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EmerGeo Speaking at India’s Largest ICT Event: e-India
Gandhinagar, Gujarat (India) – December 14-16, 2011 – Mr. Mike Morrow, President of EmerGeo Solutions Inc, has been invited to speak at India’s largest IT Conference to present the latest trends in “Technology for Safety, Security and Disaster Management”. Mike will join a prestigious panel of senior officials from government and industry.
The Fusionpoint crisis management and situational awareness software will also be on display at EmerGeo’s Partner’s exhibit booth: Sai Infosystem (India) Ltd (SiS is a Platinum sponsor).
This is the 7th edition of e-India, India’s largest Information Communication and Technology (ICT) three day conference beginning December 14 at Gandhinagar. Over 4,000 representatives from industry, government, academia and private sector, both from India and across the globe, will share the best practices for development here that will help shape the future of ICT landscape. The event is being co-organised by the Department of Information Technology (DIT) of the Union Ministry of Communications & IT, All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) and Center for Science, Development and Media Studies (CSDMS). “The conference is one of the premier events focusing on the use of ICT for development. The department is proud to be associated with this initiative,” Department of Science and Technology Gujarat Additional Chief Secretary Ravi Saxena said, in a statement.
Event Location:
Mahatma Mandir
Gandhinagar, Gujarat
More conference information is available at http://eindia.eletsonline.com/.
Fusionpoint Enables Interoperability Among US Coast Guard, Canada Customs and Cities of Detroit and Windsor
Reprinted from The University of Windsor’s UWindsor Prepare newsletter (September 2011, Volume 1, Issue 2) available online here.
On August 23rd and 24th The University of Windsor utilized its emergency operations software when the City of Windsor, US Coast Guard, Canada Customs and Detroit Department of Homeland Security collaborated to test emergency preparedness on the Detroit River.
Exercise “Detroit River Readiness” dealt with a waterborne rescue and explosion on the U.S.-based tour boat, the S.S. Detroit Princess in the Detroit River. The exercise tested the potential impact of such a disaster on both sides of the river. There were simulated casualties in the river which the US Coast Guard and Windsor Port Authority “rescued” along with the assistance of several local Police Boat crews.
The University as well as Detroit and Windsor all activated their Emergency Operations Centres and had a chance to communicate using the University’s WebEOC software. Response support workers also shared a common situational GIS map using the Fusionpoint software acquired by the University and shared with the City of Windsor and County of Essex.
The exercise coincided with the annual Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police conference which was held in Windsor the same week. While presently, all partners in the region are pulling together their after-action analyses, the high-profile exercise went extremely well, a notable point being the effective on-line communication between the Windsor Police site command post and the City’s Emergency Operations Centre. The campus Emergency Operations Centre served as the frontline technical support hub and several members of the campus’ Emergency Response Group were present to practice using the software and share real-time information with their regional colleagues.
The exercise was both exciting for participants and observers on both sides of the river and truly demonstrates the University’s commitment to fostering regional and civic partnerships in an important and practical context.
Fusionpoint™ Situational Awareness Software Keeps Responders Connected via Satellite
Vancouver, B.C., – June 17, 2011 – EmerGeo Solutions Worldwide Inc. (TSX-V: EMG), a leading provider of emergency management software, and its UAE Partner Atlas Telecom (http://www.atlastelecom.ae/) have demonstrated the use of EmerGeo’s Fusionpoint crisis management and situational awareness software over a satellite data network in the Middle East.
Recent disasters have proven that emergency responders cannot always rely on their day-to-day means of communications. Earthquakes, floods, fires, tornados, explosions and other events often affect network infrastructures that responders rely on to coordinate life saving activities. In addition, there is a need to communicate in remote areas that may not allow more standard network infrastructure. Prudent planning of secondary and tertiary data networks is essential to ensure responders can save lives, minimize property damage and, importantly, ensure their own safety.
The demonstration was conducted in Abu Dhabi in May 2011 using a standard Broadband Global Area Network (BGAN) land portable terminal from Inmarsat™ using the Standard IP Data Service; higher speeds and dedicated bandwidth are also available on the BGAN Network and would only improve performance for crisis management applications such as Fusionpoint.
Three configurations were used to demonstrate this capability each with a different style of implementation:
1) Browser Access – The simplest way to access Fusionpoint servers over a satellite link. Direct access from a laptop, running the Fusionpoint Dashboard application in a web browser, through the BGAN connection to an EmerGeo server on the Internet.
2) Local Fusionpoint Server – This simulates a Mobile Command Center or Command Vehicle running its own servers and networks. The local EmerGeo Server consumes, analyzes and displays a real time feed of incident and resource status information provided by another remote EmerGeo Server on the internet, again using a BGAN connection. This same information sharing mechanism can be used for the controlled publishing of information between multiple EmerGeo servers on a range of different network connections with relatively poor bandwidth.
