Firm to Mine Databases for National Security Threats

By Kim Hart
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, April 19, 2007

A Reston company funded by an arm of the CIA will be working with the FBI and several intelligence agencies to mine databases for hidden clues about people who might turn out to be threats to national security.

Initiate Systems Inc. got its start 12 years ago matching health-care records within massive patient databases. Last year, the firm received financing from In-Q-Tel, the venture capital arm of the CIA, to adapt its system to help law enforcement and intelligence agencies track down suspects and lawbreakers across disparate databases.

Most recently, the company was named a subcontractor under Raytheon Co. to develop a system for the FBI that finds relationships between records kept in national and local databases.

"You have all these various types of law enforcement records," said Monte Williams, who was hired this week as the company's vice president and general manager of government operations. "All of them have different incident reports and ways of booking people. We can be the glue to bring that data together to help law enforcement and homeland security officials be able to put the pieces of the puzzle together."

Initiate Systems used to focus primarily on health care and corporate customers, working for Microsoft and hospital systems. Now that it has received government funding, it is focusing more on helping government workers find the information they need from convoluted databases.

The company has 250 employees and has grown 66 percent over last year, prompting a move to new office space in Reston. Williams said there are plans in the works to go public this summer.

Personal Finance 101

Northwestern Mutual has plans to start a personal financial literacy program in Fairfax County schools.

The financial services company launched a similar program in Wisconsin and helped make financial literacy a required part of the state's academic curriculum. Leo Tucker, managing partner in McLean, is approaching elementary and middle schools in the area about including financial training for students. He hopes to eventually extend the program to high schools.

Tucker also plans to talk with D.C. Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D) about establishing a program in inner-city schools.

"You'd think here in McLean financial literacy would be abundant, but that's just not happening," he said.

Reaching out to parents and teachers will be a key component of the program, he said. "Even if it's as simple as giving your child an allowance to teach about saving."

From Cairo to Citizant

Cairo Corp., a Chantilly technology firm that works exclusively for the government, this week unveiled its new name: Citizant Inc.

The company was founded eight years ago by two friends who met while working at Texas Instruments. They came up with the original name for the firm after collaborating with Microsoft. Cairo was the internal code name for one of the early Windows operating systems, said co-founder and chief executive Raymond Roberts.

The name must have been good luck. The former two-person firm has grown at an annual rate of over 100 percent, turning in 30 consecutive quarters of profit and revenue growth, Roberts said.

"Of course, it's going to slow down," he said. "You can't sustain it."

While federal spending on information technology projects has slowed over the past year, Roberts said the company has been able to "steal a sizable part of the market share" with its rapid growth. Now, it will begin to look at acquisition opportunities as it hires more IT specialists.

Roberts said he expects the company to generate $20 million in revenue this year.

The firm's new name reflects its ultimate customer, Roberts said. Citizant works with federal agencies as well as state and local governments. Its largest customer is the Department of Defense, followed by the Department of Transportation.

"The government's customers are the citizens. That's who we're really serving," he said. "It made perfect sense to create a name that matched our brand in the marketplace.

Have news about business in Fairfax? Contact Kim Hart at 703-383-5120 orhttp://hartk@washpost.com.