Digitizing paper records and maps of Arlington National Cemetery:
A group of Northern Virginia companies is partnering with the Army to provide free information technology assistance related to record keeping at Arlington National Cemetery.
http://www.arlingtoncemetery.org
Fifteen companies will assess the Army's IT needs for the cemetery and work to digitize paper records and maps, U.S. Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., announced. The Army inspector general released a report in June that found poor record keeping allowed grave sites to be poorly marked or, in some cases, not marked at all.
"All of us were frustrated and angered to learn that Arlington Cemetery officials continued to rely on paper records, which means we are one fire, rainstorm or coffee-spill away from damaging or even losing these truly irreplaceable records," Warner said.
The companies who will provide the assessment, and eventually a written report to the Army, are all members of the Northern Virginia Technology Council, a membership and trade association for the technology community in Northern Virginia.
15 NVTC member participating companies"Our members -- particularly our board members -- read the initial news reports in June, and were just horrified," said Bobbie Kilberg, CEO of NVTC. "I mean, the thought that this could be going on at our national cemetery really left them very, very disturbed. They are Americans, they are citizens, they are human beings and people who believe we ought to be treating the people who [have] served in the armed forces much better than that."
» ACS, a Xerox Company
» Blue Canopy
» Booz Allen Hamilton
» CACI
» CGI
» Consumer Electronics Association (CEA)
» Corporation for National Research Initiatives
» CSC
» IBM
» Lee Technologies
» MAXIMUS
» Microsoft
» MITRE
» SoltechOne
» Vistronix
"Our members -- particularly our board members -- read the initial news reports in June, and were just horrified," said Bobbie Kilberg, CEO of NVTC. "I mean, the thought that this could be going on at our national cemetery really left them very, very disturbed. They are Americans, they are citizens, they are human beings and people who believe we ought to be treating the people who [have] served in the armed forces much better than that."
Arlington National Cemetery contains more than 330,000 graves on 200 acres in northern Virginia. More than 100 military burials are conducted at Arlington each week, and four million visitors pay their respects each year.
"It's just a start -- it's just a stopgap, but at least assessing where we need to go from here in a rapid fashion and bringing in [this] private sector expertise...at no cost to the taxpayer is an important step forward," Warner said. "It's important to the brave men and women and all of the military families who are interned at Arlington, but also to all Americans. This is all part of our legacy and history."
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