Subject: [NEXTEL-1] CapWIN program emerges as a model for first responders-

From: [email-masked]
Date: Fri, 11 Jul 2003 03:30:17 -0400

07/07/03; Vol. 18 No. 7

Can we learn to share?

By WILLIAM WELSH

CapWIN program emerges as a model for first responders
Bruce Barney envisions a day when police and emergency personnel responding to a
major disaster in the Washington region will immediately share information
electronically as they arrive at the incident.

The first officer on the scene, he said, will create a file on his of her mobile
laptop for the emergency. As other responders arrive, they will communicate
through instant messaging, using icons identifying them as police, fire, emergency
personnel or highway safety. As more personnel arrive, they will establish chat
rooms to discuss developments in the unfolding investigation. Support personnel
not at the scene will participate through Web browsers at their desks.

Barney is the director of technical operations for the Capital Wireless Integrated
Network project, known as CapWIN. The incident management capability that Barney
described is one part of a new data communications network, scheduled to go live
this summer, to support first responders in the nation's capital.

The project initially will enable 10,000 first responders from 35 federal, state
and local agencies around Washington to communicate via instant messaging, tap
into each others' databases and coordinate responses to incidents with regional
ramifications.

The five-year, $20 million CapWIN project, awarded to IBM Corp. of Armonk, N.Y.,
last August, embodies much of the promise and challenge of similar programs
planned or under way in other metropolitan areas around the county.

But because it is tying together first-responder systems in the nation's capital
-- a terrorist target -- the program has garnered significant attention. CapWIN
also faces a tough challenge because it addresses interoperability within an
entire region, rather than within a single jurisdiction, analysts and industry
officials said.

Dennis Blaine of E.F. Johnson said data interoperability will become a big
opportunity for public safety companies and systems integrators over the next five
years.

(Washington Technology Photo by Susan Whitney)

Unlike many interoperability projects, CapWIN initially is focusing on data rather
than voice interoperability. Data exchange is more difficult and complex, because
it lets users tap into multiple databases, said Dennis Blaine, executive vice
president of sales and marketing for E.F. Johnson Co., Lincoln, Neb.

"It's a much tougher nut to crack," he said.

Blaine said data interoperability is an emerging trend in the state and local
market, and will become a big opportunity for public safety companies and systems
integrators over the next five years.

The Justice Department is funding CapWIN through its National Institute of Justice
grant program. The agency will provide $74.6 million in grants to local law
enforcement for interoperability in fiscal 2003, according to the department's
Office of Community Oriented Policing Services.

CapWIN "sets an example for the types of projects that will be necessary all over
the country in order to implement wireless networks specific to homeland
security," said Meredith Luttner, an analyst with market research firm Input Inc.,
Reston, Va.

EMBRACING COLLABORATION

Police and other first responders in the Washington region recognized the need for
interoperable systems as early as November 1998, when a man threatened suicide on
the Woodrow Wilson Bridge, connecting Alexandria, Va., to Prince George's County,
Md., over the Potomac River. The incident shut down the Capital Beltway for nearly
six hours as first responders tried to prevent the man from jumping.

The CapWIN project has its roots in an attempted suicide incident that shut down
the Capital Beltway for nearly six hours. “There were multiple agencies arriving
[on the scene], and they couldn’t talk to each other,” said George Ake, program
director for CapWIN (right).

(Washington Technology Photo by Olivier Douliery)

"There were multiple agencies arriving [on the scene], and they couldn't talk to
each other," said George Ake, program director for CapWIN.

Two years later, federal, state and local governments in the Washington area
formed a consortium to develop an integrated transportation and criminal justice
information wireless network. However, federal funding for the project didn't
materialize until after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Ake said.

"[The project] is an excellent example of how, with some federal leadership and
federal dollars, municipalities can get some leverage to do things they want to
but couldn't otherwise afford," said Ray Bjorklund, an analyst with market
research firm Federal Sources Inc., McLean, Va.

Joining IBM on the CapWIN team are subcontractors P.B. Faradyne Inc., Rockville,
Md.; Jabber Inc., Denver; Templar Corp., Alexandria, Va.; TeleCommunications
Systems Corp., Annapolis, Md.; and Motorola Inc., Schaumberg, Ill.

Under the first phase of the project, which is scheduled for completion in early
2004, contractors will provide mobile computing and data communications
capabilities for agencies without them, including mobile access to criminal
justice bases in the district, Maryland, Virginia and the FBI.

In addition, the CapWIN team will design the system to give first responders
access to the Northern Virginia Smart Travel Center, which employs intelligent
transportation technology solutions, as well as access to hazardous materials
information.

