George Mason faculty and staff present at the International Association of Emergency Managers Conference

Nathan Kahl — Tue, 03 Dec 2024 18:45:02 +0000

George Mason faculty and staff present at the International Association of Emergency Managers Conference Nathan Kahl Tue, 12/03/2024 - 13:45

Members of George Mason University’s Center of Excellence in Command, Control, Communications, Computing, Cyber and Intelligence (C5I Center) and the Center for Resilient and Sustainable Communities (C-RASC)—along with industry partners—presented at the International Association of Emergency Managers (IAEM) Annual Conference in Colorado Springs, Colorado, November 18-20, 2024. The event convened emergency management professionals worldwide to discuss the latest trends, challenges, and innovations in the field.

George Mason presented emergency management-related work from various research centers, represented by Linton Wells II from the C-RASC and the C5I Center; Shou Matsumoto, also of the C5I Center; and industry partners.

George Mason’s exhibit included:

Work related to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)-funded, "Enhancing Emergency Communications Resiliency and Effectiveness Through Artificial Intelligence." This effort is done in conjunction with the Fairfax County Department of Public Safety Communications. The use of AI in emergencies was a major conference topic and several universities and industry partners presented in this area.
C5I Center partner ES Lab reflected the growing importance of electromagnetic pulse (EMP) defense by showcasing a computer equipment rack shielded against EMPs. ES Lab is donating the device to George Mason.

The conference’s 2,500 attendees could attend over 50 workshops and sessions covering disaster recovery, crisis communication, and climate change adaptation. A recurring theme was the importance of community preparedness and the role of technology in enhancing emergency response.

Following the conference, Wells and partners visited NIST's Public Safety Immersive Test Center and toured the FirstNet Authority facility in Boulder, Colorado. They also visited NOAAs Space Weather Prediction Center, which ties to EMP protection.

The ES Lab plans to collaborate on a significantly expanded presence at the 2025 IAEM conference in Louisville, which could provide opportunities for Georg Mason activities involved in Public Safety and Emergency Management to partner with emerging areas such as EMP, drones as first responders, and adaptive, compound threats.

IAEM, with more than 6,000 members, is an educational non-profit dedicated to promoting the Principles of Emergency Management and representing professionals whose goals are saving lives and protecting property and the environment during emergencies and disasters.

Topics

Center for Resilient and Sustainable Communities

first responders

CEC Global Engagement

AI on call: George Mason and Fairfax County dial up emergency response

Nathan Kahl — Mon, 25 Nov 2024 13:26:41 +0000

AI on call: George Mason and Fairfax County dial up emergency response Nathan Kahl Mon, 11/25/2024 - 08:26

In This Story

Karina Korostelina

Paul Houser

Hemant Purohit

When you have a dire emergency you want help from wherever you can get it. Even if it’s from an AI voice assistant.

George Mason University received a grant of nearly $1 million from the National Institute of Standards and Technology for enhancing emergency response, specifically using artificial intelligence (AI) to improve training and other capabilities of the emergency communication systems in Northern Virginia. The funding was made possible through the efforts of Congressman Gerry Connolly, who sponsored the proposal.

“As we strive to improve our emergency preparedness and response capabilities, it is absolutely critical that we recognize the potential of new and emerging technologies—including AI,” said Connolly. “By utilizing this technology safely and effectively in our public safety systems, we can reduce response times, lighten the workload for 911 call centers and first responders, and better communicate with the community during emergency situations. I am so proud to have secured this important funding, and I look forward to seeing these federal dollars put to good use for the betterment of all of us who call Fairfax County home.”

This work will be performed by George Mason’s transdisciplinary Center for Resilient and Sustainable Communities (C-RASC) team. “This work is only possible by engaging a unique transdisciplinary team representing three different colleges, toward enhancing emergency communications resiliency and effectiveness with AI,” said Paul Houser, C-RASC executive director. “We thank Congressman Connolly and the George Mason transdisciplinary vision for the realization of this project, and look forward to making a difference in Fairfax emergency management and beyond.”

Linton Wells II, executive advisor to the Center for Resilient and Sustainable Communities and to the C5I Center at George Mason, said that the university is actively engaged with the Fairfax County Department of Public Safety and Communications (Fairfax County’s 9-1-1 Center), as well as other emergency management organizations.

Fairfax County's 9-1-1 center receives around 400,000 emergency calls annually. Photo provided by Fairfax County

“We talked to public safety officials around Fairfax and the most receptive entity was the 9-1-1 call center,” he said. “We were invited to join operators on the call center floor and observe them taking calls and dispatching people, which was very impressive. They really are interested in training and would like to spend more time talking to the community about what they do.”

Wells added that AI can improve public safety effectiveness in numerous ways.

“It could help reduce delays in processing calls, enhance caller experiences, and improve dispatching efficiency, for example. The plan is to begin by using it to improve training, which is an excellent place to get immediate gains and learn more about how it best can be used.”

George Mason will work with local communities to make citizens more aware of what’s being done in emergency preparedness and will provide feedback to public safety officials. The technology can also help officials interpret public sentiment as a disaster is occurring, supporting another goal of the project, which is to improve stakeholder engagement and enhancing support to underserved communities.

Karina V. Korostelina, professor and director of the Sustainable Peace Lab at the Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution, said that the university will work with local officials on further outreach and communication efforts in support of the project.

“Our task is to create a systemic community engagement plan that involves Neighborhood and Community Services, Immigration Services, Fairfax County Public Schools and libraries in educating community members about the use of 911 and the role of AI," Korostelina said. "We also will conduct multiple focus groups and townhalls to understand community concerns and facilitate participatory approaches to the improvement of public safety and communications." Her team, which includes PhD student and a post-doc, will implement cutting-edge practices of co-creation and community empowerment to enhance collaboration between communities and government agencies in Fairfax.

Other project investigators from C-RASC and CEC include Kathryn Laskey, professor emerita of Systems Engineering and Operations Research, and Hemant Purohit, associate professor of Information Sciences and Technology, who will closely work with a CEC doctoral student and industry partners to design an AI assistant to enable personalized conversation-based training for call-takers to go through various real-world scenarios at their own pace while accounting for complexities such as varying incident descriptions and multilingual callers.

“Since 9-1-1’s inception in 1968, voice communication has been the cornerstone of 9-1-1 emergency services,” said Andrew Clarke, assistant director of operations in the Department of Public Safety Communications, Fairfax County 9-1-1. “However, with the rise of smartphones, smart homes, and AI, our community has moved beyond traditional voice-based interaction.”

Clarke said this new partnership with George Mason will allow Fairfax County to reimagine workflows, not just improving service, but setting a new benchmark for community engagement. "We are transforming the 9-1-1 landscape to ensure we are as innovative and forward-thinking as the technologies that surround us today.”

Topics

Center for Resilient and Sustainable Communities

Artificial Intellgence

Research

National Institute of Standards and Technology NIST