The Australian Early Warning Network EWN

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The Australian Early Warning Network (EWN)
I would like to welcome everyone here today and
thank you for your time in coming down to this
meeting to discuss emergency communications. The
purpose of this meeting is to address what is
being done communication-wise to protect you for
the next fire season, not to mention any other
type of emergency. We are also pleased to be
able to take the opportunity to announce what we
can offer your community, at no cost. This is
something unique, not available any where else in
the world and designed specifically to save lives
protect property and make you safer. What we
will show you today in the mix of other
communications that you need, is a cutting edge
technology and a service that has been pioneered
here in Australia and is proven to work.
Emergency Communications
Community Information, preparation and early
warning
www.ewn.com.au
Before, during and after
About the Australian Early Warning Network (EWN)
EWN provides a free emergency alert service that
covers everything from tsunami through to severe
weather and fire. EWN tracks severe events
alerting people directly in the path of a storm
with potential for hail, flash flooding
or damaging winds etc. To accomplish this
mission EWN has developed a sophisticated but
easy to use multi-hazard, multi-channel
geographic notification system.
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Emergency Communications
For Your Community
As just mentioned, while fires are a continual
threat, we never know what the next crisis will
be

• Communications to manage multiple hazards
• Fire
• Biological- Pandemic threats
• Severe Weather
• Criminal, Terror
• Other

www.ewn.com.au
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We all know that in the recent tragedy that
communications were a major problem We know the
community did not get enough information, could
not find it and did not receive adequate
warning. We aim to make sure that never happens
again We aim to do that by making sure you, your
community is in control of the apparatus that
gets those warning to you
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Information and Warnings
In all emergencies your community needs time to
prepare, it needs timely warning with information
that is accurate for where individuals live or
work because what happens at one house or street
might be entirely different to another. You need
to be kept informed during and after events.
This is also where layers of communication come
in to overcome failures .

• Media Radio, TV, internet
• Word of mouth
• NEWS the National Early Warning System
• Radio
• LEN Local Emergency Networks (Multi-channel,
  multi-hazard)
• Landline
• SMS
• email
• desktopALERT

This is opt-in. The benefit of this is people
have requested to be informed and controllers
will not be constrained by bureaucratic concerns.
Their job is to keep you informed
www.ewn.com.au
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• NEWS The National Early Warning System. This is
  a necessary and essential layer and is supposed
  to be ready in time. This is the system being
  provided by Telstra funded by 15M from the
  federal government plus an annual maintenance
  fee.
• It uses IPND mobile, landline only based on
  billing address
• Is it location based in other words GIS?
  Dont know
• Protocols When is it usedEmergency Warning
  Signal?
• Who uses it, who will have authority to send
  alerts?
• What we do know is irregardless of this, you will
  have a system you can control that exceeds any
  other capability is operating today.

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Who Are We?
The Australian Early Warning Network (EWN)
provides a free emergency alert service to the
public and business covering everything from
tsunami through to severe weather. Alerts are
sent via SMS, phone, email, desktopALERT and
web. EWN tracks severe events alerting people
directly in thier path such as a storm with
potential for hail, flash flooding or damaging
winds and fires etc. To achieve this EWN has
developed and operates a multi-channel Geographic
Notification and Information System (GNIS). This
system instantly and simultaneously broadcasts
alerts and notifications to individuals, groups,
or persons in selected areas over multiple
communication mediums. The GNIS is one of, if
not the most advanced EW system in the world. The
GNIS is proven and sends tens of thousands of
alerts within Australia each month making it the
most experienced service in use today.
Worlds only operational location based severe
weather early warning system.
And it can send to one or one million all at once.
As mentioned, this is what we offered free to the
VIC government in 2007. It has been operational
ever since and was sending alerts on Black
Saturday.
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Local Emergency Networks
Headed by Mike Bath here General Manager Alerts
EWNs national early warning centre manages
alerting for severe weather events, tsunami and
distribution of alerts produced by emergency
authorities. Events such as fires and flooding
require local knowledge to be effectively
responded to. We believe in community resilience
and want to arm your community with the means to
defend itself. Our system has been specifically
designed to meet that need and put you in
control, not someone else.. Subsequently we
have established Local Emergency Networks, run by
locals for locals and have armed them with what
we believe to be one of, if not the most powerful
and sophisticated toolkits available to any
community in the world to help monitor, warn and
inform the community in any emergency. We will
back this up, support your LENs where required
from the Alerts Centre and co-ordinate team the
many LENs to support and back up each other.
The service and technology you are about to see
is operating nationally now and includes some
unique capabilities that you will see are
extremely helpful to responders as well as the
public including the ability to locate and
communicate with people and assets in real time
www.ewn.com.au
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Local Emergency Networks
How does this actually happen, what do the local
Emergency Networks do to send alerts

• Notifications or alerts can be sent using one of
  four methods
• GIS
• Group
• Quick
• Saved alerts
• GIS Alert
• A GIS alert, as in the example to the right, is
  where an operator or alert manager selects or
  draws an alert area on the map. After creating
  the message and selecting the channels in which
  to send it through, everyone registered within
  that area will be alerted.
• Group Alert
• A group alert is sent to pre-defined lists.
• Quick Alert
• A quick alert is used to send to individuals or
  groups selected from a directory.
• Saved Alert
• This is an alert that is saved, normally setup up
  for an area or community that is vulnerable to a
  known risk. Saves time and confusion in emergency
  situations.

