Dan Miller, VP of Mobile Solutions, Provided Expert Testimony Before the Florida State Senate Higher Education Committee

April 24, 2007 - Mr. Chairman, members of the Senate Higher Education Committee, and administrators from Florida’s institutes of higher learning: thank you for the opportunity to testify before you today.

Being just one week from the campus shooting tragedy at Virginia Tech, nearly two years since Hurricane Katrina, and more than six years since the September 11 terrorist attacks, governments and campus administrators face an important question: in the wake of such disasters and emergencies, has enough progress been made in emergency communication? The answer, unfortunately, is no.

The threat that confronted us six years ago still confronts us today. The need to prepare for and respond to natural and man-made emergencies is still one of the most critical challenges facing our government and university campuses. Our emergency response workers and citizens still cannot communicate quickly and effectively enough in the event of an emergency. As the threat of future terrorist attacks and natural disasters looms, the need to enhance our alert systems seems long overdue.

Fortunately, there is recognition of these shortcomings and the search for technology solutions is underway. Sometimes it's the simplest technology that thrives in times of chaos, like the simple text messaging format of SMS, which stands for Short Messaging Service, available on the majority of U.S. cell phones.

Text messaging has clearly proven advantages. The experiences at Virginia Tech indicate that many people may not be near a television or radio, or surfing the Web during an emergency. Instead, they may be between classes or driving to and/or from campus - and the one communication device they all have with them is their mobile phone.

The cell phone is the very icon of communication today. About 220 million, or 75%, of Americans have mobile phones with text messaging. In a campus community, that percentage exceeds 90%. As many of you know, text messaging has become a common form of communication among today's youth.

Still, text messaging addresses only part of the concern, which is delivering critical information quickly to a mass audience. Florida has an opportunity to take the lead across its university and college systems, implementing mobile phone technology that doesn’t just stop at text messaging, but rather delivers real two-way dialogue through that same personal device that we’ve all probably got in our pockets right now.

Such a system would allow administrations to not only send out critical alert messages, but also enable responses from their community members before, during and after an emergency. In this way, governments and universities have the ability to collect critical information from that same population in the form of safe lists, status and location information, and even the exchange of photos or videos from those who are on the scene.

The EDC of Collier County provides a great example of how this form of interactive text messaging can effectively aid communication efforts. As tropical storm Ernesto approached the Gulf Coast in 2006, the EDC sought a solution that would provide the instant interaction required to save a life, avoid mass confusion, and gather the power of its unique community in case of a true catastrophe.

Neighborhood America worked with the EDC to implement a mobile solution that would facilitate immediate interaction to deliver up-to-date weather conditions, government response, business activity details and school closings - directly to the mobile phones of registered community members.

One of the most important aspects of this service, setting it apart from other text messaging broadcasts, is the opportunity for the EDC to interact with community members. EDC administrators could monitor response activity, provide citizens with the communication channel needed for real-time feedback or safety concerns, and gauge local business and government activities in preparation for local response plans.

For the EDC, administrators could easily manage this interaction through a simple web-based platform. For those subscribing to the service, citizens gained the peace of mind knowing that through their cell phone, they could stay in touch with authorities and make key decisions quickly in case of an emergency.

Over the next weeks and months, government officials, education administrators, public safety professionals and the media will pore over the circumstances that lead up to last week's tragic campus shootings. They will not only look at procedures to help prevent future catastrophes, but they will also look to implement effective measures that go beyond emergency notification to emergency communication with the community before, during and after a crisis occurs. And with the right technology, those traveling Florida's campuses can feel more secure knowing that a strategic communication plan has been implemented throughout the State – and can also become the mobile eyes and ears of the administration and or authorities.

In conclusion, Mr. Chairman, I want to thank you once again for allowing me to testify on how mobile technology can help the emergency communication efforts throughout the State of Florida and its institutes of higher learning.