Cell Phones and a Cashless Society

FEMA Incorporates Smartphones for Continuity of Operations

April 2010

Federal Computer Week - FEMA’s recent investment in mobile devices, smartphones and wireless laptop cards via a contract awarded to AT&T in January will help the agency consolidate mobile communications, along with billing and mobile device administration, and is considered a big step forward in implementing greater mobility for FEMA personnel.

Following the contract award to AT&T Global Solutions, which included the delivery of 22,000 devices by April 1, the goal now is to make sure FEMA is happy and comfortable using the new devices, said Joe O’Bryan, executive director of DHS, DoJ and intelligence community operations for AT&T Government Solutions ...

In coordinating the federal government’s role in disaster preparedness, response and recovery, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), within the Department of Homeland Security, awarded AT&T a contract in January to provide voice and data devices for the nationwide FEMA workforce. As the primary wireless provider to FEMA, AT&T has already delivered 22,000 secure, wireless data and voice communications units, which are being used to run a wide assortment of e-mail, voice and data applications in the field. The units delivered consist of AT&T’s LaptopConnectwireless cards and BlackBerry 8820 smartphones, as well as the 3G LG CU405 units, which provide FEMA employees with Push To Talk.

FEMA can now procure additional wireless applications from AT&T Government Solutions based on the needs of the agency. O’Bryan pointed out in an interview that there are a variety of mobile applications that would be of enormous benefit to FEMA’s mission. Among the most noteworthy, are the following:

• Global Positioning System (GPS) technology, which can be used to track personnel and assets. GPS capability can be used to perform virtual fencing, so that when a person or device leaves a specified geographic area, a FEMA administrator is alerted. There are also safety situations that make GPS a valuable tool. When FEMA personnel must go into emergency situations, they can press a single button to let others know when they’ve entered the risky area, hit the same button twice if the situation is deemed very risky. If they hit the button three times in succession, additional responders will be alerted to immediately respond to the rescue alert.


• In areas where English isn’t a first language, another useful application would bring up services to aid in translating simple phrases, or by placing the phone on speaker mode, the operator could work with a third-party translator to conduct interviews with people in the aftermath of emergencies, for example.


• Field examiners, among the first to respond to a disaster would also benefit greatly from the ability to fill out forms and send materials back to headquarters to speed the assessment of damages, as well as the surrounding area’s immediate requirements for FEMA support.

Government-wide use of Smartphones and PDAs on the rise
The relatively recent shift in favor toward smartphones and PDAs owes at least some of its strength to the new presidential administration... According to market research giant, IDC, 157 million smartphones were sold worldwide last year, up 26.9 percent from 2007. And IDC further expects smartphone shipments to nearly double to 301 million by 2012.
Wireless Technologies to Watch
Location awareness makes mobile applications more useful and opens up a range of new applications exploiting the location of equipment or personnel. Federal organizations should investigate applications to explore the potential of location sensing, although it may create privacy and security challenges... Near Field Communication (NFC) provides a simple and secure way for handsets to communicate across distances, and is emerging as a leading standard for applications such as mobile payment, with successful trials conducted in several countries. It also has wider applications, such as ‘touch to exchange information’ for example, to transfer an image from a handset to a digital photo frame, or for a handset to pick up a virtual discount voucher.