Skip to main content

Michael Baker International partners with NAPSG Foundation on emergency response tool

International engineering and consulting firm Michael Baker International, in conjunction with the National Alliance for Public Safety GIS (NAPSG) Foundation, has been awarded a contract with the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate to develop national guidelines and a solution that provides first responders with real-time information prior to and during emergencies. The emergency response guidelines and solution aim to address the need for timely, reli
October 26, 2016 Read time: 2 mins
International engineering and consulting firm Michael Baker International, in conjunction with the National Alliance for Public Safety GIS (NAPSG) Foundation, has been awarded a contract with the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate to develop national guidelines and a solution that provides first responders with real-time information prior to and during emergencies.
 
The emergency response guidelines and solution aim to address the need for timely, reliable and accessible sources of accurate and reliable information before and during flooding events to ensure an efficient emergency response during flash floods, dam failures and traffic gridlock.

Michael Baker and the NAPSG Foundation will work directly with first responders in three test regions to identify insights on best practices for flood response. This will enable the development and release of a scalable and repeatable process for determining operational information needs, core data and attribution needed at the local level.

Once the project is completed, local emergency responders will have guidelines on how to access current, relevant and trusted critical operational information to drive informed decision making; on the other hand, technology providers will have guidelines for solution development and implementation.

Related Content

  • US DOT issues federal guidance for improving motor vehicle cyber security
    October 25, 2016
    The US Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is taking a proactive safety approach to protect vehicles from malicious cyber-attacks and unauthorised access by releasing proposed guidance for improving motor vehicle cyber security. The proposed cyber security guidance focuses on layered solutions to ensure vehicle systems are designed to take appropriate and safe actions, even when an attack is successful. The guidance recommends risk-based prioritised ident
  • Camera technology a flexible and cost-effective option
    June 7, 2012
    Perceptions of machine vision being an expensive solution are being challenged by developments in both core technologies and ancillaries. Here, Jason Barnes and David Crawford look at the latest developments in the sector. A notable aspect of machine vision is the flexibility it offers in terms of how and how much data is passed around a network. With smart cameras, processing capabilities at the front end mean that only that which is valid need be communicated back to a central processor of any descripti
  • Bhatt: 'Critical opportunity' for cybersecurity
    July 22, 2021
    ITS America CEO Shailen Bhatt tells US Senate funds are needed to 'manage vulnerabilities'
  • Calculating the cost of stellar solutions
    August 10, 2016
    The increasing availability and accuracy of global navigation satellite system (GNSS) is opening up low-cost options in many areas as David Crawford finds out. Boosting commercialisation of European global navigation satellite system (EGNSS) technologies for ITS initially depends heavily on demonstrating competitive and cost/benefit advantages obtainable from the deployment of EGNOS (the current European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service), and ultimately the EU’s Galileo constellation (see box). So,