TM Forum, the world’s premier industry group focused on business effectiveness for the communications and media sectors, has confirmed details of a new defence-related Technology Catalyst project. Key players from the global defence industry – including Booz Allen Hamilton, QinetiQ Ltd, NATO C3 Agency, DAX Technologies, Thales Communications, John Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab and Progress Software – will converge at Management World 2009 to demonstrate the results of this collaborative project, which focuses on improving the operational agility and real-time management of complex space networks.

Entitled “Collaborated End-to-End Operation and Service Management in Space Communications,” the project looks at the end-to-end operation and multiple aspects of services that enable Network-Centric Operations with IP-based space communications management systems. The demonstration – part of the Forum’s Technology Innovation Zone at Management World – will illustrate how policy-based management and TM Forum Solution Frameworks can be applied and extended to create a comprehensive operational solution to dynamically manage multi-operator space technologies. Use of the Forum’s standards has enabled the solution to be deployed repeatedly in a multi-vendor environment with extensive reuse, significantly reducing overall deployment cost, while the application of policy enables operational agility needed to support defence missions.

TM Forum’s Technology Catalyst program delivers the environment for companies to work together, tackling management challenges in an environment that fosters an accelerated process for identifying deployable, cost-effective solutions. According to Martin Creaner, President and CTO, TM Forum, “One of the key benefits that TM Forum provides to its members is enabling a truly collaborative environment for the ongoing research and development of technology, standards and business processes. Traditionally collaboration is difficult for members of the Defence Industry; however, under the auspices of the TM Forum, and leveraging the TM Forum’s expertise in fostering multi-company collaboration, the participants saw a tremendous value in making it work to participate in this Catalyst project.”

Technical Lead for the Technology Catalyst Project William Chang, Technical Fellow at Booz Allen Hamilton, commented, “Network-centric operations require information sharing and situational awareness, which in turn require seamless collaboration among service providers and operations in a coalition environment. These cross-operational-domain offerings, both mission planning and service management, require a much higher degree of flexibility than do traditional management frameworks. By incorporating TM Forum standard frameworks into this first defence-focused Catalyst project, the team has successfully created a new direction for industry leaders to explore for their mutual benefit. It is foreseeable that this exercise will eventually drive a greater adaptation of these standards in the defence industry.”

Christy Coffey, TM Forum Defence Sector Head, added, “This team has put together a forward-thinking demonstration for our Management World 2009 conference in Nice. With defence budgets under increasing scrutiny, the members who are participating in this project are finding the use of the TM Forum frameworks and interfaces invaluable for defining solutions that meet their cost goals. Not only do our members benefit, but the TM Forum benefits, as well, with some of the world’s foremost experts feeding their collaborative learning on Policy Based Management back into the TM Forum’s Solutions Frameworks.”

The project represents one of seven individual Technology Catalysts to be demonstrated within the Forumville Technology Innovation Zone at Management World 2009. The full Management World conference agenda, keynote and speaker details are available now at http://www.tmforum.org/ManagementWorld2009/

Press and analysts are invited to contact Geoff Devlin, gdevlin@tmforum.org, to apply for press access to the conference and to arrange a tour of Forumville.
To learn more please visit www.tmforum.org .

About TM Forum
With more than 700 member companies in 75 countries, TM Forum is the world’s leading industry association focused on improving business effectiveness for service providers and their suppliers. Serving the information, communications and entertainment industries, the Forum provides practical solutions, guidance and leadership to transform the way that digital services are created, delivered and charged. Members include the world’s largest service providers, cable and network operators, software suppliers, equipment suppliers and systems integrators.

TM Forum provides a wide range of information and support to help its members reduce the costs and risks associated with creating and delivering profitable services. These include industry research and benchmarks, technology roadmaps, best practice guidebooks, software standards and interfaces, as well as certified training, conferences and publications. The Forum also provides its member community with extensive marketing and networking opportunities, enabling business with new customers and partners.

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About Booz Allen Hamilton
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