Air Force Awards $9M Installation Resilience Operations Center Prototype Contract to SimpleSense and Novetta

Brooklyn, NY -- SimpleSense, a tech start-up delivering critical response technology, announced today that on September 14, 2020, the Air Force Civil Engineer Center awarded the company a $9M opportunity to develop the Installation Resilience Operations Center, or IROC, an innovative prototype to enhance base security and facility operations.

The installation of the future requires immediate awareness, response, and even prediction of major incidents, whether a 911 call or equipment failure. The objective of IROC is to modernize response operations to enable real time data collection and analysis of all operational technology systems from smart buildings to physical security systems. Breaking down the stovepipes that separate data enables a safer, more productive, and resilient installation.

“For example, sensors will be installed throughout the installation that can detect gunshots and immediately communicate to the Base Defense Operations Center and to first responders in the field,” said Lowell Usrey, Integration Division Chief.

In developing their winning proposal, SimpleSense partnered with Novetta, a leader in advanced analytics. The companies combined SimpleSense’s innovative approach to interconnecting safety and security organizations with Novetta’s data analytics and PICARD sensor integration platform. “Our proposal leveraged commercial best practices dominant in technology firms like micro-services, event driven code, CI/CD, Agile and Lean management, and translated it for the operational technology and government domain,” said Eric Kanagy, SimpleSense CEO.

The Department of Defense is seeking non-traditional partners as they take on modernization projects like IROC. Alex Brickner, SimpleSense co-founder, led the company’s effort to expand from the private to the public sector. “The idiosyncrasies of working with the government can be daunting for a startup. However, teaming with Novetta combines the agility of a startup with industry know-how, bringing the customer the best of both worlds.”

According to Brig. Gen. Patrice Melançon, Executive Director of the Tyndall Air Force Base (AFB) Program Management Office (PMO), “It is truly a testament to the Air Force’s commitment to developing innovative, cutting-edge solutions for not only the installation of the future, but for military installations around the world.”

The PMO will work closely with the winning team over the course of the next 36 months to establish the IROC prototype at Tyndall AFB, FL.

About SimpleSense

SimpleSense develops information sharing interconnects that decrease emergency response time by bringing the right information to the right people. Founded in 2017, the company started in the private sector, connecting 911 to Fortune 500 security teams, and entered the government sector through AFWERX, an Air Force program targeting dual-use startups. SimpleSense is headquartered at Newlab in Brooklyn, a home to over 800 entrepreneurs, engineers, and inventors solving the world’s biggest challenges.

About Novetta

Novetta delivers scalable advanced analytic and technical solutions to address challenges of national and global significance. Novetta pioneers disruptive technologies in machine learning, data analytics, full-spectrum cyber, open source analytics, cloud engineering, DevSecOps, and multi-INT analytics for Defense, Intelligence Community, and Federal Law Enforcement customers. Novetta is headquartered in McLean, VA with over 1,300 employees across the U.S.,