Message from the CEO

Welcome to another edition of CriticalNews!

August is right around the corner and with it the time of the year some choose to enjoy a well deserved time off. Holidays are of paramount importance as it is the time to recharge batteries for the forthcoming challenges. Unfortunately, summer is also the time for forests fires. We at Critical have been engaged in a project aiming at better understanding the Earth environment, being one of this project features to help further access the risk of fires.
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Information System platform for the Portuguese pregnancy interruption referendum

The quick disclosure of the results of the referendum held on the voluntary pregnancy interruption was possible due to the partnership established between the Portuguese Government, through Instituto das Tecnologias de Informação da Justiça (ITIJ) and Critical Software.

ITIJ, a division of the Ministry of Justice, was responsible for the data processing of the plebiscite. The solution developed was based in open source components that made use of the Internet as the main communication backbone. Unprecedented performance was reported by the users, ranging from government stakeholders to media and public in general. 

The overall performance, challenging technology, reliability and know how demanded by such initiative led the ITIJ to request the collaboration of Critical Software, recognizing the company as a solid partner for the implementation, configuration and support of the system. Critical Software is geared towards answering demanding and of high complexity problems with guarantee of immediate answer and with quality. This partnership with ITIJ is strategic.

Critical Software answered in a highly satisfactory way to the requirements presented by STAPE - Portuguese electoral management body, for the development of a robust and reliable high quality solution. The company gathered a high qualified team with technical, management and quality control experience, in order to guarantee a better response to this challenge.

The success of this partnership is well patent in the words of Mário Valente, ITIJ president of the Board "The fact that the scrutiny process has been the most quick of all time, having ended by 2 hours after ballots closed, vouches for the efficiency of the system."

Critical Software also reused the same platform for the Regional Elections in the Autonomic Portuguese Region, Madeira.


ITIJ is the public institute, subject to the supervision and guardianship of the Ministry of Justice, responsible for the studies, conception, conduction, execution and evaluation of the plans for updating information technologies of the agencies, services and organisms integrated in the area of justice.

STAPE is a department of the Ministry of Internal Administration, responsible for electoral management. The core functions and objectives of this Secretariat (EMB - electoral management body) are the organization of elections, referendums and voter registration.


For more about the the government market offer at Critical please contact:
 gov-bizdev@criticalsoftware.com

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ISVV for the SWARM Mission

The Swarm mission will provide the best ever survey of the geomagnetic field and its temporal evolution, as well as giving valuable new insights into its effects on the Earth’s interior and climate.

Critical is responsible for the Independent Software Verification and Validation (ISVV) activities performed on the software running on the onboard computer (OBSW). The OBSW is responsible for implementing the overall on-board data handling functions as well as attitude and orbit control algorithms (i.e. the SW part of the AOCS subsystem). As such, the onboard software interfaces with ground control systems for telemetry and telecommand exchange and with all the other on-board systems. Critical will be working close with Astrium Germany and European Space Agency in verifying the deliverable items from the OBSW supplier and validating the software critical functions.


This project is a milestone for Critical Software Technologies Ltd (CSWT) as it is the first project in the UK space market lead by CSWT. CSWT is responsible for the project management and contact with Astrium as well as design verification, while the code verification and validation activities will be carried out by Critical Software SA as a subcontractor to CSWT.

For more info on Swarm mission:
http://www.esa.int/esaLP/ESA3QZJE43D_LPswarm_0.html

For more about the aeronautics market offer at Critical please contact:
aeronautics-bizdev@criticalsoftware.com

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The SMOS mission: exploring Earth from space

SMOS (Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity) is a European Space Agency satellite scheduled for launch in 2008. As part of the Earth Explorer Programme, this mission aims at measuring the ocean surface salt content and soil surface humidity for a better understanding of the Earth environment.

The global monitoring of those parameters will provide very useful information to the scientific communities of oceanography, meteorology, biology, and hydrology. One of the most useful applications will be the improvement of weather forecasts based on fast availability of the humidity data. Daily forest fire risk maps, very sensitive information in countries like Portugal, will also be enhanced by the SMOS data.

Critical Software is currently developing a software prototype to be used by scientists and mission experts to validate the performed observations and to test new processing algorithms.


More about SMOS mission at:
www.smos.com.pt

To find out more about the space market offer at Critical please contact:
space-bizdev@criticalsoftware.com

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Interview with Nuno Cunha - R&D Manager
Innovation is normally defined as the mysterious process that leads to introducing into the market “something” new, radically different and better than any competitor. The mysterious process is sometimes seen as laying somewhere between complex economic/financial predictions and the black arts of scientists and engineers, with the marking charm around it. However the innovation rationale is much more related to change.

Talking to CriticalNews, Nuno Cunha highlights Critical strategy for R&D at the same time that reveals the projects that are shining at the market.

Q: The innovation role for any company of any branch of activity is unquestioned nowadays. How is such role incorporated at the company’s policy?A: The policy is to look at Innovation as a natural daily activity, a way of acting in the market and gain competencies and technical advantages. In any activity competitors fight in the market for any sort of competitive advantage: innovation activities are key to gain a competitive edge and produce lasting benefits for our customers.

Innovating can be seen as arriving to a customer, before the competition, with a new offer, solving a relevant issue or problem, at the best price and quality.

Ultimately the policy is really about improving our customers competitiveness and assist them in the implementation of their own innovations. 

