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Half-A-Million Bucks For What > CONTRACT AWARD to Sentinel Technologies

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The devil's in the details - and we don't know much about this from the sketchy details provided in the Council Report

THE PRIVACY PARADOX

IS DATA PRIVACY A PRIVILEGE?

Technology tools in Government Control

Safeguarding Civil Liberties & Guaranteeing Rights

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File #:

21-0718

Type:

Contract

Status:

Agenda Ready

In control:

City Council

On agenda:

7/1/2021

Title:

Purchase of Outdoor Wireless Access Points (Replacement) for the Department of Innovation and Technology (Smart Cities Initiative) (Citywide) The City currently provides free public Wi-Fi in the downtown district, libraries, parks, and pools. The current outdoor system has reached end-of-life and replacement is needed. With the new development in Downtown Mesa, the project will also expand the service area, as well as work with residents and businesses to ensure the service meets the needs of the community working in, living in, and visiting downtown, parks, and pool facilities. Department of Innovation and Technology and Purchasing recommend authorizing the purchase using the NCPA cooperative contract and the lowest quoted vendor, Sentinel Technologies, at $539,075, based on estimated requirements. This purchase is funded by Local Fiscal Recovery Funds.

Attachments:

1. Council Report

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RELATED CONTENT

How to Avoid Public WiFi Security Risks

www.kaspersky.com | 2021-01-13T17:57:22Z

Wi-Fi users are at risk from hackers, but fortunately there are safeguards against them. The recent explosion of free, public Wi-Fi has been an enormous boon for working professionals. Since these free access points are available at restaurants, hotels, airports, bookstores, and even random retail outlets, you are rarely more than a short trip away from access to your network, and your work. This freedom comes at a price, though, and few truly understand the public Wi-Fi risks associated with these connections.

The Risks of a Public Wi-fi

The same features that make free Wi-Fi hotspots desirable for consumers make them desirable for hackers... the  hacker has access to every piece of information you're sending out on the Internet: important emails, credit card information and even security credentials to your business network. Once the hacker has that information, he can — at his leisure — access your systems as if he were you.

Hackers can also use an unsecured Wi-Fi connection to distribute malware. If you allow file-sharing across a network, the hacker can easily plant infected software on your computer.

Turn Off Sharing

When connecting to the Internet at a public place, you're unlikely to want to share anything. You can turn off sharing from the system preferences or Control Panel, depending on your OS, or let Windows turn it off for you by choosing the "Public" option the first time you connect to a new, unsecured network.

Keep Wi-Fi Off When You Don't Need It

Even if you haven't actively connected to a network, the Wi-Fi hardware in your computer is still transmitting data between any network within range. . .

Stay Protected

Even individuals who take all the possible public Wi-Fi security precautions are going to run across issues from time to time. It's just a fact of life in this interconnected age. That's why it's imperative to keep a robust Internet security solution installed and running on your machine. These solutions can constantly run a malware scan on your files, and will always scan new files as they are downloaded. . .

 

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COUNCIL REPORT

City Council Report 

Date: July 1, 2021 

To: City Council 

Through: Michael Kennington, Chief Financial Officer 

From: Edward Quedens, Business Services Director 

Matt Bauer, Procurement Administrator 

Subject: Purchase of Outdoor Wireless Access Points (Replacement) for the Department of Innovation and Technology (Smart Cities Initiative) (Citywide) 

 

Purpose and Recommendation 

Council is requested to approve the purchase as recommended. Department of Innovation and Technology (DoIT) and Purchasing recommend authorizing the purchase using the NCPA cooperative contract and the lowest quoted vendor, Sentinel Technologies at $539,075, based on estimated requirements. 

 

Background / Discussion 

The City currently provides free public Wi-Fi (Wireless Internet Access) in the downtown district, libraries, parks, and pools. The current outdoor system has reached end-of-life and replacement is needed. With the new development in Downtown Mesa, the project will also expand the service area, as well as work with residents and businesses to ensure the service meets the needs of the community working in, living in, and visiting downtown, parks, and pool facilities. 

Staff evaluated multiple hardware platforms for this service, and found the solution utilizing Cisco Systems to best meet the needs of the City’s security and privacy, and to enable future capabilities for a Smart City. 

An evaluation committee from DoIT and the Transportation Department unanimously agreed on the Cisco recommendation. 

 

Purchasing Information Action: 

Award Procurement Type: Cooperative Contract 

Use Contract Number: 2021242 Contracting Agency/Contract Number: NCPA Contract/#01-97 

Local Consideration: Policy did not apply to this procurement method 

Protests Received: None 

Funding Source: Local Fiscal Recovery Funds 

 

AWARD RECOMMENDATION 

Hardware, Software, Support, Services and Shipping per NCPA #01-97 

and Quote Cisco Outdoor Wireless (5/28/2021) 

Hardware and Software $398,660.00 

Solution Maintenance and Support $3,650.00 

Solution Subscriptions $73,800.00 

Professional Services $22,400.00 

Ground Shipping $2,000.00 

Estimated 8.1% Sales Tax $38,564.91 

Total $539,074.91

What is Sentinel technology?

As an independent technology company, Sentinelstands for integrated, customized IT solutions. Our business first, technology second methodology is a unique approach that helps our customers drive sales, propel business performance, and improve operational efficiency.

