A research project to develop a new training course in port security at Florida State University (FSU) in Tallahassee has led to a new company that aims to train workers at the nation’s 350 commercial ports. The company, Educational Development Group LLC (EDG), has begun marketing its security training program and online reporting system to clients.
The training course grew out of a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in 2005 to conduct research and develop systems for creating a uniform set of courses for port employees to better prevent and respond to terrorist acts at the nation’s seaports. The project also developed an online database that for ports to record and track their employees’ training histories. The FSU team produced a curriculum consisting of 530 lessons in eight separate courses. Taken either online or with an instructor, each lesson takes about 30 minutes to complete. The nature of a port worker’s job determines which lessons he or she would be required to take.
The final product called PortStar was made available to all U.S. ports in early 2010. By the end of July 2010, more than 3,000 trainees have enrolled and completed over 10,000 lessons on the PortStar system.
DHS funded development of the system, however, not its operation. Two of PortStar’s developers, formed EDG in Tallahassee, and signed a licensing agreement with the Florida State University Research Foundation that allows EDG to market PortStar to new clients. In July, EDG signed an agreement with Canadian company MacDonnell Security Risk Management for marketing and sales support, as well as instructor-led PortStar training. EDG will host and manage the PortStar curriculum and training management systems, as well as offer IT support and lead continue research and development.
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