The Colombian Army Has Successfully Conducted an Emergency Management Exercise for a Private Oil Company Using MASA Group’s Simulation Software
Bogota (PRWEB) April 24, 2014 -- MASA Group (“MASA”), a leading developer of Artificial Intelligence-based simulation software for the defense, emergency management, and games-related markets, announces ESDEGUE’s first use of its constructive simulation SWORD to train crisis supervisors and decision-makers of a privately-held corporation.
Ecopetrol*, the fourth largest oil company in South America, assigned a crisis management team to participate at a strategic-level training exercise at ESDEGUE headquarters last February. The objective of the exercise was to evaluate and improve the company’s response to attacks on its pipelines. Ecopetrol also wanted to test its reaction times and coordination with the military organization. The training exercise, held over two days in Bogota, gave Ecopetrol important practical experience applying emergency protocols in specific contexts.
SWORD is an automated simulation software for efficient training and analysis at national/regional levels; it can be used for both military and crisis management exercises. During the recent exercise with Ecopetrol, ESDEGUE used SWORD to create a scenario customized with specific elements (such as terrorist attacks on pipelines) for emergency management training. The move by ESDEGUE, to extend its ‘best-of-breed’ military simulation and training services to the private sector, was the first of its kind since the acquisition of the software in August 2013. The introduction creates a ‘win-win’ model for sustainable public-private partnerships in which private companies benefit both from world-class exercise environments and simulation technologies as well as rigorous and effective military training methods. At the same time, military institutions such as ESDEGUE can diversify and multiply their funding sources, enabling continued improvement to their software and hardware infrastructure.
The success of this exercise was due mainly to ESDEGUE’s ability to prepare a tailor-made environment that matched Ecopetrol’s needs and protocols. Engineers from ESDEGUE were supported by a team of engineers from both MASA Group and LMI (MASA’s reseller and partner in the region).
“It is our mission to guarantee the security of the nation,” declared Teniente Coronel Johny Hernando Bautista Beltran, head of CESAC (Center for Crisis Simulation and Analysis) at ESDEGUE. “We are proud to share our experience and cutting-edge technology with strategic industrial stakeholders to improve their security and therefore ensure the supply to the nation. ESDEGUE’s training center with its state-of-the-art simulation tools is becoming the new reference in terms of crisis management and defense training. SWORD has been a major contribution to develop such a high level of training expertise and capabilities. SWORD has also broadened the scope of our training actions thanks to its automation capabilities”. Encouraged by this success, ESDEGUE plan to use SWORD on a regular basis.
Mr. Manuel Bautista, a retired army colonel now acting as Security Director at Ecopetrol, took part in the exercise and declared: “At Ecopetrol, we are involved in a permanent quality improvement process to strengthen our security. We need to train the different forces dedicated to securing our pipelines. SWORD is a tool that allowed us to have realistic scenarios and conditions involving both military and civilian forces.”
"Our partnership with the ESDEGUE illustrates and confirms SWORD’s vast potential throughout South America and other regions in the world with similar needs", said Juan Pablo Torres, President and CEO of MASA Group. “We are extremely excited by the new type of public-private collaboration initiated by ESDEGUE with companies such as Ecopetrol. It characterizes a breakthrough business model that we will strongly encourage to our users around the world, offering them new horizons of development.”
*Ecopetrol is a Mixed Economy Company, with a commercial orientation, organized as a Limited Company
About MASA
MASA Group (“MASA”) is a global company focused on the development of Artificial Intelligence-based Modeling & Simulation (M&S) software for the Defense, Homeland Security, Emergency Management, Healthcare, Serious Games and Games markets. A trusted developer of cutting-edge AI technology for over fifteen years, MASA has founded its success on products that combine scalability, adaptability and low cost of ownership, with a strong standards-driven approach to technology.
The MASA product range, including MASA SWORD and MASA LIFE is uniquely designed to simplify and optimize the implementation of Artificial Intelligence capabilities for automating and driving simulated behaviors. Such capabilities allow developers and end-users in various sectors to focus their efforts on enabling a series of cost-efficient and highly realistic applications – such as command staff training, crisis management preparedness, exercise preparation, after-action review, doctrine & equipment analysis, and corporate training.
MASA products are already in use by leading organizations worldwide, including the French, Swiss, and Brazilian Armies –amongst other major armies around the world – and system integrators or solution providers such as Amper Programas, CAE, Krauss-Maffei-Wegmann, Saab Training and Simulation, Thales, and Cliffhanger Productions.
For more information please visit http://www.masagroup.net
Georgia Langdon, CMS Strategic, http://www.cmsstrategic.com/, +44 2087489797, [email protected]
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