Transportation Security Administration Teams with TWD and Akamai for Delivery of Airport Wait-Time Service
As a customer service initiative, TSA is providing travelers with historical wait time information for security checkpoints at the nation's airports. This new Web tool, along with information from the traveler's airline and airport, will allow travelers to estimate their arrival time during a particular day and time, and thus accurately plan for their next flight. Available at www.tsa.gov, TSA officially launched the service on August 10th.
TSA had an aggressive deadline to launch the Web tool and quickly realized that the cost of deploying a search application, including investments in new hardware and software, would be significant. With data from 450 airports across the nation continuously populating the site, and the need for intensive resources to search through the information library, TSA knew this would be a computing-intensive effort and the IT staff would need to overcome a steep learning curve to complete the implementation.
To meet its needs, TSA partnered with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and leveraged DHS's existing contract with Akamai to use the EdgeComputing service. EdgeComputing enables all of the wait time application's Java processing to be executed across the Akamai EdgePlatform, eliminating TSA's need to purchase any new infrastructure. Created by Akamai, TSA's wait-time application is running in an on-demand, distributed fashion, freeing up TSA's origin servers from the onslaught of computing cycles. This ensures that content is always available, and always high performing, regardless of where it is accessed.
"It has been our ongoing commitment to provide the most accurate and timely information to travelers," said Ron Sokolov, Executive Director of Customer Service and Education for TSA. "Akamai provided the infrastructure, computing resources, and management capabilities, helping TSA meet its aggressive timeline for the launch of the wait time service."
"TSA is leveraging the Internet effectively to satisfy the needs of travelers," said Keith E. Johnson, Vice President, Public Sector at Akamai. "Their use of EdgeComputing for this wait time tool is an excellent example of how our on-demand distributed platform can be used to bring an innovative application to market quickly, and at reduced cost, since no infrastructure investment is required. We are excited to work with TSA on this initiative and help them carry out their mission to deliver the highest quality of service to the public."
Akamai's contract with TSA was awarded under a Blanket Purchase Agreement from the Department of Homeland Security that was awarded to TWD & Associates, Inc. of Arlington, Virginia. TWD provides a broad range of voice, video and data support to the 22 Agencies in the Department and to an array of other Federal agencies. Under the Department of Homeland Security Blanket Purchase Agreement, TWD subcontracts portions of the work to other firms, including Akamai.
Akamai EdgeComputing powered by WebSphere is a managed service to enable the rapid deployment of Internet applications. Using Akamai's globally distributed platform of edge servers, enterprise applications scale instantly, perform predictably, and overcome the functionality limitations that exist in centralized deployments. EdgeComputing's on-demand distributed computing platform offers enterprises a flexible pay-per-use computing model that drives IT efficiencies to new levels while allowing innovation not possible with fixed asset deployments.
About TWD & Associates
Founded in 1992, TWD & Associates, Inc. is an employee-owned professional services company that provides engineered solutions to meet customer requirements in technical business areas. TWD's U.S. government clients include the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of State, the Executive Office of the President, and the Department of Defense.
About Akamai
Akamai® is the global leader of distributed computing solutions and services, making the Internet predictable, scalable, and secure for conducting profitable e-business. The Akamai on- demand platform enables customers to easily extend their Web operations - with full control - anywhere, anytime, without the cost of building out infrastructure. Headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Akamai serves hundreds of today's most successful enterprises and government agencies around the globe. Akamai is The Business Internet. For more information, visit www.akamai.com.
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Akamai Statement Under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act
The release contains information about future expectations, plans and prospects of Akamai's management that constitute forward-looking statements for purposes of the safe harbor provisions under The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual results may differ materially from those indicated by these forward-looking statements as a result of various important factors including, but not limited to, the effects of any attempts to intentionally disrupt our services or network by unauthorized users or others, failure to have available sufficient transmission capacity, a failure of Akamai's network infrastructure and other factors that are discussed in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, and other documents periodically filed with the SEC.
WebSphere is a registered trademark of IBM. The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.