We use mostly GIS alerts, responders might opt
for something completely new we have developed
based on real time location
OR..If we were provided access to the IPND,
everyone would get notified.
The vulnerable say in heat stress situations,
childcare facilities, responders etc.
Fast way to get to people using an address book
and multiple channels
Bushfire Alert sent by EWN to Marysville on Black
Saturday
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Geospatial Data
Controllers and alert operators also enjoy other
data in real time to help them target alerts
To increase the accuracy of alerts, other
geospatial data is overlayed in real time into
the GIS control panel.
Weather radar, wind direction, temperature,
humidity
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Example This is what EWN does every day, the
most common and pervasive threat severe weather.
Specifically through our 24/7 monitoring we
alert on hail, flash flooding, strong winds.
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Report of Snap Alert
Example This shows part of a system report of a
multi-channel alert, one of many sent out on that
particular evening. The alert is specific to the
area of threat. Each icon represent s many
members. The system records details of every
alert and the complete history of alerts and
messaging for each member.
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Locating and Communication
We are also pleased to be able to provide another
new and very exciting capability. This has been
made possible by partnering with Pocket Life and
enables both mobile alerting and location
capabilities
For instance, controllers and responders will
have access to to the system to ascertain the
location of assets and communicate with
them. This is achieved through the handset where
the holder can elect to update its position every
five minutes, ten..whatever they decide. The
asset will show up on the map and will also show
who it is and where it has been.
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Locating and Communication
For instance, controllers and responders will
have access to to the system to ascertain the
location of assets and communicate with
them. This is achieved through the handset where
the holder can elect to update its position every
five minutes, ten..whatever they decide. The
asset will show up on the map and will also show
who it is and where it has been.
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Locating and Communication
For instance, controllers and responders will
have access to to the system to ascertain the
location of assets and communicate with
them. This is achieved through the handset where
the holder can elect to update its position every
five minutes, ten..whatever they decide. The
asset will show up on the map and will also show
who it is and where it has been.
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Locating and Communication
For instance, controllers and responders will
have access to to the system to ascertain the
location of assets and communicate with
them. This is achieved through the handset where
the holder can elect to update its position every
five minutes, ten..whatever they decide. The
asset will show up on the map and will also show
who it is and where it has been.
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Locating and Communication
For instance, controllers and responders will
have access to to the system to ascertain the
location of assets and communicate with
them. This is achieved through the handset where
the holder can elect to update its position every
five minutes, ten..whatever they decide. The
asset will show up on the map and will also show
who it is and where it has been.
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EWN partners with Pocket Life to use secure and
real time location data from the mobile phone
Location Data
EWN Web Situation Room
GPS
Cell Tower
WiFi
not scope of trial phase
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The service works on over 50 common handsets and
will be rolled out further in the next weeks
iPhone
Nokia
GPS
Android
Blackberry
Mobile network
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Other Types of Alerts
Example This example uses the radius tool to
clear/warn an area or specific building to a
bomb, biological or chemical threat.
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Any size, shape alert areacan be drawn
Accurate to within ten metres you can draw
whatever shape and zoom down to alert just one
house
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Anyone, Anywhere, Anytime
Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea
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Registering to the System
In other words how do people get onto the system
to get alerted
Directories or address and contact details can be
imported and automatically geo-coded by the
system, or people can go online and register.
The public can go to our registration page enter
their locations home, work, schools etc. They
are provided a login so they can manage their
data, edit, add, delete turn off and on locations
(ie boating/golf venues), protect kids etc.
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Registering to the System
Part of the registration and login page where
members can manage their alert locations, types
of alerts and history.
Geo-coding
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Amber Alerts
Join Other Groups
I mentioned other types of alerts. The system is
designed to be used and exploited by the
community. As other groups join and we offer
other notifications, You can select to get these
other alerts (Or turn them off and on)
Select other alerts to receive such as Graziers
alerts and other rural alerts Schools Child Care
centres Aged Care facilities Others using the
system include Councils Aged Care
facilities Schools Surf Life Saving Corporates Ins
urance Company We hope many more join
We call these content providers
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What I have just shown you a very brief over
view. There is much more to the system and much,
much more coming online over the next days. In
closing, I want to say all of this has been
pioneered and developed here in Australia. It has
been funded entirely from our own pockets without
any support from government. Indeed government
seem to have tried particularly hard to avoid any
recognition of us or the capability and benefit
this system and service has to the community. We
find this disappointing but it makes little
difference to our commitment. On a personal
note, and Im sure many of you will understand,
as you grow older it seems unavoidable..inevitable
that tragedy, often horrific embraces you. While
not having suffered through Black Saturday I do
know the pain. This is why I am in no way going
to stand back and let anyone suffer again when we
have a tool that can prevent that.
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Simultaneous Multi-Channel Alerts
Email and desktopALERT
Internet or any other electronic gateway
SMS
Text to voice phone or mobile
Desktop Pop Up