Called the Digital Emergency Alert System (DEAS) National Capital Region Pilot under the Department of Homeland Security's Integrated Public Alert and Warning (IPAWS) initiative, the tests are successfully demonstrating how DHS and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) can disseminate alert and warning messages leveraging public-private partnership. Utilizing the digital capabilities of the nation's public television stations and the voluntary participation of cell phone service providers, public and commercial radio and television broadcasters, satellite radio, cable and internet providers, and equipment manufacturers, the tests represent the beginning of an IPAWS program designed to provide critical life saving information to the nation in a timely and effective manner.
"These tests emphasize the use of state-of-the-art digital technology and a partnership among the federal government, the Association of Public Television Stations, America's wireless telephone industry and other service providers to dramatically enhance America's alert and warning capability," said Under Secretary of Homeland Security for Emergency Preparedness and Response, Michael D. Brown. "These tests have successfully demonstrated that public broadcasters can provide an effective, flexible and rapidly deployable means of communicating alerts, instructions and other critical information to other broadcast media outlets, to other communications services providers and to computers through the local area networks in government and other offices."
John Lawson, president & CEO of APTS, said "The success of these tests demonstrates the impact that local public television stations' digital infrastructure can have in enhancing the ability of the President of the United States to communicate with the American public during a national crisis. The use of public television's technology infrastructure for public safety makes a lot of sense, given the investment the federal government and local communities have made in that infrastructure. As a result, the 294 digital public television stations across the country can act as the nexus of a wireless network capable of broadcasting data -- or 'datacasting,' the types of information successfully tested over the past two weeks."
The success of the DEAS pilot tests depended on the cooperation among the project participants from the broadcast, cable and wireless telecommunications industry, as well as emergency management officials, to receive, broadcast and re-broadcast simulated emergency messages. APTS provides overall project management for the pilot, and other core participants include PBS and WETA, of Arlington, Virginia.
