WASHINGTON, D.C.-IBM announced it has been chosen to work with several public safety and transportation agencies in Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C. to build a public safety data communications network for the Washington D.C. area.
The wireless system, to be known as the Capital Wireless Integrated Network (CapWIN), will span multi-state government jurisdictions enabling officials from local, state and federal agencies to communicate in real time. In addition, firefighters, police, transportation officials and other emergency personnel will have wireless access to government data sources during emergency situations, allowing first-responders to communicate with public safety officials to quickly make decisions.
“One important lesson we learned from September 11 is that we needed to do more to help our first responders communicate seamlessly and more effectively across jurisdictions and different systems,” explained Sen. George Allen (R-Va.), who led congressional funding for the network.
