The Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) “Next-Generation Incident Command System” (NICS) www.dhs.gov/publication/next-generation-incident-command-system is going to be implemented in some NATO member and partner countries to help first responders.
NICS is a web-based communication platform that enables responders to share data and information using open standards and also request and receive assistance from remote experts in real time.
To help implement NICS, the Department of Homeland Security Science & Technology (DHS S&T) www.dhs.gov/science-and-technology will work with NATO in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. NATO’s use of NICS can help improve the efficiency and effectiveness of humanitarian assistance and disaster relief worldwide.
DHS S&T, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Lincoln Laboratory (MIT LL) www.ll.mit.edu, along with the U.S Coast Guard Research and Development Center at MIT LL, developed NICS.
Last April, the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES) also deployed the NICS software as the Situation Awareness & Collaboration Tool (SCOUT) for California emergency responders. www.caloes.ca.gov/scout.
MIT LL has also been working with the DHS Next Generation First Responder (NGFR) Apex Program www.dhs.gov/science-and-technology/ngfr to help provide response teams with situational awareness when traditional communications are disabled or restricted.
Using both commercial and custom components, Lincoln’s Laboratory’s NGFR sensor system has been able to integrate new capabilities into the system such as drone operations, indoor position tracking, body sensors, heads-up displays, plus NICS to provide up-to-date decision support to first responders.