Founda- tion, which is part of the LIFT family. Command, Control and Surveillance technologies are the central foundation ofthe Homeland Security Foundation, Otto said.While the story surrounding the centeris not unique, the center itself is, due inlarge part to one of its chief drivers and namesake, Ken Morrelly. Housed in the building where engineers built the famed F14 Navy fighter jet and the Lunar Lander, the Morrelly Home- land Security Center is a three floor, 90,000 sq. ft. Command, Control, Com-munications, Computer and Intelligencefacility that was established with a $25m grant from New York State. Beyond brick and mortar, finance and technology, the Center ? by the admission of the Re-search Partners ? is equal parts Ken Morrellys heart and soul: a drive to re- build the technology tradition upon which Long Island was built, as well as a means to provide a new level of protec- tion mandated by the terrorist attacks andsubsequent threats of September 11,2001. We are one of the original tenants, and we got involved with the project about four years ago when we were stillworking in a virtual building,? said Water Poggi, founder, Retlif Testing Lab- oratories, one of the projects founding tenants. I remember Ken Morrelly taking us around the building when the only residents were a bunch of dead pigeons. But we saw merit in thisbecause of the strength of the core ten- ants.Even though we were working vir- tually, from the start we held monthly meetings and Strategic Planning Ses- sions. It was actually these Strategic Planning Sessions that were critical to thecenter moving forward following Kens untimely death.? While it was Morrellys vision that helped create the building, he passed away just months shy of its offi- cial dedication in 2010.This is a group of focused companies,a group where there is virtually no com-petition, and that can react very quickly [to each other and market needs],? said Retlifs Poggi. From my point of view, when Ken started talking on how to use technology to forward first response, I thought we could fit into a part of the solution,? said Eduardo Browne, CEO, V.C.O.R.E. So- lutions. At the time of this journey be- ginning, the Department of HomelandSecurity was evolving; it was a huge fog which has taken six years to become more clear.? The facility is also unique because it brings together technology developers and suppliers with the end users. TheMorrelly Homeland Security Center isunique,? said Otto. Its not just the mem- ber companies, but it also houses the end users, the customers, such as the NassauCounty Office of Emergency Manage- ment,? as well as a burgeoning list of oth- ers, Otto said. This is important because the customers actually share the facility, and thus are uniquely positioned to help the residents and the center to create sys- tems and technologies based on specific need. Bringing together all of thesegroups was Morellys vision; it was pro- found, and he cherry picked all of us for the project,? said Retlifs Poggi. One of the coolest things about thecenter, it allows us to gather all of the players together in one room, to reallytalk about the real problems,? said Albert Koenigsberg, President & CEO, GEO- command. Collectively at the center, the strength is that they bring in relationships with the customers ? for example the De- partment of Homeland Security ? to-gether with the corporate entities andacademia.? THE PARTNERS The tenants of the Morrelly HomelandSecurity Center each offer a piece to theoverall puzzle, meaning that the Center 26Maritime Reporter & Engineering News 2011 YEARBOOKMARITIME SECURITYMorrelly Homeland Security Center A LIFTto Homeland &Port Security (Photo Courtesy Applied Science Foundation for Homeland Security) The COIN, or Cyber Operations Integrated Network Facility. (Photo Courtesy V.C.O.R.E.) Quite simply V.C.O.R.E. technology takes massive amounts of data and allows command and control personnel to seamlessly fly? to and through a situation
