Retired Army Officer To Head EDS Homeland Security Services

EDS on Tuesday named a retired Army major general to lead the company's efforts to integrate and coordinate homeland-security services to federal, state, and local governments.

Robert Nabors, who joined EDS last October as VP of enterprise solutions for the consultancy's U.S. government solution business, will coordinate existing company offerings--such as developing SmartCard technology, biometrics, and secure and interoperable networks--that can be adapted for homeland security. "The identification of a dedicated executive to homeland security adds valuable insight to our support of accounts across the EDS enterprise," says Doug Frederick, president of EDS's Information Solution business.

EDS, like other outsourcing companies, has seen a marked increase of inquiries for its services from governmental agencies since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. One of the Bush administration's governmentwide initiatives is to outsource services when appropriate. Except for General Motors Corp., which once owned EDS, governmental consulting services is the company's largest business segment.

Much of new government IT spending in the next few years will support homeland security programs, with one projection seeing federal government IT spending soaring to $65 billion in fiscal year 2007 from the $47 billion expected to be spent in fiscal year 2003, which begins Oct. 31, Nabors says.

Nabors is a former CIO at the Pentagon and deputy commander of the White House Communications Agency. He also served as commanding general and headed contracting activity for the Army's Communications Electronics Command, which awarded annual contracts worth $4.5 billion in goods and services.