Core Services Initiative announced to further interoperable communications, preparedness, response and recovery

| 12.10.2007 | 05:23:247333 |

December 10 '07: A partnership of response and technology organizations has announced a new initiative to "improve interoperable, inter-organizational communications and information sharing for emergency preparedness, response and recovery," a press release announced. The Core Services Initiative is being pushed by the COMCARE Emergency Response Alliance, the Open Geospatial Consortium, Inc.,, the National Emergency Number Association, and the National Association of State Fire Marshals. COMCARE Director Steve Cooper said the initiative would work to develop "Core Services" of "shared information technology services 'in the middle'".

Cooper said the Core Services "contain critical information about the organizations, registered by them, and the rules, set by policy makers, about what each group can do in an information sharing environment." According to the press release "The need for Core Services has been consistently identified in FCC Network Reliability and Interoperability Council (NRIC) reports, Congressional legislation, NENA's Next Generation Partner Program recommendations and in numerous other reports."

"COMCARE has designed two Core [S]ervices to meet this need; an Emergency Provider Access Directory agency locator service and identity management/access control service," the press release continued. "To move from design to deployment, COMCARE, NENA, and NASFM are seeking one or more technology partners to supply the 'alpha' versions of these two Core Services."