Founder and CSO Dustan Hellwig describes CTI’s unique GovOpen philosophy.
Why Open Solutions?
CTI is creating a new market-space centered on open, Government-Owned – “GovOpen” – technology solutions.
Traditionally, defense technologies have been developed with proprietary frameworks that can create barriers to widespread accessibility for end-users in the field. At CTI, we believe there’s a better way.
By championing open, Government-Owned solutions, we ensure critical capabilities are available to all who need them – without the challenges of paywalls or restrictive access models. This approach allows us to deliver impactful solutions that ensure warfighters have the tools they need to succeed in today’s rapidly evolving battlespaces.
How Do We Succeed?
At CTI, we thrive by delivering exceptional solutions tailored to our customers’ unique needs.
Unlike many defense tech companies, our core business isn’t to sell software or lock capabilities behind proprietary walls. Instead, our customers fund us to create or adapt solutions under contract, ensuring the resulting technologies are “GovOpen” and accessible across agencies. This approach fosters collaboration, eliminates unnecessary barriers, and ensures every dollar spent contributes directly to advancing mission-critical capabilities for the warfighter.
Our success is driven by our commitment to excellence and relevance in the modern battlespace. We consistently refine and adapt our solutions to meet evolving challenges, ensuring they remain cutting-edge and operationally effective.
CTI’s GovOpen Model in Action
Rapid Solutions for Hurricane Helene
In September 2024, Hurricane Helene barreled toward the Southeastern United States, threatening millions with devastating winds, flooding, and power outages. In the face of this urgent crisis, CTI sprang into action, offering critical support to first responders and public safety agencies through rapid deployment of cutting-edge technology.
To enhance situational awareness and interagency collaboration, CTI offered free access to its secure GovCloud TAK (Tactical Awareness Kit) Server, providing responders with a robust, interoperable common operating picture, enabling real-time sharing of critical information and seamless coordination across agencies and jurisdictions.
Standing behind this offering was CTI’s elite team of former special operations and public safety professionals, bringing unparalleled expertise to ensure operational success.
The Benefits of GovOpen Solutions
GovOpen solutions redefine how capabilities are delivered to the warfighter by emphasizing accessibility, affordability, and agility.
At CTI, we are committed to promoting solutions that are open and Government-owned, eliminating restrictive paywalls and proprietary barriers. This approach guarantees every warfighter, across units and domains, can access mission-critical tools.
As the leader in GovOpen technologies, CTI is driving innovation to ensure our warfighters are equipped with the best tools to maintain an edge in today’s Invisible Battlespaces.
Accessibility
By prioritizing accessibility, GovOpen solutions empower the entire force, breaking down silos and fostering broader collaboration to address complex challenges in the modern battlespaces.
Affordability
By avoiding traditional defense tech business models, we help reduce long-term costs to customers while simultaneously delivering cutting-edge capabilities. Innovation is inherent to our business model, without it, we can't win new business.
Agility
Open frameworks accelerate the integration of new technologies and foster collaboration across Government and industry. This allows us to rapidly adapt to emerging threats and quickly field operational capabilities.
Open, Government-Owned Platforms
SEE the Invisible Battlespaces with GovOpen Platforms
CTI is a key contributor to numerous GovOpen platforms, leveraging our expertise to drive innovation and deliver mission-critical capabilities. Below, we’ve highlighted a selection of these platforms to provide context for our work.
Digital Overwatch
Digital Overwatch is a cloud-focused, scalable platform enabling situational awareness, data-driven operations, policymaking, and successful mission execution via the filtering, analysis, and visualization of real-time data feeds sourced from a wide variety of sensors, systems, and intelligence sources.
Merlin
Merlin is a software suite that provides decision support for pre-, in-, and post-mission understanding of the spectrum battlespace. Merlin supports pre-mission planning; live, virtual, constructive (LVC) execution; and post-mission analysis for multi-domain operations.
TAKX
TAKX is a cross-platform situational awareness application within the TAK ecosystem and the successor to WinTAK. CTI is the core developer of TAKX and provides integration services for entities looking to turn their capabilities into TAK plugins for TAKX, ATAK, WinTAK, TAK Server, and more.
Advance the GovOpen Model
Join Us
We continue to assemble a top-tier team of the brightest minds and most dedicated professionals to tackle the nation’s most complex challenges. We are committed to building a workforce that shares our passion for innovation, collaboration, and patriotism.
Headquartered in California, MD, with satellite offices and remote employees across the United States, we seek the best talent, wherever it resides. We invite you to bring your skills, experience, and drive to help us make an impact and bring technology to the fight.
Impacting the Future of War
CTI is revolutionizing modern warfare by empowering our customers to Sense, Evaluate, and deliver Effects in the Invisible Battlespaces.
Our technology solutions enhance mission effectiveness, efficiency, and lethality, ensuring our warfighters maintain a decisive edge against adversaries. We do this by integrating with open, Government-owned platforms, and providing customers with a vertically integrated solution-set bridging the gap between technology ideation, research, and development all the way through to operational deployment and sustainment.
Through our Mission Support services, we provide guidance on innovation and experimentation, directly aiding real-world mission execution, and our Solutions Support team – led by former special operations and public safety professionals – ensures seamless integration, fielding, training, and long-term operational success when leveraging these capabilities.
At CTI we bring technology to the fight and redefine what’s possible in modern warfare.
Sense Portfolio
Solutions relating to sensors and platforms, accompanying hardware, and complementary capabilities and technologies.
Evaluate Portfolio
Solutions relating to data analytics and visualization, as well as complementary capabilities and technologies.
Effect Portfolio
Solutions relating to mission analytics and visualization, as well as complementary capabilities and technologies, including those facilitating kinetic and non-kenetic effects.
Mission Support
Support services tied to innovation and experimentation directly supporting real-world mission execution.
Solution Support
Support services tied to fielding and training – including for the TAK ecosystem – led by former special operations and public safety professionals.
Integrate with GovOpen Solutions
Let’s Work Together
Are you interested in integrating your technology into a GovOpen Solution? Let’s start the conversation and accelerate the process of getting your technology into the hands of the warfighter.