GAO: Pentagon Lacks Business Case for GPS Alternatives
Reports says PNT Oversight Council prioritized modernizing the existing GPS, not alternatives
Expert nationwide installation services for fleet technologies.
A U.S. Government Accountability Office report claims that the U.S. Defense Department has not made a complete business case for its positioning, navigation and timing alternatives to back up GPS.
The report, released late last week, found that four of five alternative systems in development didn’t have complete business cases. These business cases enable the U.S. government to justify funding and evaluate benefits and risks, the report said.
“So DOD leaders didn't have enough information to support crucial decisions at the start. We also found that DOD's oversight council for GPS hasn't set goals for measuring progress on the alternatives,” the report said.
The GAO went further, saying that Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro should ensure that branch’s alternative PNT efforts have complete business case elements, including an acquisition strategy.
In another recommendation, the GAO report recommended that DOD’s PNT Oversight Council, a senior-level group, establish strategic objectives and metrics to measure the alternative efforts. “However, the Council has largely prioritized modernizing the existing GPS system over alternative PNT efforts during recent meetings and has no strategic objectives or metrics to measure progress on the alternative efforts. Defined objectives and metrics would help the Council better measure overall performance and mitigate any potential gaps in PNT capabilities as the military transitions to using M-code,” the study said.
GAO has commented several times that alternate PNT systems do not seem to be a priority in DOD, said Dana Goward, Resilient Navigation and Timing Foundation president. “Instead, the department continues to spend most of its time trying to improve GPS, despite its inherent vulnerabilities. Let's hope recent threats from China and Russia give the department greater focus,” he said.
GAO, which maintains that both recommendations are valid, said DOD concurred with one recommendation and partially concurred with the other.
Contact: Jon Ludwigson, GAO, (202) 512-4841, LudwigsonJ@gao.gov.
News Without All the Nonsense.
Check out 1440 - the fastest way to an impartial point-of-view. The team at 1440 scours over 100+ sources so you don't have to. Culture, science, sports, politics, business and everything in between - in a five-minute read each morning, 100% free.
EMCORE Acquires KVH’s FOG and INS Business for $55 Million
EMCORE Corp. EMKR 0.00%↑ has acquired KVH Industries’ KVHI 0.00%↑ Fiber Optic Gyroscope and Inertial Navigation Systems business segment today for $55 million in cash.
EMCORE, which offers mixed-signal products for aerospace and defense communications, said the deal includes all of KVH’s FOG and INS intellectual property and assets/liabilities. The acquisition also includes KVH’s 100,384-square-foot Tinley Park, Ill., production facility.
EMCORE’s third quarter 2022 revenue was $23.7 million, which included $13.4 million from aerospace and defense sales, and $10.3 million from the broadband segment. By acquiring KVH’s FOG/INS segment, the company said it adds a business generating more than $30 million in annual revenue.
The KVH FOG/INS business segment gives EMCORE an established U.S. Army customer, terrestrial applications and new industrial autonomy market opportunities, the company said.
“When we combine these with EMCORE’s closed loop and transceiver technologies, we see substantial opportunities for both businesses across revenue, gross margins, and net income. The addition of the KVH inertial navigation product line further expands our reach into the tactical grade segment of the market,” said Jeff Rittichier, EMCORE president and CEO, in a statement.
Contact: Tom Minichiello, EMCORE, (626) 293-3400, investor@emcore.com.
Companies Displaying Public Safety Tech at APCO
Several industry companies displayed technology at this week’s Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials-International (APCO) conference in Anaheim, Calif. NextNav NN 0.00%↑, which recently partnered with public safety company CentralSquare Technologies, displayed its Pinnacle vertical location network.
The deal with CentralSquare is big as the company works with more than 75 percent of public safety agencies nationwide, including first responders, law enforcement, fire departments, EMS and local governments to reduce response times.
“We are seeing increasing interest and momentum around the need for vertical location, both to find emergency callers as well as to improve first responder safety – alongside private sector uses like campus safety, school safety, and lone worker safety,” Said Gillian Smith, NextNav vice president of marketing. “We now have partners across the entire public safety ecosystem that have recognized the need for 3D geolocation capabilities, from incoming emergency calls to dispatch to first responders – particularly for those working in densely populated urban areas.”
NextNav, which has made a number of partnerships with such entities as Valor Systems for security and NGA, VOS Systems and Vizsafe for campus location solutions, has seen its stock fall rapidly since October 2021. “While we don’t comment on third party commentary relating to our business, as we noted on our earnings call today, we continue to see solid platform and partner adoption across the industries,” Smith said. “Despite the challenging macro-environment, we delivered solid year-over-year growth in revenue, and continue to manage the business with an eye towards prudent cost management.”
