Port Security Communications Network
Communication is an important component of any well-executed emergency response plan. In some cases, it is crucial. In the aftermath of September 11 and Hurricane Katrina, the defense and homeland security industries have joined forces to ensure real-time communication between various emergency response personnel to monitor vessel traffic in Narragansett Bay.
Today, these emergency response personnel are able to share and distribute video, text, data and voice information through a wireless broadband communications network. Established with funding from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Office for Domestic Preparedness, the Rhode Island Port Security Communications Network (PSCN) is being used as a model of effective port communication for the rest of the nation. Narragansett Bay was chosen as a pilot site due to Rhode Island's size, accessible legislative and leadership networks, and the state's ability to create and coordinate an expansive network of public and private sector partners.
But isn't it a challenge to bring seamless wireless service to the bay? "The question wasn't how difficult, but how important," says John Riendeau, Defense Industry Manager for the Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation. "Narragansett Bay is a major transit route for ships bound to southeastern Massachusetts and the Providence metro port area, with what is known as ‘dangerous cargo,' such as oil, gas and liquid propane. That makes Narragansett Bay a potential target for terrorists. So the answer to how important it was to bring wireless port security to the bay was simple: very."
PSCN connects waterborne first responders to federal, state and municipal land-based communications networks and databases with a seamless, discrete and secure broadband wireless communications network. This allows the distribution and use of sensitive information through text, voice, data and video during the course of daily operations, such as guiding a cargo vessel to its dock.
Imagine a pilot boarding a ship to guide it up the bay. The pilot needs to know the problem, what cargo is onboard, if that cargo is flammable or explosive, the captain's identity and where the ship came from. Approaching the ship blind may leave you in harm's way and certainly decreases your efficacy. If you're connected to the land-based command and control center, you'll have access to every video camera on the bay and will be able to communicate simultaneously with other first responders. Now that nearly the entire Narragansett Bay is a wireless communication hotspot, first responders are fully prepared for any situation on the bay.
To transform most of Narragansett Bay into a wireless hotspot required a convergence of enthusiastic collaborators, new technology and good ideas. Funded by an $856,000 federal grant to the Rhode Island Emergency Management Agency, other collaborators include the Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation, the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management and the Rhode Island Department of Administration. New technologies include so-called smart antennas, transmitters able to direct wireless signals to where they are needed most, and Wi-Max, a wireless broadcast system with a range of up to 31 miles.
Most important, as always, are good ideas. For example, the utilization of pre-existing structures, such as bridges and buildings, used as mounts for video camera and wireless antenna, save Rhode Island the expense of building dedicated towers. Other good ideas will come. Now that a system is in place, the people who use it will realize ways to improve and will find new ways to do their work — the work of keeping Narragansett Bay safe and secure.
"Rhode Island's Port Security Communications Network will demonstrate new technologies, all with the potential for nationwide application," says Saul Kaplan, Executive Director of the RIEDC. "As the first responders of Narragansett Bay use PSCN, they set the standard for other port security communication approaches." Ports in the United States and around the world will see Rhode Island as a security innovator and will look to Rhode Island for inspiration and leadership.
John Riendeau