US DHS, Emergency Management Victoria and MIT LL partner on public safety information sharing

The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) has partnered with the Emergency Management Victoria (Australia) and Massachusetts Institute of Technology Lincoln Laboratory (MIT LL) to advance information-sharing capabilities for public safety.

During the next one-year, the collaboration is expected to allow for the development of standards-based approaches to help public safety organisations share information and improve decision-making capabilities irrespective of differences between hardware and software applications.

The objective of all emergency management activities is to lower the impact of emergencies on human life, communities, infrastructure and the environment.

DHS S&T under-secretary Dr Reginald Brothers said: "This effort with our international research partners will help us to provide front-line emergency managers and response personnel with faster access to critical information.

"This collaborative effort will also help increase the effectiveness of international humanitarian assistance and disaster response resulting in saving lives and reducing property damage."

Additionally, the organisations agreed to continue to explore the use of the next generation incident command system (NICS) technology to support public safety requirements.

The open-source NICS software is expected to be made available to the global community later this year.

Emergency Management Victoria commissioner Craig Lapsley said: "The open-source licensing of the software developed by DHS S&T and MIT LL provides a world-class platform on which Victoria is building its information strategy and all users will potentially benefit from innovation and developments around the world."

Other collaborative research between the partners will focus on mobile applications, as well as improving communications in rural areas with low connectivity, and disaster resiliency.

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Image: DHS S&T, the Emergency Management Victoria and MIT LL officials agreed to advance information-sharing capabilities for public safety. Photo: courtesy of Department of Homeland Security.