Looking ahead, CapWIN officials are considering automatic vehicle location, voice
interoperability, incident management tracking, interfaces to medical databases,
detailed mapping, video interfaces to computer-aided dispatch and records
management, Ake said. The executive board that oversees the CapWIN project must
approve future tasks, he said.

CapWIN officials have requested an additional $6.4 million beyond original funding
to carry the project into 2004 and 2005, Ake said.

The strategy behind CapWIN is to bridge disparate systems and enable first
responders to share data and communicate with each other without having to replace
their existing hardware and other equipment, said Kent Blossom, director of public
sector for safety and security at IBM Global Services.

The system uses IBM off-the-shelf interfaces, servers and software, Blossom said.
The system is scalable and, therefore, can be deployed in other regions around the
country, he said.

As part of its strategy, the CapWIN staff deliberately chose an open,
standards-based approach for the network, employing extensible markup language
standards developed for the public safety community, and N-Tier, or Any Number of
Tier, standards. The project owns the codes, so it is not saddled with a
proprietary system, Ake said.

Blossom said the real challenge on a project of this type is not the technology
implementation, but getting agencies to work with each other. This is particularly
acute when it comes to sharing criminal justice database information.

Jurisdictions typically have laws and regulations that bar sharing certain types
of information, Barney said. In some cases, lawmakers must revise state laws to
remedy the situation.

But the reluctance of law enforcement officials in Washington, Maryland and
Virginia to share information has dissipated significantly since Sept. 11, 2001.

"The most remarkable thing about [CapWIN] is the level of cooperation among
federal and state government," Luttner said.

U.S. Park Police Officer David Whitehorne, who is working with the CapWIN project
staff and who will be one of the network's end users, said the project marks the
dawn of a new era in law enforcement and public safety for the area's first
responders.

"[CapWIN] will take us 100 years beyond where we are now," he said.

PROJECTS NATIONWIDE

Interoperability is the hot-button issue in public safety today, said Bob Hickes,
director of homeland security for state and local government with BearingPoint
Inc., McLean, Va. First responders must be able to communicate with each other and
access critical data during a major disaster or terrorist attack.

The CapWIN project has come to grips with some of the stickier issues surrounding
interoperability, such as getting agencies in different jurisdictions to work
together and share information, and overcoming problems posed by incompatible
equipment and systems.

While state and local governments show an equal interest in voice and data
interoperability, the fact remains that there are more solicitations for voice
interoperability projects, O'Brien said. Both approaches require agencies to work
in concert.

"Sept. 11 demonstrated to the first responder community that they have to be
working cooperatively. No single agency can ride in and take care of [a major
incident]," Hickes said.

Motorola and E.F. Johnson, rivals in the world of mobile radio communications,
have worked on statewide interoperability projects, officials of both said. For
example, Motorola has tackled voice interoperability projects in Michigan, South
Carolina and other states, while E.F. Johnson has been involved in similar
projects in South Dakota and Texas.

Motorola won a $10.7 million contract from Chesterfield County, Va., in February
to provide an integrated public safety system, a $12.7 million wireless
interoperability contract from Anne Arundel County, Md., in March, and a $3.3
million integrated public safety contract from Minnesota in June.

Kent Blossom of IBM Global Services said the goal of CapWIN is to enable first
responders to communicate with each other without having to replace their existing
hardware and other equipment.

(Washington Technology Photo by Olivier Douliery)

E.F. Johnson's original contract two years ago with South Dakota for mobile radios
was worth $3.7 million, while the company's contract with the Texas Department of
Public Safety last year for portable radios was worth about $1 million.

Company officials familiar with these projects said the federal government is
making a concerted push to encourage companies to manufacture equipment that
complies with Project 25, a standard that ensures interoperability among digital
land mobile radios used for public safety purposes.

One way to get interoperability moving forward at a faster pace would be to
develop a national standards program, said Robert Hicks, program director for
transportation and public safety with Public Technologies Inc. of Washington.
However, "developing a national standards program would take a lot of time and
money," he said.

Blossom said IBM is looking at 10 to 15 similar opportunities to CapWIN around the
nation, though he declined to name specific projects.

Because CapWIN was conceived before Sept. 11, 2001, "it was a natural place for
homeland security issues to be addressed," said Charles Samara, chief of police
for Alexandria, Va., and chair of the CapWIN Executive Committee.

Having heard what CapWIN can do, first responders in Richmond, Va., and Baltimore
have expressed interest in joining CapWIN. For now, though, the project team needs
to concentrate on phase one, Samara said. If the first phase is successful, then
the possibilities are unlimited, he said.

"Now, everyone sees the need for this, and they want to come aboard. We'll get
them aboard, too," he said. *

http://www.washingtontechnology.com/news/18_7/cover-stories/21098-1.html

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