Lockheed Martin Corp. CEO Robert Stevens envisions several acquisition opportunities in 2010 that will build on some of the company's growing business units, Reuters news service reported during its Aerospace and Defense Summit in Washington on Dec. 14.
The company will explore prospects in cybersecurity, energy security, logistics support and intelligence surveillance, Reuters reported.
"When we look to the future of cybersecurity, we are all just scratching the surface of the demands that will be placed on all of us to secure the databases, the networks, the information technology environment that we have," Stevens said when speaking at the Summit.
Indeed, the company has made several moves in recent months indicating it's positioning itself for growth in many of the business sectors mentioned by Stevens, including energy security. On Dec. 2 Lockheed Martin and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology announced a $5 million, five-year research partnership to collaborate on global climate initiatives, such as carbon modeling and verification and utility-scale energy storage.
That same day the company said it would partner with several utility companies to work on projects that will upgrade the United States' electric grid.
At A Glance Lockheed Martin Corp. Bethesda, Md. Primary Industry: Aerospace & Defense Number of Employees: 146,000 2008 In Review Revenue: $42.73 billion Profit Margin: 7.53% Sales Turnover: 1.28 Inventory Turnover: 21.04 Revenue Growth: 2.08% Return On Assets: 11.12% Return On Equity: 32.81% |
A month earlier Lockheed Martin opened its NexGen Cyber Innovation and Technology Center. The 25,000-square-foot facility features seven collaboration areas, a green IT data center, cloud computing platforms, telepresence and high-definition video teleconferencing and site connectivity to other Lockheed Martin facilities around the world.
The center, located in Gaithersburg, Md., is designed to protect Lockheed Martin customers' missions and address global cyber security challenges, the company said.
The health-care IT sector is another area the company has been actively pursuing. In October Lockheed Martin said it received a $170 million federal Health & Human Services (HHS) contract to provide the department with IT services.
For HHS, Lockheed Martin is providing desktop support, help desk and call center services, systems administration and e-mail support, and general operations and maintenance. The company also is providing support for the National Institutes of Health's Office of Computer and Communications Systems Software Support Services, including Web and application design and development, and infrastructure analysis and planning.
"We understand large database management, we understand the security in databases, whether that's personal privacy protection or whether it's classified information protection... so we'll continue to explore that horizon," Stevens told Reuters.
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