News
Press Releases: Government to Government
August 24, 2007
DHS Launches CAD Interoperability Project
Improves CAD System Interoperability and Reduces Emergency Response Time
Washington, DC - The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Office for Interoperability and Compatibility (OIC) launched today a Computer-Aided Dispatch (CAD) Interoperability Project, or CADIP. CADIP enables CAD systems to exchange information across jurisdictions. Many of today’s CAD systems are unable to communicate with dispatch systems in neighboring jurisdictions. CAD system interoperability will ensure that personnel and resources are rapidly and effectively dispatched to an emergency site-reducing response times and saving lives.
OIC’s CADIP has partnered with emergency response agencies in Silicon Valley, Calif., through the Silicon Valley Regional Interoperability Project. The goals are to study the agencies’ CAD interoperability efforts, and to identify the challenges, best practices, benefits, and costs associated with linking CAD systems across jurisdictions. In the future, the project also will work with localities that are pursuing a different approach to CAD interoperability. The project will identify approaches to linking CAD systems in order to assist local and state agencies as they migrate toward multijurisdictional, interoperable CAD systems.
In a parallel effort, OIC is partnering with the National Capital Region to identify specific requirements for exchanging CAD information and to develop data standards enabling CAD information exchange. OIC will work with emergency responders nationwide to validate these requirements and CAD standards. This work will then be brought into standards organizations and adopted as formal standards for implementation by manufacturers.
OIC will use the results of the CADIP project to develop tools, templates, and guidance documents intended to assist agencies and jurisdictions improve CAD system interoperability with neighboring regions. The project represents an important milestone in the efforts of DHS to strengthen interoperability nationwide.