In other APCO news:
APCO International released its “Definitive Guide to Next-Generation 911.”
Comtech CMTL 0.00%↑ displayed most of its location portfolio at the conference: emergency call routing, call handling, location data delivery and text messaging solutions.
Impossibly crunchy, remarkably airy crisps made from simple ingredients
Try Snacklins' Savory Starter Pack with 10 snack size bags in 5 delicious flavors! Just $25 + FREE Shipping. Only valid for first-time customers.
New Financing Round Brings Xona’s Funding to $25 Million
Xona Space Systems announced last week that they have raised “an oversubscribed financing round” that brings the company’s total funding to more than $25 million. In this latest round, led by First Spark Ventures, such companies as Lockheed Martin Ventures LMT 0.00%↑, SRI Ventures, Velvet Sea Ventures, Gaingels, Airstream Venture Partners and Space.VC.
Xona, which did not specifically say how much money was raised during the round, said the new capital will help it develop the Pulsar low Earth orbit satellite navigation system, which it hopes to achieve worldwide centimeter-level positioning. In addition, the company said it will grow its number of personnel and build out its Burlingame, Calif., research and development facility.
It’s been an eventful year for Xona. The company said it has doubled its full-time employees to 30, launched the Huginn orbital mission and signed deals with such GNSS companies as Hexagon | NovAtel and Spirent Federal.
Other Xona information:
Existing Xona investors include Seraphim Space, Toyota Ventures, 1517 Fund, MaC Venture Capital and Stellar Ventures.
Xona’s second space mission, called Muninn, is planned for a 2023 launch.
Potential markets include automotive autonomy, drones and aerial mobility.
Xona, which has cited Pulsar as a GNSS alternative, is the first company that has launched a privately funded satellite navigation mission.
Contact: Xona Space Systems, www.xonaspace.com.
Get your company’s products and services in the 2022 Location Industry Yearbook!
Incognia Study Reveals Low Detection of Location Spoofing in Dating Apps
Incognia has announced the publication of the results of their first Location Spoofing Mobile App study: Dating Edition. The study attempted to see how mobile dating apps are vulnerable to location spoofing.
The report studied 24 dating mobile apps worldwide including: Tinder, Hinge, eHarmony, Match, OkCupid, Grindr and others. The company said there are five main methods fraudsters use to spoof location: VPNs and Proxy servers, GPS spoofing apps, emulators, instrumentation tools and app tampering.
The study found that 80 percent of tested dating apps request users to share location—and 37 percent of the apps that requested location were easily GPS spoofed. The study also found that 50 percent of dating apps in North America and APAC could be spoofed using GPS spoofing apps. However, none of the dating apps tested from EMEA could be GPS spoofed, the company said.
“Dating and social apps are vulnerable to fraudsters faking their location to target a broader set of users. These apps are exposed to fraudsters' location spoofing attempts that can result in financial theft and trust and safety issues,” said André Ferraz, Incognia founder and CEO, in a statement.
Contact: Madeline Kalicka, for Incognia, (240) 427-8961, incognia@karbocom.com.
Other Location News:
News tip? Send them to kdennehy@driverlessreport.com. Go to www.locationbusinessnews.com for more news and an archive of stories.
Top News:
😒 Verizon To Deploy Location-based 911 Call Routing After Death in Denver. “According to records obtained by the [Denver] Post, Verizon VZ 0.00%↑ had previously declined a request from city officials to provide GPS-based call routing for emergency calls”
Financial:
✔ Trimble Q2 Earnings, Revenues Outpace Estimates. TRMB 0.00%↑ .
✔ Velodyne Lidar, Inc. Reports Q2 Loss, Tops Revenue Estimates. VLDR 0.00%↑.
✔ NextNav Inc. Reports Second Quarter 2022 Results. NN 0.00%↑ .
Maps:
👍 The Intriguing History of the Map Navigation Symbol. Interesting history on why and how it was used…
🤨 Amazon Bought iRobot To See Inside Your Home. “With Roomba’s maps, Amazon’s AMZN 0.00%↑ vision of ambient intelligence in the smart home is suddenly attainable.”
👏 Paddleboarder Rescued a Mile Off-shore by Using What3Words. “A spokesman for the crew said she had used the mobile locator app What3Words to tell her rescuers exactly where she was.”
