Innovative Information Sharing Tool Saves Lives in Emergency

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From devastating wildfires to hurricane disasters and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, there is a growing need to push actionable information out quickly to the public in order to save lives.

First responders rely on information to make life-saving decisions, often with very little time to spare. A new tool will help public safety agencies respond quickly and decisively during emergencies or catastrophic events, and allow the greater homeland security enterprise to be more prepared and resilient.

The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) has awarded more than $1.5 million to Corner Alliance to develop an Alerts, Warnings, and Notifications (AWN) Guidance Tool. 

The planning app is expected to provide customized resources, best practices and program templates to address the most pressing challenges of alert originators, helping public safety agencies at the federal, state, local, tribal and territorial levels disseminate emergency and life-saving information.

The research and development of the tool is a continuation of S&T’s partnership with the Federal Emergency Management Agency FEMA in creating the IPAWS Program Planning Toolkit.

The toolkit is aimed at assisting public safety agencies in minimizing alerting delays; planning for future alerts, warnings and notifications enhancements; facilitating interoperability across different technologies; and improving information sharing among emergency management and public safety officials, as reported by homelandsecuritynewswire.com.