WEBSITE https://www.sentinel.com/about 

Re: FACEBOOK LAWSUIT > 46 States' Attorney Generals + The Federal Trade Commission Fail To-Make-Their Case Heard in Court

The Court spoken in very clear language using the same reasoning earlier used in a post on Techdirt:

The details of the ruling really show (as we had suggested earlier) that it appears that the government really tried to rush all these cases, and did so with weak arguments just to get a case started, without thinking that just because you say something is true you can't get a court to buy it without support:

 

Court Tosses Both FTC And States' Antitrust Cases Against Facebook; You Gotta Have More Than 'Big Facebook Bad'

Legal Issues

from the ouch dept

Tue, Jun 29th 2021 12:20pm — Mike Masnick

"As you'll almost certainly recall, last December the FTC filed an antitrust case against Facebook. That happened the same day 46 states (and DC and Guam) also sued Facebook for antitrust violations in a separate case. Also it was right after the DOJ went after Google on antitrust grounds.

"On Monday a judge ruled on both the cases against Facebook -- and dismissed them both. In both cases, the Court highlights the very problems we noted in our initial writeup about these cases. They seem to assume that "obviously" Facebook is a monopoly and "obviously" it's doing anti-competitive bad stuff. But... the problem with insisting that it's all "obvious" is that you have to actually show that in your complaint. And that didn't happen in either of these cases.

The court, fairly easily, dismissed the FTC's case, though left it open for the FTC to amend the case and try again (which it will almost certainly do). The judge highlighted the exact same problem I raised in my post about the key weakness in the case: it fails to show evidence that Facebook has a monopoly.The question now is what will the FTC do in response. It could try to come back with another attempt with a better market definition -- even though the court seems somewhat skeptical that it could do so successfully. The other option, which some are speculating about, is that the FTC could try again using a totally different legal theory, basically arguing unfair competition, rather than abuse of market power. Of course, as former FTC Commissioner Joshua Wright has detailed, taking this latter approach could lead the courts to significantly limiting the FTC's authority -- meaning it could backfire spectacularly.

As for the States' case against Facebook, it fails for even dumber reasons. When the case was first filed, we noted how it tells a narrative that left out a ton of important context. The case focuses on Facebook's purchases of both WhatsApp and Instagram, and tries to argue that after sucking a bunch of companies in to use Facebook's platform, it then cut back on the API access to functionalities to keep competitors out. That, of course, leaves out the context of reasons why Facebook changed its approach to the API and how it had to deal with situations like Cambridge Analytica's abuse of the API to suck out a ton of data.

But the real problem with the States' case? They brought it way too late . . .Many people have taken it for granted that Facebook is clearly violating antitrust law, but the lawyers bringing these cases against the company can't take that for granted, or assume that it's obvious. They have to prove it to a court, and, as these two rulings show, they failed to do so in either case.

Filed Under: antitrust, competition, ftc, market power, states
Companies: facebook

. . .

======================================================================
RELATED CONTENT from December 9, 2020

Open Season: FTC & 48 Attorneys General File Separate Antitrust Lawsuits Against Facebook

Legal Issues

from the well-this-will-be-interesting dept

Wed, Dec 9th 2020 1:52pm — Mike Masnick 

2 New Reports on Hunger in The USA

1 in 10 adults are experiencing food scarcity  The Census Bureau’s Household Pulse Survey has measured food scarcity throughout the pandemic. What’s emerged from that data is a fuller picture of who is going hungry in the US. And while the coronavirus pandemic did not create a national hunger problem, it has exacerbated it. Learn more with these reports about who is experiencing food scarcity in America.  In December 2020, 13.7% of adults were in households experiencing food scarcity. The national rate fell to a low of 8% in April of this year but now sits at 9.7%. For comparison, food insecurity was as high as 15% during the Great Recession.     The chart above displays a percentage of households experiencing food insecurity by status. Over a third of very low food security households reported not eating for an entire day. Food deserts are one reason for food insecurity. What is a food desert? The Department of Agriculture defines them as an area where low-income people do not have easy and ample access to food retailers. This limits people’s access to affordable, nutritious food.    These deserts particularly impact urban areas. In 2019, 96% of people in a food desert lived in an urban area. That’s 51.7 million people.   Extreme food deserts are where people live more than a mile away from the nearest urban food store or more than 20 miles from the nearest rural food store. Twelve percent of Memphis, Tennessee residents live in extreme food deserts.   Six metro areas have 1% or fewer of its population living in extreme deserts: San Jose, Calif., Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, New York City, and Portland, Oregon. See more at USAFacts, including the cities most affected by food deserts and how the government increased funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, aka food stamps, during the pandemic. Understanding transgender laws by state State legislators nationwide are considering bills on medical access and sports participation for transgender Americans. From overridden vetoes to a several new bills, it can be difficult to track developments. This new data story at USAFacts is here to help you understand where these laws are being proposed across the US. Lawmakers from 15 states have introduced bills to restrict medical access or procedures for transgender minors. The bills include proposals to criminalize treatments and surgeries and require parental consent for medical care.    In 2021, state legislators in 35 states introduced bills to limit participation in high school or college athletic teams based on what sex a student was assigned at birth, sometimes called  “biological sex.”   Hate crime laws in 21 states from Hawaii to Tennessee to Rhode Island, plus Washington, DC, protect victims targeted due to actual or perceived gender expression or gender identity. One last fact Over half of eligible Americans received one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine as of June 21. Additionally, at least 150 million Americans have received two doses of the vaccine, and most Americans could be fully vaccinated by the end of the summer. For up-to-date numbers on the pandemic, visit the USAFacts coronavirus data hub. And finally... Do you want to help improve the USAFacts website? Then join the USAFacts User Experience Participant Pool. Members will partake in interviews, surveys, and other means of measuring website performance. You’ll help out USAFacts while making the website better for readers like you! If you're interested, please sign up here.