Microsoft Single View Platform showcases Microsoft’s deep foray into geospatial software.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Oct. 29, 2008 — At the GEOINT 2008 Symposium this week, Microsoft Corp. continues to highlight its numerous contributions to the growing market for geospatial software offerings with the unveiling of Microsoft Single View Platform (SVP), a collaboration and data visualization platform that provides government agencies with solutions for one comprehensive geospatial view of critical data. Microsoft SVP provides a single, geographic view of complex information and data sets across multiple roles, locations and user interfaces, which can vastly improve agency communication, collaboration and decision-making, and significantly increase the success of government missions.

Several agencies are beginning to use Microsoft SVP to meet evolving data visualization and decision-support system requirements in areas such as communication to citizens, command center operations, emergency response, facility management, information sharing and business intelligence needs, as well as in overall program management.

“Government officials are increasingly aware of geospatial information’s value to many aspects of their operations,” said Gina Marie Hatheway, industry manager for the U.S. Public Sector Industry Unit at Microsoft. “With Microsoft’s Single View Platform and our partners’ offerings built around this solution, data can be unlocked in new ways to present visually compelling and critically important applications. Microsoft SVP brings important cost advantages and operating efficiencies to our customers.”

Microsoft SVP: Diverse Missions, One Avenue of Analysis

The geospatial intelligence gleaned through Microsoft SVP solutions allows agencies with diverse missions to access imagery of critical locations and overlay existing data sets to create a holistic view of situational requirements by bringing together Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 and its Virtual Earth mapping software to harness the power of geographical visualization.

The United Nations’ International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has launched ITU Global View, a data visualization solution jointly developed with Microsoft and IDV Solutions, which is built on the Microsoft Single View Platform. As an online mapping application, it is being used to track and help accelerate the implementation of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) goals, and provides decision-makers and stakeholders with a comprehensive view of current telecommunications infrastructure, projects and statistics.

“As the United Nations’ specialized agency for information and communication technologies, the International Telecommunication Union is at the cutting edge of innovatively applying technology to achieve our objectives,” said Sami Al-Basheer Al Morshid, director of ITU’s Telecommunication Development Bureau. “ITU Global View provides development stakeholders and decision-makers with online mapping and data analysis of global telecommunications infrastructure, development projects, statistics and trends. The ITU and Microsoft collaboration demonstrates how technology can be applied to help address development challenges, and we are encouraged by the progress we have made together.”

Governments, such as the government of Harris County, Texas, are showing how geospatial tools such as Microsoft SVP have direct impact on resident services.

“Harris County is the third-largest county in the U.S., which requires coordination and simultaneous display of thousands of pieces of data involved in the life cycle of ongoing projects,” said Bill Jackson, director of E-Business for Harris County. “Microsoft’s data visualization platform allows geo-referenced data relevant to infrastructure to be viewed on a map, thereby increasing situational understanding of processes and events.”

Microsoft SVP also is helping federal agencies to meet mission objectives. Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) is a research institution that is using Microsoft’s data visualization solution to support the U.S. Department of Energy in its efforts to increase the availability of clean and abundant energy. By tracking material and asset availability across the lab campus, ORNL is able to prevent duplicate ordering and accelerate delivery of chemical supplies.

“The integration of Virtual Earth and Microsoft Office SharePoint have provided visibility and enhanced the value of information at the lab,” said R. Scott Studham, chief information officer of Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

Microsoft’s own Global Security Operations Centers worldwide are using this data visualization platform. Brian Tuskan, senior director of Microsoft Global Security Operations, said: “We use the Microsoft Single View Platform to incorporate publicly available RSS feeds within our three Global Security Operations Centers. This allows us to see how events around the world are impacting our 700-plus Microsoft locations and to display the critical information we need to assess situations much faster.”

Microsoft SVP is an open, industry standards-based architecture that can be built on existing desktop and server infrastructures, providing agencies with a baseline technology that has the ability to configure unique solutions depending on specific program requirements in the area of business intelligence, information sharing, work flow and business processes, project management, and systems center. Interoperable by design, Microsoft SVP integrates multiple data sets, legacy systems and existing applications and management dashboard capabilities, helping reduce cost, complexity and development time.

Microsoft SVP’s commercial off-the-shelf technology enables solutions to be built and deployed quickly. Because the architecture is flexible and security-enhanced, government agencies can create restricted access and controls, allowing end users access only to information relevant to their role.

More information about Microsoft Single View Platform is available at http://www.microsoft.com/industry/government/solutions/Single_View_Platform/default.aspx.

Microsoft will provide demonstrations of these solutions in booths 205 and 211 at the GEOINT 2008 Symposium.

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.

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