D.C.-area emergency network could be model for U.S.

Computerworld - The wireless public safety data network being built in the Washington area is being viewed as a pilot project that could be used across the nation to help emergency officials easily share critical data in times of disasters.
Under the program, officials from a wide range of agencies -- from police, fire and transportation departments to government offices -- will be able to share data wirelessly when responding to fires, terrorist attacks, natural disasters and even weather emergencies.
For many of the agencies, the new data network will be the first time they have been able to share digital data directly and instantly with other agencies during disasters.
Some 40 local, state and federal agencies in Virginia, Maryland and Washington are involved in the pilot project, which will create a Capital Wireless Integrated Network (CapWIN) that will span governmental jurisdictions and provide real-time information to emergency workers (see story).
"One goal is to be a national model," said Bob Moseley, a technical systems adviser on the project. Because the network is being designed with an open-system architecture, it can be affordably duplicated in other parts of the country without having to reinvent it from scratch, he said. "It's got some obvious benefits."
Charles Samarra, chief of police in Alexandria, Va., and chairman of the CapWIN executive committee, said the data network project, which began in 1999, seeks to resolve communications problems faced by emergency officials for decades. The problem is that each department has computer equipment it bought on its own, without consideration for compatibility with other agencies.
"That's all fine, except when there's an emergency and you all need to communicate," Samarra said.
IBM said last week in a statement that it has been hired to help design and build the system, which will be created with an open architecture using IBM eServer pSeries Unix servers running IBM Websphere software. The browser-based data communications system will use a global directory created by IBM that allows communications compatibility no matter what kinds of hardware each department or office is using on the network.
The CapWIN network will eventually allow officials to communicate on the scene of an emergency using portable computers, personal digital assistants and other text-enabled devices using wireless gateways that bridge the compatibility gaps and allow uninterrupted and secure communications.
Similar progress has been made in voice communications in recent years, he said, with special switches that allow emergency officials to communicate with each other despite having incompatible radio gear.
"I have seen it on the voice side," Samarra