Emergency Alert Info a Click Away

June 23, 2002 -- The nation's public television stations are building a new digital system to get quick emergency information to the public — not through television sets, but through computers.

"After 9/11 it became clear that this new system could really play a role in homeland security," said John Lawson, president and CEO of the Association of Public Television Stations, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit group.

Engineers from Kentucky Educational Television developed software that allows the station to use its digital broadcast capacity to send emergency weather alerts and other information to computers with digital television tuner cards around the state of Kentucky.

"We found it as an opportunity to make good use of the conversion as mandated by the FCC [Federal Communications Commission] to digital broadcasting," said Virginia Fox, KET's executive director and CEO.

Fox said although several organizations are looking into how this system can work for them, emergency organizations will always have top priority over everything else.

How Will the System Work?

What the digital homeland security network will do is use "datacasting," over-the-air broadcasting of data in digital television, according to Lawson. When public television stations receive data from public safety agencies, it is then transmitted in the digital television signal. The system would send maps, text, video and audio to computers and handheld devices equipped with digital television tuner cards in homes, schools, offices, public safety and other offices.

The network will also allow public safety offices to communicate secure information to specific computers, said Lawson. For example, police information can be sent individually to all police departments through this network.

On Sept. 11, when cell phone service went down, public offices could not reach agencies and their emergency responders quickly, Lawson pointed out. He said the new system would change this.

The network's architects hope information can bypass the congestion of other communication devices such as the Internet, telephone, and cellular service, which can often fail in emergency situations, as on Sept. 11.

"You can do mass distribution, and you can also encrypt some information so only some users can decrypt what you sent," Lawson said.

The network is designed to rely on partnerships between television stations and public agencies such as hospitals, schools, law enforcement agencies and governmental organizations in order to communicate information to the public, he said.

KET already made partnerships with various public agencies such as the Kentucky State Police, the National Weather Service and the state Division of Emergency Management. The software was designed by NDS Ltd., a company specializing in communications software.

"We're providing the same information you can get on the Web, but you don't need Web connectivity to get it," said Mike Clark, programming operations director of KET. Plus, there's little delay in getting the information to the public.

A Demonstration in Front of Congress

Earlier this month, the public television association and KET demonstrated the system to members of Congress.

"We're trying to slowly build awareness of what we're doing," Lawson said. Officials are developing a legislative proposal, which could be offered later this summer.

According to Lawson, $1.7 billion is needed for the complete digital conversion for public television and radio. Stations have already raised $750 million from state legislation and private sectors, and $158 million from federal sources, Lawson said.

Currently, 75 of 356 public television stations are transmitting in digital, Lawson said. By May 2003, all stations are under a federal mandate to convert to digital transmission.

Is It Necessary?

One past critic of public television disagreed with the notion that spending money on a digital system would help with homeland security.

"They're trying to come up with the money to support their digital television. It's outrageous," said Laurence A. Jarvik, author of the book PBS: Behind the Screen. "Let the Department of Homeland Security take care of homeland security."

Though he disagrees with public television's intervention in security matters, he would rather see public television put its digital ability to good use.

"It's probably a better use of their system than actually putting programming on it," said Jarvik.

Nonetheless, executives from KET say this network will be a help in time of crisis.

"KET's mission is to datacast lifesaving information securely and instantaneously," said Fox. Fox said KET has invested $22 million into making transmitters digital.

"This is something that we are serious about in Kentucky," said Clark. "We invested in it. We will deploy it this summer."