😦 It’s Not Just Google Maps: Waze Also Struggling With Bugs Nobody Knows How to Fix. What the…
Fleet:
🚍 Azuga, Cerebrumx Partner Platforms To Simplify Fleet Management. “CerebrumX has partnered with the Azuga to offer real-time insights from the connected vehicle data”
Autonomous Vehicles:
🚗 GM is Expanding its Hands-free Super Cruise System to 400,000 Miles of Roads. “Super Cruise uses a combination of lidar map data, high-precision GPS, cameras and radar sensors, as well as a driver attention system.”
🚘 Tesla Applies GPS Antenna for Self-driving and Navigation. “Tesla has patent a new multi-band GPS antenna that it believes will be more precise forvigation applications.”
☹ TuSimple Reportedly Tried To Pass off a Self-driving Truck Crash as 'Human Error'. “TuSimple is in trouble.”
Telematics:
💰 Ford Pro Paid Telematics Subscriptions Up 40 Percent In Second Quarter. “Ford expects its Blue Oval Intelligence platform to give it 32 million OTA-capable vehicles on the road by 2028, generating upwards of $20 billion in annual revenue by 2030 on the retail side of things. That pot figures to be even larger on the commercial, Ford Pro side of the business, which includes subscriptions for telematics, fleet management, energy management, and ADAS, as well as its own its own dedicated financial services unit.”
🤞 Inseego Announces Rebranding of Telematics Business. “Inseego has announced the relaunch of its Ctrack telematics and asset tracking businesses in the United Kingdom, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand.”
Location Industry Briefs
Send your news releases to kdennehy@driverlessreport.com. Go to www.locationbusinessnews.com for more news and an archive of stories.
Mercury Systems Receives $12 Million For Packaging of GPS Modules
Mercury Systems MRCY 0.00%↑ has announced it received a $12 million order from “a leading defense prime contractor” to provide secure manufacturing and packaging for their GPS modules. The GPS modules will enable precision munition capabilities for the U.S. Army, the company said. The order, placed during the company’s 2022 fourth quarter, is expected to be shipped over the next several quarters.
Contact: Robert McGrail, Mercury Systems, (978) 967-1366, robert.mcgrail@mrcy.com, www.mrcy.com.
ESRI Renews NTIS Partnership
Esri has renewed a joint venture partnership with the U.S. Commerce Department’s National Technical Information Service (NTIS). The agreement supports joint venture projects throughout the federal government to make location data more accessible and transparent, the company said. When the COVID‑19 pandemic was first detected, many governments used Esri maps to enable leaders and residents to visualize where the virus had spread and, eventually, where vaccines were available, the company said.
Contact: Jo Ann Pruchniewski, Esri, (301) 693-2643, jpruchniewski@esri.com, www.esri.com.
Fleet Complete Rolls Out AT&T Solutions Suite
Fleet Complete has introduced AT&T T 0.00%↑ Fleet Complete FC Insights Solution Suite, a big data IoT platform. The solution allows commercial fleet operators real-time insights to manage fleets, the company said.
The fleet solutions features web and mobile apps for live-view maps, AT&T Fleet Complete FC Vision and remote telematics hardware used to track vehicles or assets, such as the Asset Tracker or Fleet Tracker. In the future, the platform will expand with plug-ins and tools from Fleet Complete and third parties to enhance the experience, the company said.
Contact: Frank Friesacher, Fleet Complete, (888) 305-8777, marketing@fleetcomplete.com, www.fleetcomplete.com.
HERE Partners With Indonesia Fintech Company
HERE Technologies has announced that Indonesia digital wallet company DANA is using its location services for financial services in the country. To follow government banking regulations, DANA is leveraging HERE’s Geocoder and Reverse Geocoder APIs to reach users, particularly those in rural areas, the company said.
HERE’s reverse geocoding capabilities enable DANA customers to find the nearest address by using coordinates or selecting a spot on the map application, the company said. The HERE Geocoding API delivers geocoordinates of known address, place, locality or administrative area in more than 100 countries, the company said.
Contact: Camy Cheng, HERE Technologies, 65 9088 4127, camy.cheng@here.com.
STMicroelectronics Launches Kit for Indoor and Outdoor Asset Tracking
STMicroelectronics has announced the STEVAL-ASTRA1B multi-connectivity evaluation platform for building asset tracking systems. The evaluation kit includes firmware to develop such targeted applications as livestock monitoring, fleet management and logistics, the company said.
The kit also features a Teseo-LIV3F miniature GNSS module for outdoor positioning. Numerous ST sensors are integrated for monitoring asset condition and environment, the company said.
Contact: STMicroelectronics, www.st.com/STEVAL-ASTRA1B.
