OASIS Emergency Interoperability Summit Explores Advances in Next Generation Alert, Warning, Resource Management, and Hospital Coordination

BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The public and private sectors will join to demonstrate the benefits of open standards for facilitating emergency response at the OASIS Emergency Interoperability (EI) Summit, 30 September - 1 October. Held as part of the National Information Exchange Model (NIEM) Training Event in Baltimore, Maryland, the OASIS EI Summit aims to bring closer coordination among first responders, policy makers, legislators, government agencies, and vendors.

“Having just been awarded the nationwide mass notification contract by the United States National Guard, our team will be on hand to demonstrate CAP implementations by Desktop Alert now being integrated at the state level nationwide. We will also be demonstrating innovative uses of CAP Over XMPP”

“The U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Office for Interoperability and Compatibility (OIC) is pleased to be supporting the OASIS Emergency Management Interoperability Summit in conjunction with the NIEM National Training Event,” said Denis Gusty, OIC Program Manager. “For the first time, we will be able to showcase the entire suite of EDXL standards in alignment with the NIEM Information Exchange Package Documentation (IEPD) for the EDXL Distribution Element. We will be truly demonstrating the value and complementary capabilities of the two programs.”

The OASIS EI Summit will feature sessions on the Common Alerting Protocol (CAP) and the Emergency Digital Exchange Language (EDXL). EDXL serves as the 'umbrella' for a number of emergency data message types including resource queries and requests, situation status and forecasts, financial and personnel data, message routing instructions, etc. Summit presentations will detail the family of EDXL specifications including: Distribution Element (EDXL-DE), Resource Messaging (EDXL-RM), and Hospital Availability Exchange (EDXL-HAVE). A preview of the Situation Reporting (EDXL-SitRep) specification currently under development will also be featured.

Central to the EI Summit will be an interoperability demonstration showing the use of CAP and EDXL in a train accident scenario involving a chemical leak compounded by the threat of tornadoes. Working with scenario details provided by NOAA and the State of Virginia, the Interop will demonstrate how standards can be used for HazMat dispatch, Emergency Alert System (EAS) notices, transportation of injured firefighters to appropriately equipped hospitals, and weather radio alerts. Participants in the demo include AtHoc, Desktop Alert, Google, FEMA/Department of Homeland Security, and Warning Systems, Inc. (WSI), as well as CellCast Technologies, Evolution Technologies, MyStateUSA, Safe Environment Engineering, Solace Systems, TeleCommunication Systems, and others.

EI Summit Interop Sponsors

AtHoc

“The OASIS EI Summit will allow us to demonstrate how network-centric emergency mass notification ensures that first responders, homeland security agencies and government public safety organizations receive accurate and timely access to critical information in order to respond effectively during times of emergency,” said Aviv Siegel, Chief Technology Officer for AtHoc. “Interoperability is key for secure, quick and effective dissemination of emergency alerts.”

Desktop Alert

“Having just been awarded the nationwide mass notification contract by the United States National Guard, our team will be on hand to demonstrate CAP implementations by Desktop Alert now being integrated at the state level nationwide. We will also be demonstrating innovative uses of CAP Over XMPP,” said Howard Ryan, CEO and Founder of Desktop Alert Inc.

Google

“Google's mission is to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful. In the world of crisis preparedness and response, we work with fellow technology companies, academia, and government organizations to accomplish this mission,” said the Google Crisis Response Team.

Warning Systems

“The OASIS EI Summit is an excellent opportunity for emergency management practitioners to see first-hand how WSI’s warning and notification products perform in a real-world emergency situation. Our AdaptAlert™ and OnAlert® systems will interface with products from other companies in the Interop’s chemical spill-tornado scenario to receive CAP v1.2 IPAWS Profile messages to activate broadcaster EAS equipment and CAP v1.1 messages to activate sirens and tone alert receivers,” said Patrick J. Gannon, President and COO, WSI, who will be moderating the Summit’s Executive Briefing Panel.

Complimentary press passes for the EI Summit are available; contact events@oasis-open.org for details.

Additional information:

OASIS EI Summit 2009

http://events.oasis-open.org/home/ei-summit/2009

About OASIS:

OASIS is a not-for-profit, international consortium that drives the development, convergence and adoption of open standards for the global information society. OASIS promotes industry consensus and produces worldwide standards for emergency management, security, Web services, XML conformance, business transactions, electronic publishing, and other applications. OASIS open standards offer the potential to lower cost, stimulate innovation, grow global markets, and protect the right of free choice of technology. OASIS members broadly represent the marketplace of public and private sector technology leaders, users and influencers. The consortium has more than 5,000 participants representing over 600 organizations and individual members in 100 countries. http://www.oasis-open.org/