Intergraph 1st CAD Provider to Join DHS Initiatve

23 June 2009, 3:26pm

HUNTSVILLE, Ala., June 23, 2009 - Intergraph®, the leading global provider of incident management software and reporting solutions, is the first computer-aided dispatch (CAD) provider supporting the Unified Incident Command and Decision Support (UICDS) project. UICDS is sponsored by the Science and Technology Directorate of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and is being executed through a contract with prime contractor Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC)[NYSE:SAI]. The UICDS project will advance rapid incident response and situational awareness through the creation of a national architecture for emergency information sharing across jurisdictions and applications.

As part of a team led by SAIC, Intergraph has successfully demonstrated that emergency personnel can share information independent of the specific CAD product in use. Through a central core of middleware, users can subscribe to a feed of CAD data to monitor for incidents that meet specific criteria, such as region or type, and publish requests for assistance from other agencies when an incident occurs. This advanced interoperability promotes situational awareness and cross-jurisdictional information sharing.

The UICDS initiative enables commercial and government incident management technologies to share information and support decisions for the National Response Framework and National Incident Management to prevent, protect, respond and recover from natural, technological and terrorist events. After two successful demonstrations to several state and federal agencies, the UICDS team continues to refine the architecture and broaden the workflows supported by the middleware foundation.

According to Chip Mahoney, the SAIC project manager for UICDS, "The UICDS prototype demonstration illustrated how a wide variety of applications can share information through a diverse set of interfaces, data formats and networks using non-proprietary, open standards. From long-standing applications like CAD and asset management to more recent video surveillance and detection technologies to innovative new situational awareness tools, the UICDS architecture specification accommodates the information exchanges emergency managers and responders need to save lives, protect property and minimize economic loss."

"Despite all the efforts devoted to data interoperability in recent years, the 23 technology providers represented in the demonstration came to the UICDS program with virtually no instances of sharing data with each other," said James W. Morentz, Ph.D., director of UICDS Outreach. "Using the software development kit for the UICDS middleware and the National Information Exchange Model data exchange formats, these 'first adopter' technology providers successfully demonstrated nearly 100 real-time information exchanges. This demonstration points the way to a successful continuation of this government-sponsored, technology provider-driven information sharing across the full range of prevention, protection, response and recovery."

"Intergraph is a world leader in public safety and security incident management and reporting solutions and throughout our history we have placed considerable emphasis on developing pacesetting innovations and driving industry standards," stated John K. Graham, president, Intergraph Security, Government & Infrastructure. "The technology providers collaborating as part of the UICDS program are shaping the future of emergency incident management and Intergraph is honored to donate our time and resources in support of the initiative."

One in 12 people in the world is protected by Intergraph public safety and security solutions. Intergraph solutions protect the largest and most complex cities and government sites in the world.

Intergraph, Inc.

Geo: International