There has been a significant decline in the number of H-1B visas granted for skilled foreign professionals and this makes the business environment tougher for Indian software services companies. If the visas are exhausted in the next few months, as some expect, services companies say their clients' delivery schedules and new projects will be delayed. H-1B visas are given each year to foreign workers whose specialized skills are sought by American companies. During the technology boom, the H-1B visa program, which allows foreigners to work in the United States for up to six years, provided a gateway for thousands of Indians who came to work in the United States, especially in Silicon Valley. According to an estimate by the American Immigration Lawyers' Association, there are some 900,000 H-1B employees in the United States; 35% to 45% of them from India. Critics of the visa program complain that American corporations are replacing employees with less-expensive foreign workers from places such as India and the Philippines; American companies argue that the program is essential in helping maintain competitiveness in the global economy. As Indian software services companies grapple with the vastly reduced quota of visas, American companies will have to figure out ways to collaborate with them to help manage a supply imbalance that is expected to emerge as the economy improves. As the economy recovers, industry executives envision an even more acute shortage of skilled workers.

Now there is a company offering a way for jealous lovers--or anyone else--to spy on the computer activity of their mates by sending an e-greeting, the equivalent of a "thinking of you" card that doubles as a bugging device. Computer security experts said this service appears to violate U.S. law but also said the surveillance program pointed to an increasingly common way for hackers to seize control of computers. Marketed as a way to "catch a cheating lover," the company offers to send an e-mail greeting card to lure the victim to a Web site that will download onto the victim's computer a Trojan program to be used for spying. The software claims to record anything the victim does on the computer, including all keystrokes, passwords, e-mail, chats and screen shots and even turning on the victim's Web camera. The spy program discreetly sends the information to the company server that then forwards it to the person who paid for the software, maintaining the purchaser's anonymity, according to the company's Web site. A former head of the Justice Department's computer crime unit has stated that loading a program onto someone else's computer without their authorization is patently illegal.

America Online plans to tap the underserved Hispanic audience in the United States with a new service it hopes will attract new customers and help stave off a decline in subscribers. The AOL online services unit is hoping the new bilingual service will help bolster its dial-up service, from which most of the unit's revenue is derived. The Hispanic population in the United States is estimated at 39 million. Focus-group studies helped the company identify the Hispanic market, which has evolved into one of the country's fastest-growing ethnic markets. A recent Forrester Research study found that the growth in online users in the U.S. Hispanic market outpaced other ethnic demographics, growing 11% over three years, compared with 6% for African-Americans and Caucasians.

PalmSource will update version 5.0 of its Palm operating system to target cell phones, available to licensees next year. Version 6, which the company will make available to licensees on Dec. 29 and to developers on Feb. 10, also will

target advanced cell phones and will focus on security for wireless data transfers.

The nation's No. 1 cell phone carrier, Verizon Wireless, is launching a wireless broadband service, BroadbandAccess, for $89 monthly. This is service should compete mainly with other cell phone providers that have built their own wireless data networks. The service promises the average user download speeds of 300 kilobits per second to 500 kilobits per second, making it twice as fast as its closest competitor. BroadbandAccess will be available first on the East Coast, within an area bordered by Washington, D.C.; Reston and Alexandria, Va.; and Rockville, Md. It will also be available in a Southern California region that includes San Diego, Oceanside, Escondido, Poway and El Cajon. BroadbandAccess is likely to attract those who now use slower services from the likes of AT&T Wireless, Sprint PCS and the nation's other major cell phone carriers, analysts believe. But it may have trouble attracting traditional cable and DSL customers, who are used to speeds of about two megabits per second and at $30 a month.

PROCUREMENT AND FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES

The following is a listing of recently published technology procurement or Federally funded opportunities with various governmental entities. We hope our readers take the opportunity to investigate these postings and increase their business :

Federal Funding Opportunities

Department of Defense
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has issued a request for Chemical Countermeasures Program . The goal of the program is to develop, field-test and transition to commercialization the next-generation of biological and chemical detectors required to effectively counter potential biological and chemical attacks. HSARPA intends to make multiple Phase I awards, each ranging from $250,000 to $4.5 million. Any entity, other than the specific Department of Energy laboratories listed in the solicitation, may submit a white paper or proposal. White papers are strongly encouraged and are due Oct. 24, 2003; proposals are due Dec. 5, 2003. The full solicitation (RA-03-01) is available at: http://www.bids.tswg.gov information in innovative technological system or subsystem concepts that will enable the government to fulfill the vision of the development of CROSSHAIRS . The primary objective of the CROSSHAIRS program is to design and develop an affordable capability for detecting, identifying and neutralizing a sniper threat. A secondary objective of the program is to detect incoming mortars and rocket propelled grenades and take appropriate action. Companies responding to this announcement should provide a high-level system description of complete solution or a description of a subsystem technology that will enable or enhance the objectives. Any technical information submitted in response is voluntary. Responses are due Oct. 3, 2003. More information is available at: http://www.eps.gov/spg/ODA/DARPA/CMO/
SN03-31/listing.html

