Microsoft Fusion Core Extends MDPD Super Bowl XLIV Situational Awareness

February 4, 2010

The Miami-Dade Police Department (MDPD) and Microsoft with assistance from Analyst International Corporation (AIC) and ESRI, are coordinating intelligence efforts surrounding Super Bowl XLIV by enhanced information sharing and intelligence gathering, made possible through a new fusion center collaboration solution. Leveraging information across multiple jurisdictions at the local, regional and national level, justice and public safety officials responsible for securing Super Bowl XLIV will use Fusion Core Solution to more effectively identify and help prevent threats potentially posed by organized crime, gangs, drug cartels and terrorists.

With Fusion Core Solution, MDPD fusion center personnel will be able to move information from intake to analysis to dissemination in a multilevel environment, while using existing assets and applications. Fusion Core Solution accesses and aggregates data from multiple, disparate sources and displays it in ways that make it easy to access and analyze.

“The ability to effectively collect and manage vital intelligence is critical to any large-scale event’s protection efforts,” said Gail Thomas Flynn, vice president of State and Local Government at Microsoft. “Not only will Fusion Core Solution help MDPD ensure compatibility with various data sources, but it will also feature geospatial references to aid in viewing all incoming data on a map.”

Intelligence personnel often encounter difficulty working with massive amounts of information to organize, analyze and distill it into meaningful and usable intelligence. Without access to effective analysis and modeling, it is difficult to effectively identify patterns, trends and relevant relationships among fused data sources. Without accurate, timely and adequate information from sources and partners, fusion center personnel can take the wrong action or miss the opportunity to take any action.

“Many existing information-sharing systems were developed before today’s information-exchange standards like the National Information Exchange Model,” said Wes Anderson, vice president of U.S. Public Sector Services at Microsoft. “With these advanced fusion solutions, the work of local law enforcement experts can be improved through the better integration of standards, authentication and information sharing, even among historically siloed organizations.”

Fusion Core Solution was developed to strengthen the ability of government to prepare for large-scale events and improve local public safety efforts to prepare for and manage natural disasters. “The MDPD fusion project represents one of the best examples of collaboration on many levels,” said James Northern, vice president of Public Sector Strategic Business Development at Analyst International Corp. “The result of this completed solution adds another tool to help provide protection for our highest-profile and national events.”