Amtrak awards Duos Technologies IPAWS CAP contract

Duos Technologies Group, Inc. (OTCQB: DUOT), has been awarded several contracts at an aggregate value of $230,000 to provide a Needs Assessment and GAP Analysis of Integrated Public Alert and Warning System Common Alerting Protocol (IPAWS CAP) capabilities at five Amtrak facilities throughout the U.S. that are representative of stations across the entire Amtrak system.

Managed by FEMA, IPAWS is described as “a modernization and integration of the nation’s alert and warning infrastructure that will save time when time matters most, protecting life and property. Federal, state, territorial, tribal and local alerting authorities can use IPAWS and integrate local systems that use CAP standards with the IPAWS infrastructure. IPAWS provides public safety officials with an effective way to alert and warn the public about serious emergencies using the Emergency Alert System (EAS), Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Weather Radio, and other public alerting systems from a single interface.”

“This Needs Assessment and GAP Analysis seeks to identify existing coordination and/or technical challenges for the implementation of IPAWS CAP-based alerting across multiple jurisdictions nationwide for various facility types represented within the Amtrak network; and to recommend solutions to those identified challenges,” Duos Technologies said. “The findings of this assessment will then shape the scope of further study into every facility within the Amtrak domain, for the implementation or supplementation of existing IPAWS CAP-based alert, warning and notification capabilities nationwide. The recommendations will increase Amtrak’s ability to communicate effectively, facilitating emergency reporting and notification, at their level of authority.”

The program’s objectives:

• Assess the existing capabilities, gaps and needs for action-based alerts and warning at five undisclosed locations across the Amtrak system.

• Develop recommendations for implementing or supplementing existing IPAWS CAP-based alerts, warning and notification capabilities at these locations.

• Identify potential barriers developing an enterprise-wide alert, warning and notification system based on the findings from these target locations.

“Duos Technologie is will be competing for developing, delivering and integrating the final system(s) at the selected locations,” said CEO Gianni Arcaini. “In response to Amtrak’s earlier request, our engineering team began customized development of an Emergency Communications & Hazard Operations System, which will be branded as “echos™” and which will incorporate an array of integrated applications for Incident Command System (ICS)/National Incident Management System (NIMS)-compliant, multimodal crisis communication and incident response, utilizing our centraco™ command and control connected intelligence engine.” >p> “This platform will be capable of receiving Common Alerting Protocol (CAP) XML standard alerts and informational broadcasts and displaying as well as re-transmitting them through a variety of methods, such as voice telecommunication, Short Message Service (SMS) text, email, smartphone apps, public address systems, two-way radio, strobes and digital bulletin boards,” said Duos Technologies Executive Vice President and General Manager Felix Krupczynski. “echos™ will also have the ability to receive responses from most of these forms of communication to ensure that the notice did in fact get received and was understood by the intended recipient. The system can leverage those same means of communication to relay critical information to outside agencies and entities during a local emergency. It can further leverage a connection to social media sites in order to post and receive information.”