Microsoft/ESRI app boosts GIS data sharing at Mass. fusion center

The aftermath of the 2001 terrorist attacks highlighted the shortcomings many law enforcement and emergency agencies faced in analyzing and sharing information.

“People know they have the data out there; they just don't know how to get to it,” said David Stampfli, technical architect at Microsoft's U.S. Public Center Industry Unit.

The Homeland Security Department launched a project to help state and local organization develop fusion centers, designed to let organizations share information within their jurisdictions and with the federal government. The “Fusion Center Guidelines,” developed by DHS and the Justice Department, define a fusion center as “a collaborative effort of two or more agencies that provide resources, expertise, and/or information to the center with the goal of maximizing the ability to detect, prevent, investigate, and respond to criminal and terrorist activity.”

As of early this year, there were 58 fusion centers across the country, 27 of them connected to the Homeland Security Data Network, which allows the federal government and states to share data at the Secret level, DHS has said. But fusion centers have also run into problems and, at times, drawn criticism from Congress. A Congressional Research Service report two years ago concluded that centers weren’t coming up with enough useful information, at least partly because of technical problems.

One problem they’ve faced is how to create a system that correlates data from geographic information systems, analyzes it and gets it into the hands of those who need to take action.

“We tried a year and a half ago to integrate ArcGIS with Microsoft SharePoint but failed,” said Brian Egnitz, GIS program manager for the Massachusetts State Police, which hosts Massachusetts' Commonwealth Fusion Center.

To simplify matters, Microsoft and ESRI have created FusionX, an appliance preloaded with ESRI GIS data and software together with SharePoint and other applications to integrate fusion center operations. Microsoft worked with several agencies to develop the requirements for FusionX, including the Massachusetts center and the Illinois Statewide Terrorism Intelligence Center.

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