Department of Energy (DOE)
In support of advanced coal research, DOE invites applications for funding to maintain and upgrade the education, training, and research capabilities of colleges and universities in the fields of science, environment, energy and technology related to coal. Approximately $3 million is expected to be available to fund 14-18 awards, each ranging from $50,000 to $400,000 for projects of 12-36 months in duration. Only U.S. colleges, universities and university-affiliated research institutions are eligible to apply. Applications are due Nov. 6, 2003. More information is available at: http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/14mar20010800/
edocket.access.gpo.gov/2003/03-24350.htm

National Science Foundation (NSF)
NSF invites proposals for funding under the Artificial Intelligence and Cognitive Science program . The program supports research in the development of computer systems capable of performing a broad variety of intelligent tasks and the development of computational models of intelligent behavior across the spectrum of human intelligence. Approximately $5.5 million is expected to be available to fund 15 awards, each having a duration of to three years. The categories of proposers identified in the Grant Proposal Guide are eligible to submit proposals, which are due Dec. 19, 2003. More information is available at: http://www.nsf.gov/pubsys/ods/getpub.cfm?nsf03600

NSF invites proposals for funding to support research and related education activities in robotics (i.e. machines with sensing, intelligence and mobility). The emphasis is on systems operating in unstructured environments with a high level of uncertainty, interaction and cooperation of humans and robots, and advanced robotic sensory systems. Approximately $5.3 million is expected to be available to fund 12 awards, each having a duration of to three years. The categories of proposers identified in the Grant Proposal Guide are eligible to submit proposals, which are due Dec. 19, 2003. More information is available at: http://www.nsf.gov/pubsys/ods/getpub.cfm?nsf03601

NSF invites proposals for funding to support research and related education activities in computer vision . The emphasis is on image representation and interpretation for systems designed to infer properties of the environment from imaging data and advanced vision systems providing cognitive abilities. Approximately $3.5 million is expected to be available to fund eight awards, each having a duration of up to three years. The categories of proposers identified in the Grant Proposal Guide are eligible to submit proposals, which are due Dec. 19, 2003. More information is available at: http://www.nsf.gov/pubsys/ods/getpub.cfm?nsf03602

Source: SSTI Weekly Digest
A Publication of the State Science and Technology Institute
Email: ssti@ssti.org      Website: http://www.ssti.org

USA - U. S. Army Materiel Command
US Tank-Automotive and Armaments Command, Corporate Management / Acquisition Center 70--General-purpose information technology equipment Synopsis http://www.eps.gov/spg/USA/USAMC/DAAE07/DAAE0703RN308/listing.html

USA - U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
U.S. Army Engineer District, Vicksburg
70--Programming services for the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) in the maintenance and enhancement of the Information Environment (IE) for HPCMPO (High Performance Computing Modernization Program.) Synopsis http://www.eps.gov/spg/USA/COE/DACA38/W81EWF32540909/listing.html

AID - Overseas Missions
Dominican Republic USAID-Santo Domingo
R -- USPSC Health Senior Advisor
Combine Synopsis/Solicitation http://www.eps.gov/spg/AID/OM/DOM/517%2D03%2D022/listing.html

GAO - Acquisition Management
Acquisition Management
R -- Training - Interactive Instructional Television Services Modification 04 http://www.eps.gov/spg/GAO/GAOAM/GAOAM1/OAM%2D2003%2DN%2D0003/listing.html

USA - National Guard Bureau
National Guard Bureau, Environmental/Air Acquisition Division U--All required videos, website creation, warehousing, web hosting; and marketing required for a period of 1 (one) Year for support of Employee Developmental of the Air National Guard, ANG/DP, and Office of Human Resources Enhancement. Combine Synopsis/Solicitation http://www.eps.gov/spg/USA/NGB/DAHA92/DAHA92%2D03%2DR%2D0010/listing.html

DHS-DR - United States Coast Guard (USCG)
Commandant (G-ACS), U.S. Coast Guard Headquarters
D -- Information Technology Services
Modification 08 http://www.eps.gov/spg/DHS%2DDR/USCG/GACS/DTCG23%2D03%2DR %2DCGITSS/listing.html