Q: In which way the company attracts the researchers and the investment in R&D?A: Excellence, ambition and quality.

Excellence in the areas we work and in our fields of activity. We have plenty know-how and bright people working in many IT fields. Everyone wants to work with the best.

Ambition in the way we constantly seek to improve our own work and get the best position in the market, while creating value for our customers. But also seeking new high potential activities or market niches that have not yet been explored – the natural willingness to accept new ambitious ideas and projects, independently of their origin, is the best policy that a company may have.

I think that this may be the most attractive factor for researchers, a place where they can explore their own ideas.

Quality is always present in the way we work, in the daily processes and in the selection of the best ideas and their implementation. You can only transform ideas into new, high value, products with a quality rationale. Q: Can you describe some of the most important results already reached with this bet?

A: edgeBOX is a natural example, born from one R&D project at Critical Software it reached such a maturity status that it has originated a spin-off. Now it’s being marketed worldwide by Critical Links.

We can also mention Xception, a product that can be briefly and simply described as a tool designed for testing (and stressing!) software and assess if it’s adequate for use in space. Nowadays it’s in use in most Space agencies in the world (NASA, ESA, JAXA).

For the future our hopes are, among others, with Vessel-X, a project sponsored by the Portuguese Innovation Agency. If all goes well we will be able to use a new fleet of remote sensors (recently launched satellite TerraSAR-X being one) to identify, from space, any ship in the oceanTaking into account that Portugal currently has the largest maritime exclusive economic zone in Europe, this project is of paramount strategic importance, with high economic and security potential.

Q: Considering that the results of the research and development, handled by the companies and investigators of different continents are valid worldwide, how do you face it: as a threat or an opportunity?
A: Both indeed. In a global world market you can have someone next door or in the other side of the world working exactly in the same idea as you are right now!

The bright side is that if you succeed in developing an innovative product it can have value anyware around the world.

The critical issues here are the correct assessment of the best value opportunities and adequate (and permanent) risk management and market monitoring.

Q: Which are the plans for the future of the innovation field of Critical Software?
A: Enhance and promote international partnerships. Innovation is risky by nature, some risks can be mitigated by the best management practices, others reduced by direct funding from governments or research agencies but the best alternative is to share the risk with partners. Besides having a concrete plan of activities, a development plan and an exploitation perspective for the future it is imperative to have partner with different skills and perspectives to improve the probability of success and increase the future impact and value of the projects.

Critical Software will maintain an active role in many Research fields: Embedded Systems, HPC and Grid, Security, Aerospace, ICT and GMES, among others.

The focus of our work will be relevant international research programs, fostering partnerships in Europe and in the PALOPs, in the context of QREN, Portuguese Technological Plan, European Space Agency programmes and the 7th Framework Programme of the European Commission.

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 Mission to China

Gonçalo Quadros, Critical’s CEO, was again one of the businessmen that were invited to accompany the Prime-Minister in his state visit to China, from January 30th till February 4th. The state visit started in Beijing and finished in Macao.
The purpose of the visit consisted on the growth of the Portuguese exports and in the encouragement of foreign investment.
It's important to emphasise the pioneering initiative of our CEO being among the greatest business developers of the Portuguese Republic, doing a remarkable effort to expand our exportation frontiers.

Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES) Conference in Munich
Critical Software attended the GMES Conference within the framework of the German EU Presidency. The symposium was organised by the Federal Ministry of Transport, Building and Urban Affairs as part of the German Presidency of the Council of the European Union and took place at Munich on April 17th.
Together with Commission Vice-President Günter Verheugen the Federal Minister of Transport Wolfgang Tiefensee opened the conference titled "The Way to the European Earth Observation System GMES - Munich Roadmap".
Andrea Pelizzari, the Business Development Manager for GMES, attended the conference on Critical Software's behalf.

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Message from the CEO

Welcome to another edition of CriticalNews!

August is right around the corner and with it the time of the year some choose to enjoy a well deserved time off. Holidays are of paramount importance as it is the time to recharge batteries for the forthcoming challenges. Unfortunately, summer is also the time for forests fires. We at Critical have been engaged in a project aiming at better understanding the Earth environment, being one of this project features to help further access the risk of fires.

Let me also take this opportunity to glance some of the showcase projects we have been engaged so far in 2007. Critical Software Technologies is for the first time  in the lead of a project in the ISVV area, and the recent elections in Portugual showed how strategic Critical feels about partnerships.

Research & Development is one of the core competences that allow Critical Software to better address the key success factors of our industry. Our effort to know and better tailor to the market needs, together with a policy of “most valuable players” in human resources, enables us to expand the boundaries of the relationship with our clients. Thus R&D is in our DNA.

Have a great summer! 

Gonçalo Quadros


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About Critical Software SA
Critical Software SA is an international systems and software company with headquarters in Portugal and offices in San Jose (US), Southampton (UK), Lisbon and Porto (PT). Critical Software S.A. supports mission and business critical information systems across diverse markets including Aeronautics, Defence, Financial Services, Government, Industry, Space and Telecom. Today the company employs over 150 people and operates a quality system certified to CMMI® Level3, ISO 9001:2000 Tick-IT, ISO 15504, AQAP 2120 and EN9100. 

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Contributions to this edition of CriticalNews from:
Andrea Pelizzari, Diamantino Costa, Filipe Freitas, Gonçalo Quadros, Maria João Santos, Nuno Almeida, Nuno Cunha, Rui Melo Biscaia