PAR Government Systems Corporation
PAR Government Systems Corporation
PAR Government Systems Corporation (PGSC) is a defense contractor established in 1968 and headquartered in Rome, New York. PGSC offers communications-related software and services to federal, state, and local governments, civilian agencies, law enforcement, fire, and emergency medical departments. PGSC is a subsidiary of PAR Technology Corporation (PAR)[1], an American multinational technology conglomerate based in New Hartford, New York, and is listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).[2]. PGSC has one wholly owned subsidiary named Rome Research Corporation (RRC) formed in 1974. RRC has subsidiaries Rome Research Iceland and PAR Australia.
PGSC provides software products and communications services like the geospatial analysis tool GV-X[3], cloud-based situational awareness software TeamConnect-Sit(x)[4][5], and Counter-small Unmanned Aircraft System (C-sUAS) software, hardware, and technical documentation[6]. The company also offers digital media forensics[7], augmented reality, and technical training services[8]
Origins
PGSC traces its origins to First Lieutenant John W. Sammon Jr.[9] While stationed at the Air Force’s Rome Air Development Center (RADC) in the early 1960s, Sammon researched pattern recognition and machine learning. He pursued a doctorate in electrical engineering from Syracuse University and by 1965 he programmed a neural net Machine Learning algorithm recognizing hand-drawn shapes. Because of his work, the RADC received a $1,000,000 award to start a Pattern Recognition Lab. The lab’s growth led to the incorporation of Pattern Analysis and Recognition (PAR) Corporation.
Early Years of PAR
Government-sponsored research and development contracts in pattern recognition[10], artificial intelligence, and machine learning made up the bulk of PGSC’s early business. The company received numerous government R&D contracts – developing algorithms, finding and classifying patterns in signal data (acoustic, radar, and seismic), aerial and satellite imagery, and alphanumeric printing. The company’s employee base expanded through contracts with the Department of Defense (DoD) and Intelligence Agencies. This helped PAR in the development of On Line Pattern Analysis and Recognition System (OLPARS), considered the foundation for numerous applications that recognize speech, optical characters, acoustic, and seismic patterns. It also aids in the detection of military targets in aerial and satellite imagery.
In 1974, PGSC launched RRC to pursue cost-competitive government contracts, beginning with contracts to maintain radar test sites. That same year, PGSC received a contract to devise and implement computer algorithms that could track and predict the future location of traveling vehicles using data from airborne radar systems. The PGSC solution was successfully tested at White Sands Missile Range in 1975 with Defense Advanced Research Program Agency (DARPA)-funded technology. Named Pave Mover, PGSC provided tracking/prediction algorithms as a subcontractor to Hughes Aircraft.
In the mid-1970s, PGSC’s parent company PAR was focusing on algorithm development, programming, and microprocessor hardware used to develop Point-of-Sale (POS) equipment for quick-service restaurants (QSR) and related businesses with McDonald’s Restaurants as the targeted client. With no single point of failure, this system remains reliable in busy situations. Although rejected by McDonald’s at first, by 1980 PAR became the sole approved supplier of POS systems for the fast food chain. Taco Bell and KFC were soon added as clients, and the system expanded internationally to England, Ireland, New Zealand, Canada, and Australia. In 1982 PAR went public, listing its stock on NASDAQ.
1983-Present
In 1983, PGSC landed a contract to develop algorithms to track and predict the path of Soviet-launched space weapons by using data from satellite infrared (IR) sensors, a project made possible by President Ronald Reagan’s Strategic Defense Initiative (STAR Wars Program). The algorithms were created for the Space Defense Operations Center, North American Defense Command (NORAD), located in the Cheyenne Mountain Complex, Colorado Springs, CO.
In the 1990s, PGSC funded several experimental transfers of technology including three development projects involving advanced image processing and pattern recognition: X-Ray imaging, imaging of the human retina, and the mapping of the human cornea. The company also worked on ruggedized plant floor data collection terminals for the manufacturing industry. By the time of the September 11, 2001 attacks, combined with a plummeting market, PAR divested its interest in experimental technology transfer efforts, centering instead on hospitality and government businesses.
Because of its experience with image processing, the company won several contracts involving flood plan mapping. The contracts strengthened PGSC’s capabilities in the emerging field of geographic information systems (GIS) and served as the foundational basis for future intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) products including those used for situational awareness.
In 2014, PGSC was awarded a contract to develop a mobile situational awareness product to be used by DoD Special Forces. The Android Team Awareness Kit (ATAK) allows forces to coordinate and communicate team member activities displaying on an Android mobile device. The location of each member is overlaid on a map background, along with data and video gathered from overhead drones. The contract marked significant growth in ISR, and led to a commercial partnership with Esri.
References
- ↑ "PAR | Par Technology Corp. Company Profile & Executives - WSJ". www.wsj.com. Retrieved 2021-11-16.
- ↑ "PAR - Company Profile for PAR TECHNOLOGY CORPORATION - MSN Money". www.msn.com. Retrieved 2021-11-12.
- ↑ "PAR Government to launch upgraded geospatial analysis tool - Shephard Media". www.shephardmedia.com. Retrieved 2021-11-12.
- ↑ "PAR Government Launches TeamConnect™ by PAR Situational Awareness Solution for Government and Civilian Organizations". GISuser.com. 2020-04-28. Retrieved 2021-11-12.
- ↑ "Comments Regarding the Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) Fire Operational Requirements and Capability Analysis". Colorado Center of Excellence for Advanced Technology Aerial Firefighting. Retrieved 2021-11-16.
- ↑ "Contracts for September 24, 2021". U.S. Department of Defense. Retrieved 2021-11-12.
- ↑ "StackPath". www.militaryaerospace.com. Retrieved 2021-11-12.
- ↑ "PAR Government Systems Corporation Names Dr. Leah Rowe to Director of Training and Readiness". finance.yahoo.com. Retrieved 2021-11-12.
- ↑ States, United; Formation, United States Congress House Committee on Banking, Finance, and Urban Affairs Subcommittee on Economic Growth and Credit (1993). Defense Conversion Programs in the President's Fiscal Year 1994 Budget Proposal: Hearings Before the Subcommittee on Economic Growth and Credit Formation of the Committee on Banking, Finance, and Urban Affairs, House of Representatives, One Hundred Third Congress, First Session, April 19 and 22, 1993. U.S. Government Printing Office. ISBN 978-0-16-041222-6. Search this book on
- ↑ Sammon, John (May 1969). "A Nonlinear Mapping for Data Structure Analysis" (PDF). IEEE Transactions on Computers. C-18 (5): 401–409. doi:10.1109/T-C.1969.222678 – via Michigan State University Department of Computer Science and Engineering. Unknown parameter
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External links
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