ITF projectPrime Task, Inc has developed Integrated Training Facility (ITF) for Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation (KCRC), West Rail division . This system is used for the safety-critical training of the railroad personnel in response to different emergencies on the KCRC new West Rail. West Rail is 9-stattion 40 kilometers commuter railroad serving Kowloon and New Territories. Prime Task performed as a subcontractor of Booz Allen Hamilton, Inc which had several contracts in support of design, construction and operation of West Rail. ITF work was performed under KCRC DB-1530 contract. Prime Task performed all ITF-related work - design of the system, definition of requirements for integration with other KCRC systems, development, testing, deployment and support. ITF is an innovative system unique among existing railroad training systems. While it is common on most railroads around the world to perform training on the simulators, such training involves only partial simulation and is used to train personnel for individual operations under normal conditions. A typical example would be training of train operators on the simulators of different trains. ITF, on the other hand uses individual functional simulators, such as simulators of CAB, Main Control System and Traffic Control System to create unified integrated environment for team training under emergency conditions. From the operational point of view, ITF objective is to ensure that the railroad personnel knows the procedures for emergency handling and are able to effectively work as a team to resolve such critical emergencies. That is it principal value in comparison to the use of the same simulators separately. To meet its objectives ITF provides tools that define different emergency situations and the procedures to follow during such emergencies. Together, the description of the emergency and the procedure make ITF Training Scenario. Scenarios are instantiated as Training Exercises that specify the operational conditions of the emergency situation, such as the time and location, traffic load, etc. ITF allows the trainer to perform a Training Task with specific students based on any of the exercises. During task execution ITF controls the functional simulators for different aspects of the railroad's operations and creates a semantically unified simulation space for the student team to work in. All student actions are recorded and subsequently mapped to the procedure to evaluate and grade the student's actions. ITF is highly flexible and configurable for different policies and decisions such as the more or less strict grading, adjustments for competency levels of the students, etc. Overall work flow supported by ITF is shown in the following diagram. ITF architecture is based in SQL server and DCOM. ITF implements bi-directional communications between ITF server and the functional simulator as shown in the following diagram. As the architecture shows, ITF is loosely integrated, that is its component parts are capable of independent work - each simulator can work as a stand-alone, in which case each has it own "simulation space". This is a significant difference between ITF and traditional simulation training systems. The simulation spaces of the functional simulators partially overlap, and when the simulators work together within ITF, the ITF creates larger common simulation space by joining the smaller ones and ensuring that information in the overall space that is non-contradictory and complete. NSLA - Web services design. Support. Loan and Debt calculatorsPrime Task, Inc is supporting National Student Loan Alliance (NSLA) Internet presence and services. Prime Task performed general consulting services to define the IT strategy for NSLA and has designed and developed specific applications such as loan, payments and debt level calculators. These applications allow the user to analyze and compare different loan types and repayment schedules as well as research possible earning and extrapolate reasonable loan amounts based on different income expectations. Andrei Sakharov Foundation: IT Strategy. Network Upgrade. Electronic Congress Hall Prime Task, Inc is providing pro bona support to all aspects of IT needs for The Andrei Sakharov Foundation. Prime Task defines the ASF IT strategy, designs major components and applications and manages their implementation. In particular, during 2001-2002 Prime Task oversaw complete re-design and upgrade of ASF network at the Sakharov Center and Museum in Moscow and the creation of Andei Sakharov Electronic Congress Hall. The Congress Hall is the first comprehensive on-line meeting facility for the human rights community of the former Soviet Union. It provides the capability to organize on line conferences, discussions, forums and chats. The Congress Hall has extensive functionality to support all activities including voting and survey, administrative and public access, news service, etc. Kyrgyzstan's Informatization Program Prime Task, Inc is actively participating in the activities related to Kyrgyzstan's Informatization Program. In particular, Prime Task supported the creation of Kyrgyzstan's National Strategy "ICT for Development". Prime Task's President, Alexey Semyonov is a member of working groups on the implementation of the National Strategy and the related projects: In support of the Informatization Program, Prime Task participated in Kyrgyzstan' National ICT Summit and in the Bishkek-Moscow Conference on Information Society. Prime Task conducted sociological research and surveys on the state and needs of IT development in Kyrgyzstan and presented the results at the working groups and at the conference. The World Bank's Development Gateway Prime Task, Inc is participating in the activities related to The World Bank's Development Gateway initiative. Prime Task's President, Alexey Semyonov is a member of The World Bank's Global Development Gateway Advisor Group. He has contributed to the early definitions of the Gateway's goals, business plans, and design, participated in the meetings of the expert group and conducted workshops for Gateway's interns. Integrated Support Contract, US Internal Revenue Service Modernization Program Prime Task, Inc. (as a subcontractor to the Anderson-Burnett Corporation and Northrop Grumman' Mission System Division) provides system engineering support on the IRS Modernization program. As part of Integrated Support Contract, Prime Task performs architecture analysis and verification, design, technology evaluation, etc. |