The first responders group inside the Department of Homeland Security’s science and technology directorate has launched a project that works to share encrypted data and live videos with public safety personnel through public television signals.
DHS said in a release posted Feb. 9 FRG conducted two pilot exercises for the Video Datacasting Project in Chicago and Houston in 2015.
FRG teamed up with SpectraRep, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab and Public Broadcasting Service-related TV stations to carry out the two pilots with the goal to help facilitate data exchanges with first responders and law enforcement officials.
“Datacasting is a broadcasting mechanism capable of one-to-many content delivery which reduces congestion on public safety agencies’ networks,†said Cuong Luu, FRG program manager.
Users of the datacast-based system worked to send and receive images, live videos, files, alerts and other transmissions during the two pilot exercises.
DHS’ S&T directorate has started its search for new pilot locations and partners to conduct further tests on the datacast platform this year.