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The worst attack on American soil since Pearl Harbor changed everything. Nowhere is that more true than at the federal agency that was stood up almost two years after 9/11 to make sure that such an attack never happens again—the Department of Homeland Security.

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is putting the finishing touches on planning and is beginning the transition to the most profound restructuring in its history. Wherever they are based, all who work with NATO will be affected by this restructuring. NATO headquarters staff is being reduced by as much as 40 percent. NATO agencies are being reduced from 13 to three. The force structure is being enhanced, but the command and control elements of the force structure are being streamlined to make NATO more responsive.

Devices and dictionaries for converting basic phrases from one language to another are common tools for travelers in foreign countries. But when understanding context, dialect and personalities offers the chance to stop an attack or catch a terrorist, official personnel need more sophisticated technology.

Microsoft and Google are two of the most recognized company names in the world. And just as they revolutionized the past, these leaders are striving to invent the future.

A research project funded by the U.S. Air Force and taking place among academics in Texas is advancing a new class of metamaterials that could open up a range of applications for defense requirements. By finding new methods for creating synthetic compounds, scientists believe they can develop nanomaterials with properties better suited for products such as electronics than anything found in nature.

The U.S. Air Force is clearing the air for advanced networking as it takes its next step into cyberspace exploitation. A unified effort aims to improve battlespace information sharing along with active cyberoperations, both offensive and defensive.

One mandate of the Clinger-Cohen Act of 1996 was creation of the Information Technology Architecture. In subsequent 1999 guidance, the Federal Chief Information Officers Council defined the Federal Enterprise Architecture as the process for developing, maintaining and facilitating the implementation of integrated systems.

Military officials in Afghanistan cite the language barrier as one of the most vexing communications obstacles in the battlefield environment. It is a challenge, for example, for U.S. warfighters to communicate effectively with their coalition partners or with the Afghanistan National Security Forces, especially if they are talking over tactical radios during combat chaos. More critical still is the need for warfighters to communicate effectively with Afghan citizens and leaders at all levels.

You can't consider the future of computing and the Internet without looking at what software giant Microsoft and Internet heavyweight Google are up to. Rita Boland continues her Semaphore Series on the topic by tapping the expertise of Lewis Shepherd from Microsoft and Vint Cerf from Google.

Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation, San Diego, California, is being awarded a $10,474,708 cost plus fixed fee contract for logistics in support of the Vertical Takeoff and Landing Tactical Unmanned