EVERYWHERE Platform Has TAK Integration
The EVERYWHERE Always Connected platform, with TAK Integration, now brings together Garmin GRMN 0.00%↑ inReach, Iridium satellite technology, the EVERYWHERE Hub and government-grade TAK server. Garmin inReach devices integrated into TAK servers enable location, text messaging, and emergency/SOS data.
In addition, Global Team SOS capability allows users to configure SOS response procedures based on an organization’s unique needs, the company said. EVERYWHERE provides in-App, Garmin inReach, SMS, Email, and automated voice notifications when a team member declares SOS to ensure all appropriate stakeholders are promptly notified, the company said.
Contact EVERYWHERE Communications, www.everywherecomms.com.
SPYR Launches Small IoT Tracker
SPYR [SPYR] has announced that its subsidiary GeoTraq is rolling out a full suite of mobile IoT asset management tools. GeoTraq’s penny-sized tracker-modules can report location data as well as sensor information using NB-IoT and LTE-M technology, the company said. Applications include tracking for vehicles, parts, boxes, pallets, people, equipment and furniture.
Contact: Spyr, tmatula@spyr.com.
Trucker Tools Adds Motive Tracking and Telematics Data
Trucker Tools announced that Motive has joined its visibility platform to provide real-time tracking through its in-cab Vehicle Gateway (ELD). Motive, formerly known as KeepTruckin, offers real-time GPS tracking and geofence alerts, fuel cost and risk management.
Motive’s Vehicle Gateway product is used by more than 120,000 trucking operators, the company said. Motive is the latest of nearly 80 telematics/ELD technology providers to join the Trucker Tools community, the company said. The Trucker Tools carrier engagement platform has nearly 250,000 active small-fleet truckload operators, most operating with 10 trucks or less.
Contact: Gary Frantz, for Trucker Tools, (925) 594-1434. gary@gnfcomms.com, www.truckertools.com.
Nextech AR Launches AR Wayfinding and Navigation for Events
Nextech AR Solutions [NEXCF] has launched a new software solution with AR wayfinding for events—as well as upgrades to its augmented reality spatial mapping platform, ARway. AR wayfinding is suited for expos, trade shows, conferences, and festivals by providing wayfinding meta maps, engaging spatial experiences and deep location intelligence, the company said. The platform has a Visual Position System, which Nextech refers to as Mapping and Localization, where users can map and enable VPS in any area through the platform, the company said.
Contact: Evan Gappelberg, Nextech, (866) 274-8493, investor.relations@Nextechar.com, www.arway.ai.
Mapbox Sponsors 2022 Rebelle Rally
Mapbox has announced that it is the official mapping partner of this year’s 2022 Rebelle Rally. Rebelle Rally, an 8-day competition for women drivers, tests precision driving and navigation skills.
Mapbox will offer 3D mapping from navigation app onX Offroad and the basemap for live-tracking to daily fly-through visualizations of each stage of the course. Rebelle uses the Mapbox platform to power its specialty vehicle testing system, transmitted by Iridium, that provides manufacturers the ability to monitor internal and external vehicle data, the company said.
Contact: Kirsten Tiegen, Rebelle Rally, (775) 345-3450, media@rebellerally.com.
MiX Telematics Partners With Hino Trucks
MiX Telematics MIXT 0.00%↑ has announced that it has become an authorized Hino Trucks data services partner. The collaboration will allow MiX customers in North America to operate Hino trucks, with MiX Telematics’ data sets, to allow monitoring of vehicle maintenance, safety, efficiency and government compliance. It also removes the need for the installation of aftermarket hardware in associated vehicles, the company said.
Contact: Melanie Esterhuizen, MiX Telematics, melanie.esterhuizen@mixtelematics.com, www.mixtelematics.com.
Location Company Wiliot Named Gartner ‘Cool Vendor’
Wiliot has been named a "cool vendor" by Gartner in their recent report titled, "Cool Vendors in Indoor Location Technologies and Sensors." The report covers the indoor location service technology stack; an overview of Wiliot and why it's 'cool'; key industry challenges; and who should care, the company said. To download the Gartner report, click here.
Contact: Dan Griffin, for Wiliot, (212) 481-3456 ext. 25, 341788@email4pr.com.
People
NextNav NN 0.00%↑ has announced that Neil Subin has joined the company’s Board of Directors. Subin replaces Peter Barris, who was recently named Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Northwestern University. Subin currently serves as Chief Investment Officer for MILFAM.
Jobs
Technical Account Manager. Parkopedia.
Senior Product Manager. U-blox.
Director, Business Development Public Sector Sales. Taoglas.
