WASHINGTON, October 14 /PRNewswire/ --

- Emphasizes value of global collaboration on critical issues

The Network Centric Operations Industry Consortium (NCOIC) today
announced it has elected Terrence C. "Terry" Morgan of Cisco Systems to the
position of NCOIC chairman. Michael Curtis, of IBM, and Edgar Buckley, of
Thales, will support Morgan as vice chairmen.

Terry Morgan is director of network centric strategy for the Global
Government Solutions Group at Cisco. In that capacity, he engages
international leaders from government and industry in discussing the
application of net-centric operations to their defense and security sectors.
A retired U.S. Marine Corps lieutenant colonel and 24-year officer, Morgan
commanded an artillery battalion, was Marine Forces Europe's assistant chief
of staff operations and served as a United Nations unarmed military observer
in Lebanon.

"Globally, society is facing both old and new problems - scarce water,
food shortages, pandemics, cyber warfare - that cannot be resolved by one
nation," Morgan said. "Our best chance for success lies in the collaboration
of nations and organizations: To that end, NCOIC is contributing
significantly to the technological foundation of network-centric operations
(NCO) - the scoping, guiding and measuring of interoperability."

Morgan assumes the chairmanship from retired U.S. Navy Rear Admiral
Robert C. "Willie" Williamson, Raytheon Company, as Williamson becomes
NCOIC's chairman emeritus.

Michael Curtis is an executive consultant for IBM Global Business
Services. In his primary role as chief architect for complex NCO projects, he
focuses on solutions that advance network centric operations. During his
twelve-year IBM tenure, Curtis has collaborated with global customers'
technology strategists to develop information systems for the manufacturing,
banking, brokerage and insurance sectors. In the federal business arena, he
previously served on an IBM senior technology team that addressed strategic
information technology issues for U.S. government agencies.

Located in France, Edgar Buckley is senior vice president for European
business development at Thales. He joined the company following a career in
British government and international service during which he served as an
assistant under secretary of state for the U.K.'s Ministry of Defence (MoD).
In that position, Buckley was responsible for policy on U.K. military
operations and defense relations with countries outside Europe and North
America. Also, prior to his joining Thales, Buckley was NATO's assistant
secretary general for defense planning and operations.

About NCOIC

The Network Centric Operations Industry Consortium (NCOIC) is a
not-for-profit international association committed to integrating existing
and emerging open standards into a common evolving global framework,
employing a common set of principles and processes, to assist with rapid
global deployment of network-centric applications. Established in 2004, NCOIC
consists of representatives from defense companies, large-scale systems
integrators, information technology providers, government agencies and
academia working in concert with advisory bodies consisting of government
officials, standards groups and other stakeholders. For more information,
visit www.NCOIC.org.

Notes:
    - NCOIC leadership appointments are determined by general member 
      election and are held for one year.
    - Executive biographies and photos are located at
      https://www.ncoic.org/news/exec_bios/.

Web site: http://www.ncoic.org