Press Releases
09/04/2002
Microsoft, CSX Lines and Horizon Services Announce Commitment to Improve Supply Chain Security
Dallas, TX, Sept. 4, 2002 - Microsoft Corp., CSX Lines and Horizon Services Group today announced a joint commitment to develop information technology applications that will support U.S. government efforts to secure international maritime trade from the threat of terrorism.
CSX Lines, the leading U.S. Jones Act shipping company, and Horizon Services, CSX’s technology subsidiary, continue to examine the potential effect new security requirements enacted by the U.S. government may have on CSX Lines customers and service partners. Together with Microsoft, Horizon will explore technology solutions to make complying with new security initiatives less costly and less disruptive for U.S. shippers.
“Information technology must take the lead role in helping ocean carriers and logistics providers to improve security in the ocean shipping transportation chain,” said John Keenan, president of Horizon Services. “Working with Microsoft gives us access to the best IT minds in world. We want to continue to partner with solutions providers to put the various pieces of a total system together in a way that will promote better security and simplify compliance for CSX Lines customers and U.S. shippers in general.”
Mr. Keenan will discuss the critical role information technology will play in complying with U.S. government security initiatives in a presentation to the upcoming U.S. Maritime Security Expo on Sept. 19 (www.maritimesecurityexpo.com ). High-ranking government and industry officials are gathering at the event in New York to discuss how the maritime industry can improve its defenses against terrorism.
Within Microsoft’s Enterprise Partner Program, Horizon developers have direct communication to a team of Microsoft engineers that created the new .NET development platform. Microsoft .NET is based on Extensible Markup Language (XML) technology. Microsoft, CSX Lines and Horizon expect .NET to facilitate seamless information flow throughout the supply chain by making actual business-to-business systems integration possible.
To learn more about .NET, please visit http://www.microsoft.com.
About CSX Lines
CSX Lines is the leading ocean shipping company serving Jones Act trades in the United States. CSX Lines provides world-class ocean logistics services to thousands of shippers in the United States moving goods between the continental U.S., Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico and other points. The ocean carrier is based in Charlotte, N.C.
About Horizon
Horizon Services Group was formed in 2001 as a wholly owned subsidiary of Horizon Lines, the largest ocean carrier in the U.S. noncontiguous domestic trade. Horizon is based in Dallas, Texas. Its mission is to assist logistics companies in applying creative information technology solutions for improving customer service while reducing the cost of doing business. Horizon recently entered into a partnership with Microsoft Corp. to design next-generation software for logistics management using Microsoft’s new .NET XML-based development technology.
For more information please visit http://www.horizonservicesgroup.com.