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Caryn Brownell Media Relations Akamai Technologies, Inc. 617-444-2524 cbrownel@akamai.com |
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Sandy Smith Investor Relations Akamai Technologies, Inc. 617-444-2804 ssmith@akamai.com |
Akamai's EdgeComputing service delivers on-demand Internet infrastructure, enabling TSA to meet aggressive timeline for launch of Airport Security Checkpoint Wait Times tool
Cambridge, MA - September 28, 2004 - Akamai Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq: AKAM), the global leader of distributed computing solutions and services, today announced it is supplying the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) with the Akamai EdgeComputing® powered by WebSphere® service for the reliable, high-performing delivery of its new Web-based airport security checkpoint wait time service.As a customer service initiative, TSA is providing travelers with historical wait time information for security checkpoints at the nation's airports. This new Web tool, along with information from the traveler's airline and airport, will allow travelers to estimate their arrival time during a particular day and time, and thus accurately plan for their next flight. Available at www.tsa.gov, TSA officially launched the service on August 10th.
TSA had an aggressive deadline to launch the Web tool and quickly realized that the cost of deploying a search application, including investments in new hardware and software, would be significant. With data from 450 airports across the nation continuously populating the site, and the need for intensive resources to search through the information library, TSA knew this would be a computing-intensive effort and the IT staff would need to overcome a steep learning curve to complete the implementation.
To meet its needs, TSA partnered with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and leveraged DHS's existing contract with Akamai to use the EdgeComputing service. EdgeComputing enables all of the wait time application's Java processing to be executed across the Akamai EdgePlatform, eliminating TSA's need to purchase any new infrastructure. Created by Akamai, TSA's wait-time application is running in an on-demand, distributed fashion, freeing up TSA's origin servers from the onslaught of computing cycles. This ensures that content is always available, and always high performing, regardless of where it is accessed.
"It has been our ongoing commitment to provide the most accurate and timely information to travelers," said Ron Sokolov, Executive Director of Customer Service and Education for TSA. "Akamai provided the infrastructure, computing resources, and management capabilities, helping TSA meet its aggressive timeline for the launch of the wait time service."
"TSA is leveraging the Internet effectively to satisfy the needs of travelers," said Keith E. Johnson, Vice President, Public Sector at Akamai. "Their use of EdgeComputing for this wait time tool is an excellent example of how our on-demand distributed platform can be used to bring an innovative application to market quickly, and at reduced cost, since no infrastructure investment is required. We are excited to work with TSA on this initiative and help them carry out their mission to deliver the highest quality of service to the public."
Akamai's contract with TSA was awarded under a Blanket Purchase Agreement from the Department of Homeland Security that was awarded to TWD & Associates, Inc. of Arlington, Virginia. TWD provides a broad range of voice, video and data support to the 22 Agencies in the Department and to an array of other Federal agencies. Under the Department of Homeland Security Blanket Purchase Agreement, TWD subcontracts portions of the work to other firms, including Akamai.
Akamai EdgeComputing powered by WebSphere is a managed service to enable the rapid deployment of Internet applications. Using Akamai's globally distributed platform of edge servers, enterprise applications scale instantly, perform predictably, and overcome the functionality limitations that exist in centralized deployments. EdgeComputing's on-demand distributed computing platform offers enterprises a flexible pay-per-use computing model that drives IT efficiencies to new levels while allowing innovation not possible with fixed asset deployments.
About TWD & Associates
Founded in 1992, TWD & Associates, Inc. is an employee-owned professional services company that provides engineered solutions to meet customer requirements in technical business areas. TWD's U.S. government clients include the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of State, the Executive Office of the President, and the Department of Defense.
About Akamai
Akamai® is the global leader of distributed computing solutions and services, making the Internet predictable, scalable, and secure for conducting profitable e-business. The Akamai on- demand platform enables customers to easily extend their Web operations - with full control - anywhere, anytime, without the cost of building out infrastructure. Headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Akamai serves hundreds of today's most successful enterprises and government agencies around the globe. Akamai is The Business Internet. For more information, visit www.akamai.com.
Akamai Statement Under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act
The release contains information about future expectations, plans and prospects of Akamai's management that constitute forward-looking statements for purposes of the safe harbor provisions under The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual results may differ materially from those indicated by these forward-looking statements as a result of various important factors including, but not limited to, the effects of any attempts to intentionally disrupt our services or network by unauthorized users or others, failure to have available sufficient transmission capacity, a failure of Akamai's network infrastructure and other factors that are discussed in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, and other documents periodically filed with the SEC.
WebSphere is a registered trademark of IBM. The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.
