THIS SITE - Archives
- Index to Stories
- Corrections
- Site Map
- Who we are
- Sign Up For A Free E-mail Newsletter
TOPICS - Arts
- Children
- Civil Rights
- Community Development
- Crime
- Demographics
- Economy
- Education
- Environment
- Finance
- Health
- Housing
- Immigrants
- Land Use
- Law
- Parks
- Social Services
- Tech
- Transportation
- Voting
- Waterfront
ORGS
NYC Government
NYS Government
US Government
Advocates
BIDs
Civics
Culture
Foundations
History
Labor
Public/Private
Think Tanks
BOROS
Bronx
Brooklyn
Manhattan
Queens
Staten Island
News Sites
Daily News
NY Times
Daily News
NY Post
Newsday
New York Sun
NYC Weeklies
Amsterdam News
City Limits Weekly
Crain's New York Business
Gay City News
New York Magazine
New York Observer
New Yorker, The
Time Out New York
Village Voice
Dailies, Weeklies, Monthlies, etc. »
Other-Language Press
NYC Blogs »
The city’s Department of Information, Technology and Telecommunications yesterday approved Verizon's application to sell television over its new fiber optic network.
311 Line Adding More Operators
Tracking City Workers Costs Millions
The cost of a controversial tracking system for city employees has quietly ballooned to $410 million and is still climbing. CityTime, a tracking and payroll system after 10 years and more than $400 million covers just 15,000 employees at 26 agencies.
A Newfangled Way to Count the Trees in the Park
Probe of Phone Cards Sought
Queens Councilmember Eric Gioia is demanding an investigation of prepaid phone card companies, claiming they swindle customers, particularly immigrants.
Flash Camera Memory Cards UK
Telecom Space
American Civil Liberties Union Technology Page
Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC)
Welfare Tally Working Its Way Back Up
The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority
Communications Workers of America
Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT)
Preliminary Mayor's Management Report
Engineer Finds Steam Pipe Was Flawed
High-Tech in New York
Clean Technology and Jobs
by A. Michael Noll
Interconnecting the Network of Networks
by Eli M. Noam
Principles of Modern Communications Technology
by A. Michael Noll
Public Television in America
by Eli Noam & Jens Walterman
The Global City: New York, London, Tokyo
by Saskia Sassen
Wireless And Emergency Response
by Marcus Banks
December 2006
This month has seen several reminders of the failures associated with September 11, 2001, including technological failures, and the long efforts to make sure they do not happen again.
The city’s new emergency operations center opened in Downtown Brooklyn. The primary goal of the new center is to utilize advanced technologies to improve coordination of emergency response efforts in the case of a large-scale disaster .
The federal Environmental Protection Agency announced new plans for a final cleanup in lower Manhattan of buildings contaminated by dust after the terrorist attack –- plans that Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton and others called inadequate. Although this is primarily a political and public health debate, technological shortcomings lie at the heart of it. Previous cleanup efforts failed because the agency was unable to distinguish reliably between trade center dust and other contaminants .
Starting next month, police, firefighters and other emergency responders will have for their use a new high speed wireless data network, at first activated only in lower Manhattan, but due to spread throughout the city by the Spring of 2008. In effect, New York City is investing $500 million with the defense and technology company Northrop Grumman to ensure that the communications breakdowns that occurred on September 11, 2001 never happen again .
9/11 Communications Breakdowns
As has been well documented, there were several communications failures on September 11, 2001. Although both police officers and firefighters responded heroically, there is no doubt that inadequate communications caused unnecessary deaths.
Many fire department radios either did not work at all, or only intermittently. Radios did not work well in high-rise buildings, subways or tunnels, and firefighters had difficulty determining which channel to use to relay information. Even with perfect communications equipment, the chaos on September 11 would have caused tremendous mayhem and carnage. But the equipment was far from perfect.
On the whole, police department radios were more reliable than the fire department’s radios. But police transmissions were hard to decipher in the immediate aftermath of the attack. Officers attempted to use their cell phones, but this was an unreliable mode of communication as well.
Since September 11 both the Police and Fire Departments have improved their communications capabilities. The Fire Department in particular has upgraded its radios, and invested in better equipment for boosting radio signals to the upper floors of high rise buildings.
Handheld radios are likely to remain the tool of choice for first responders for the next several years. But even the most sophisticated radio feels somewhat antique in our technologically advanced age.
City Hall’s contract with Northrop Grumma, to build a first-ever Citywide Mobile Wireless Network, will greatly enhance emergency response capabilities.
The Citywide Mobile Wireless Network
In September, the Bloomberg administration announced that Northrop Grumman had won a five-year contract to build the Citywide Mobile Wireless Network. The company defeated rival Motorola to capture the bid.
The wireless network will allow emergency responders to transmit information efficiently from state and federal anti-terrorism databases, as well as mug shots, fingerprints, and even streaming video. If necessary, information could be shared with multiple agencies simultaneously. During times of crisis, police officers, firefighters, and personnel from the Office of Emergency Management should be assured of reliable two-way communication between first responders on the scene and response managers at remote locations. And during routine periods, these enhanced capabilities should streamline communications and improve emergency response times. The network will be designed with the flexibility to work in sections of the city where wireless access is less reliable.
“One of the most important lessons learned from the September 11th attacks was that our emergency responders need better access to information and clearer lines of communication in the field,” Mayor Bloomberg said. In that spirit, a critical aspect of the new wireless network is that everyone in the emergency response arena will utilize it. This baseline fact should mitigate against departmental turf wars.
Northrop Grumman is scheduled to deliver a fully functioning wireless network by the spring of 2008. After that time, the company will maintain the network and provide appropriate upgrades. If the project proves a success, city officials have the option to renew the contract for up to 10 additional years.
Public Safety -- NYC's Niche For Wireless?
With the Northrop Grumman contract, City Hall clearly aims to be on the forefront of public safety wireless initiatives. Indeed, New York claims that this is the “most aggressive public safety technology initiative of any municipality.”
Some are skeptical since New York has moved much less aggressively than other cities to provide free or inexpensive wireless access to tourists and residents. Indeed, Information Technology and Communications Commissioner Cosgrave argues that it is not “feasible or necessary” to provide wireless access throughout the city.
Wireless activists and government officials will continue to debate the appropriate extent of public wireless access, and the ultimate results of that discussion are unclear. What seems more certain is City Hall’s desire to fill a specific niche as the leader in the use of wireless technology for public safety.
Other Related Articles:
Expanding Wi-Fi Beyond Manhattan (2008-01-08)
Wireless Access (2006-06-13)
Universal Internet Access – Not Just A Campaign Theme (2005-10-19)
Using The City's Lampposts For Cell Phones and Wireless Computers (2004-09-23)
Mobilizing Community Concerns Against Mobile Phone Antennas (2004-05-27)
Wireless Goes Indoors (2003-12-23)
Cell Phones: New Developments (2003-11-25)
React to this article on our Tech Message Board.
Visit the complete Topic Archives
Sites of Interest from Collegester:
Real Estate |
Texas Electricity Comparison |
Texas Electric
Choice |
Cross Tattoos |
Place
Your Link Here!




