Louie outlined a number of problems for which his company is seeking technology fixes. Keeping track of various information amid a deluge of spam or unwanted e-mail is a challenge many individuals face -- and one companies should address aggressively, he said. The same technologies that can solve "America's email problem" and "eliminate the phone tag game" will also help intelligence analysts do their jobs, he said. Technologies to improve data mining or anything that can "save a worker 20 minutes a day" will also help the government, he added. "We cannot afford to have this country buried in information it can't digest." Security for hardware and equipment is another issue where there is much room for corporate and government crossover, Louie said. The government needs laptops that are secure and tamper-proof if lost. Corporate chief executives require similar safeguards, as customer lists and corporate secrets are often kept on handhelds or laptops. Current methods of security only slow down portable devices, Louie said, and often cause file access times to lag by as much as a factor of ten. Also on the radar for companies should be better practices for backing up data and planning for recovery in the event of a disaster. The current technologies aren't adequate for the government -- or the private sector, Louie said. Storing all backup data in one secure place -- the "silo" philosophy -- or simply "mirroring" or copying data isn't good enough, he said. "I have a fail-proof test," Louie said. "Tell everyone to stay home one day. Give them no access to the company's intranets and see if the company can still do business."
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