From FOSE, Cisco today announced the Cisco Open Platform for Safety and Security, a technology platform designed to enable government agencies to protect assets, employees and citizens via a secure, intelligent, converged network. Cisco Open Platform for Safety and Security supports the growing needs of defense, civilian, public safety, state and local government agencies to focus on business continuity and force protection mission requirements to minimize risk and address the security needs of citizens.
Efficient communications supported by interoperable technologies are critical for the situational awareness and effectiveness of incident response. Most agencies have a number of stand-alone, non-interoperable systems which require dedicated headcount and lead to long decision and response cycles. With Cisco Open Platform for Safety and Security, Cisco is delivering the right mix of technologies to increase the quality and effectiveness of response in almost any situation.
This emerging capability is critical to force protection, as Major General Stephen V. Reeves, USA Joint Program Executive Officer for Chemical and Biological Defense, testified on March 12, 2008 before the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Emerging Threats & Capabilities. (http://armed-services.senate.gov/e_witnesslist.cfm?id=3145) “We are also investing in the development of a sensor data fusion capability to allow the fusion of information and data from diverse detectors and sources to provide the Warfighter with a more refined common operating picture of the battlespace with respect to Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear weapons (p 19)…No longer will information remain isolated or stove-piped. Commanders at all echelons will have the information they need regarding the chemical and biological hazard and the necessary information systems tools to take the appropriate protective, evasive, and restorative actions necessary (p 29).”
Cisco Open Platform for Safety and Security incorporates a variety of Cisco technologies, including Cisco Unified Communications, Cisco Video Surveillance Manager (VSM), Cisco’s IP Interoperability and Collaboration System (IPICS) with land mobile radio integration, as well as solutions for digital media services, mobility, and notification, all enabled over Cisco’s converged infrastructure. Together with several industry solution developers, Cisco Open Platform for Safety and Security also supports sensor integration and management, video analytics, geographic information system (GIS) framework for common operating picture, enterprise mass emergency notification and physical access control. These industry solution developers include AtHoc, Augusta Systems, Coleman, ObjectVideo, pTerex,
“In an environment of increasing threats, agencies must empower employees with tools to deliver the right information quickly at the point of need to protect citizens and critical assets,” said Bruce Klein, Cisco’s federal vice president. “Cisco Open Platform for Safety and Security addresses the government’s most pressing needs by breaking down technology barriers for a common operational view across multiple solutions. This improves decision and response times in order to increase the effectiveness of emergency operations teams without furthering the load on current personnel.”
Cisco Open Platform for Safety and Security Delivers Critical Benefits to Government Agencies
With the Cisco Open Platform for Safety and Security, agencies can take advantage of a converged, secure IP network to provide:
Improved employee safety and security during emergency notification through early warnings and employee accountability
Enhanced risk management by facilitating COOP, crisis management, and all-hazards incident response
Facilities and critical infrastructure protection via access control and sensors
Reduced operational costs by using technology to make the same resources more effective
Interoperable communications regardless of device or location
Strengthened interagency coordination and collaboration via real-time data, video, and voice on location
To learn more about how Cisco Open Platform for Safety and Security could benefit your agency, please visit http://www.cisco.com/web/strategy/government/coe_index.html
