February 19, 2003—A partnership of public safety and transportation agencies in Virginia, Maryland, and the District of Columbia has selected IBM to build a wireless public safety data communications network for the DC region.
The first interoperable wireless system to span multistate government jurisdictions, the Capital Wireless Integrated Network (CapWIN) will enable officials and emergency units from more than forty local, state, and federal agencies to communicate with each other in real time during critical incidents.
The network may serve as a model for other areas of the country, CapWIN officials said.
The system works by using an Instant Messaging application deployed on low-cost, industry-standard devices such as personal computers, handheld computers, and data-enabled mobile phones. Authorized users will be able to set up response teams—restricted-access, high-performance chat rooms—designed to help handle unexpected events, such as natural disasters, traffic collisions, fires or terrorist threats.
