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Roland –
Thanks for a nice piece above. You raise the question about whether Forterra’s “links” (whatever that means!) to the military and intelligence communities can impact our ability to work internationally. The answer is no. As a technology provider, our customers typically provide their own data and use cases independently of us. By analogy, does the fact that people in the US intelligence community write their memos in Microsoft Word mean that Microsoft is hampered in working overseas?
Robert Gehorsam
President
Forterra Systems
Robert,
thanks for your comment! With “links” I mean for instance that In-Q-Tel, a company investing in enterprises active in technology which may be of interest to the US intelligence community, is an investor in your company – but correct me if this information would be mistaken, but I think this information is completely in the open.
That is another relationship, I think, than writing memos in Microsoft Word. So my question remains: would for instance the Russian or Chinese intelligence services feel at ease working with Forterra to build virtual training platforms? Would your US intelligence partners appreciate such development? What about other intelligence services, where the relationships with the US are at the same time collaborative (in the struggle against international terrorism) and antagonistic (intelligence gathering about specific industries for instance).
I am not a specialist in intelligence services and military issues, but am I wrong in thinking that a direct investment by the US intelligence community, however justified and open this may be, can have implications in the potential relationships with other countries/intelligence services?
Roland –
Yes, I see your point. And yes, our relationship with In-Q-Tel is of course public knowledge. I think your questions are valid ones, but I have no particular insight other than common sense to offer here. I’d only add that Forterra’s software is considered “commodity” software from an export perspective. It’s just “plain old software” so to speak, and in that sense it really is no different than any other commercial software.
Robert