SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. –
General Dynamics C4 Systemsand the EDGE Innovation Network are hosting Winter Institute 2014, a disasterresponse exercise that will evaluate how voice, data and situational awarenessare shared among U.S. government, EDGE Innovation Network members and civilian publicsafety organizations. The exercise takes place October 28 and 29 and will involvemore than 100 military and civilian personnel as they respond to multiple simulated,large-scale disasters with participants located in Disaster City®, the TexasA&M disaster-response training site in College Station, Texas, and FortBliss, Texas, located 700 miles away. 'Fortwo days U.S. government and civilian public safety professionals will respondto very realistic disaster events, testing their ability to communicate, shareinformation and collaborate with a true sense of urgency,' said Chris Marzilli,president of General Dynamics C4 Systems. 'The lessons learned from thisexercise will identify what works, and what needs work, so when a disasterstrikes, first responders can focus on helping survivors from the moment theyarrive on the scene.'TheArmy and Texas National Guard will be using the General Dynamics C4Systems-built, Warfighter Information Network-Tactical (WIN-T) to interconnectWinter Institute participants at Disaster City with participants located atFort Bliss.
WIN-T, the U.S. Army'scyber-defended tactical communications backbone network, was the communicationshub that enabled multiple government and civilian public safety professionalsto communicate and share information following hurricane Sandy in 2012.'WinterInstitute 2014 is a testament to the power of the EDGE Innovation Network,'said Pete Palmer, director of the EDGE Innovation Network. 'For more than eightyears, the EDGE has hosted collaborative environments for government, academiaand industry to pool their collective capabilities to solve challenges facinggovernment organizations, and in this case, smoothing the road for a wide rangeof public safety professionals to have timely, accurate and reliableinformation when lives are at stake.
' TheDisaster City® training site is part ofthe Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service in College Station.
The site is a mock community that includesfull-scale, collapsible structure designed to simulate various levels ofdisaster and wreckage that is customized for training events for emergencyfirst responders.Established in 2006, there are 17EDGE Innovation Centers operating worldwide and serving a number of specializedmarkets including the EDGE Center for Emergency Informatics at Texas A&MUniversity. The EDGE maintains an open environment where members and customerscan characterize, nurture, develop and deliver current and emergingtechnologies and capabilities to equip a more mobile, better connected andbetter informed end-user. General Dynamics C4 Systems is the lead technologypartner of the EDGE Innovation Network.
Learnmore at www.edge-innovation.com.GeneralDynamics C4 Systems is a business unit of General Dynamics (NYSE: GD).Information about General Dynamics is available at www.generaldynamics.com.