3) Local Client Application running on a Laptop – this would be appropriate for a ruggedized field unit. A local EmerGeo Smart Client (mobile application) synchronizes information with a remote EmerGeo Server on the internet through the BGAN connection. Information can flow both to and from the local Smart Client application that can be used for mapping and other activities such as plume modelling.
To complete the mobile demonstration all work carried out on the EmerGeo servers on the Internet was carried out using a standard commercial 3G connection from a local GSM provider.
All three of these connection configurations worked exceptionally well over the BGAN network.
EmerGeo VSAT Configuration
“This is a great demonstration of how modern communication technologies can be used along with EmerGeo software to rapidly enable incident command and situational awareness in remote locations and other situations where traditional network infrastructure is not available” said Tim Webb, Chief Technology Officer at EmerGeo Solutions. “Situational awareness is an essential component of response and ensuring that emergency applications can communicate over multiple networks is critical because you never know what network will be available during disasters”, explains Webb.
EmerGeo has extensive international crisis management and event experience, applying best practices and open technology solutions through work with a range of government and industry organizations around the world.
About EmerGeo
EmerGeo develops emergency management software solutions and provides consulting services and support to government and industry around the globe. EmerGeo’s Fusionpoint™ and integrated emergency mapping applications are used to log, track and communicate critical information required by emergency and security personnel. By leveraging open web standards, EmerGeo’s software brings together data from dispatch, crisis management, mapping, camera and other third-party systems, providing a common operating picture. EmerGeo’s technology and people have been at the forefront of some of the world’s largest disasters and are proven effective in helping government and industry to mitigate against, prepare for, respond to and recover from potential or actual incidents, natural disasters, acts of terrorism, or pre-planned events.
Fusionpoint is a trademark of EmerGeo Solutions, Inc. The International Mobile Satellite Organization is the registered proprietor of the trade mark INMARSAT and has granted to Inmarsat an exclusive licence to use the trade mark.
On behalf of the Board of Directors
EMERGEO SOLUTIONS WORLDWIDE INC.
“Timothy Webb”
Timothy Webb, CTO
For more information contact the Company at:
Telephone: (001) 604-681-0989
Facsimile: (001) 604-681-0079
Email: info
emergeo
com infoemergeocom
Website: http://www.emergeo.com
The TSX Venture Exchange has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or the accuracy of this release. We seek Safe Harbor.
“Protecting People, Property & the Environment”
Case Study (Feb 2011): Fusionpoint Supports Major US-Canada Cross Border Exercise
EmerGeo in partnership with FutureShield and the University of Windsor joined forces with emergency responders to provide situational awareness and crisis management software in support of a major US-Canada cross border exercise called Exercise Central Gateway 1.
The purpose of this joint exercise was to test emergency preparedness and response during a mock terrorism event – one of the biggest Ontario exercises ever. With Windsor being so close to the US border and a vital traffic flow corridor for trade between the US and Canada, participants understood the value of securing their location for the economic well-being of Canada.
This event was a “first” for many things, and it seemed to be the most-used phrase among participants: “first time” things were tried, “first time” to see something function in the field, “first time” to see something work. And one of the biggest “firsts” that were shown in this exercise is the realization that private industry, academia, government officials and first responders can work together to enhance and improve our ability to keep our nation safe and secure.
With the incredible efforts among the exercise coordinators and participants, the government funding by organizations such as the DRDC Centre for Security Science and its CRTI and PSTP programs, with private industry like EmerGeo and FutureShield offering their technology support and products, this exercise showed that this first will not be the last.
Read the full Case Study here: <link to PDF document>
EmerGeo Speaking at the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) & Disaster Response Operations Conference (India)
Mumbai, India – February 14-15, 2011 – The Emergency Operations Center (EOC) & Disaster Response Operations Conference is designed to address emerging trends in comprehensive emergency & disaster management systems, integration of Critical Infrastructures and key resources (such as power, atomic stations, bridges, dams, oil installations, gas pipe lines etc), and role of the EOC.
Stakeholders from Government (including all 14 emergency service function agencies) and the private sector need to follow standardized emergency response management procedures and practices and sharpen their “group skills” through exercising and training on regular basis.
Global experts, including EmerGeo’s representative (Mr. Bryce Mitchell) will speak on: technology (emergency communication, intelligent decision support systems), interoperability and scalability issues connected with EOC design. Day-1 of the conference includes experts from Illinois Fire Service Institute (USA), along with Mr. M V Deshmukh (Director, State Fire Service, MH) deliberating on Emergency & Disaster Pre-Event Planning, Initial Response, Critical Decision-making and Multi-State Response in four separate breakout sessions. Day-2 of the conference is devoted to EOC design, operation and management.
More conference information is available at http://respect.org.in/icerdm/conference_agenda.php.