National Roundtables Explore Development of Next Generation Emergency Messaging

Posted on March 17, 2022 in ATSC News

The AWARN Alliance joined with KEYT-TV, the Offices of Emergency Management for Santa Barbara County and the City of Riverside, and the California Broadcasters Association to host the first of a national series of roundtable discussions on the development of Next Generation Emergency Messaging (NGEM). The March 10-11 forum brought together emergency managers and broadcast leadership from across Southern California to build upon their strong informal relationships and discuss the future of public warning.

Leveraging the advanced alerting capabilities of a powerful new broadcast technology, ATSC 3.0/NEXTGEN TV will be an important piece of a broader discussion of interoperable technologies. Activities included a station tour of KEYT, known for its unparalleled disaster coverage in the region, as well as level-setting briefings and networking events ahead of a series of closed-door roundtable meetings among public and private disaster information stakeholders. Discussions centered on building out a voluntary, all-digital, and interoperable ‘network of networks’ to improve our response to many types of emergencies, including wildfires.

The AWARN Alliance operates at the intersection of policy, technology, social science, and emergency management for the development of next generation emergency messaging. Although the use of NEXTGEN TV and ‘Broadcast Internet’ in a converged system will be central topics of our roundtable meetings, technology is not its focus. Instead, AWARN focuses on the institutional and human interactions needed to leverage new technology solutions. We are answering the “what” question about advanced alerting and supporting our tech partners as they answer the “how.” ATSC is a close technical partner in this critical division of labor.

Prior social science tells us that while people usually don’t panic in emergencies, but they do delay in responding to alerts – a delay that can be fatal. This “milling” phenomenon is caused when people seek confirmation or more complete information before acting. The powerful geo-targeting, rich-media, and mobile capabilities of NEXTGEN TV can reduce milling and save lives, and the Santa Barbara Roundtable event was an important step toward establishing the relationships that will be foundational to the development of an advanced emergency messaging network built upon ATSC 3.0.

To learn more about AWARN and its national roundtable tour, visit www.awarn.org or contact AWARN Alliance Executive Director John Lawson at jlawson@awarn.org.

Posted in ATSC News