DATAMARK Selected to Support Alabama 9-1-1 Board’s NG9-1-1 GIS Needs

Firm to Aggregate Public Safety GIS data from 85 Emergency Communication Districts

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (OCTOBER 19, 2020) – DATAMARK, the public safety GIS team of Michael Baker International, has been selected by the Alabama 9-1-1 Board to provide Next-Generation 9-1-1  (NG9-1-1) Geographic Information Systems (GIS) data solutions and services. As a part of this contract, DATAMARK will employ its VEP Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) to enable Alabama to aggregate public safety GIS data from 85 Emergency Communication Districts to support geospatial call routing within the Alabama Next Generation Emergency Network (ANGEN). ANGEN is a project to install an Internet Protocol (IP) network to allow handling of 9-1-1 calls via IP.

“DATAMARK’s dedicated team has been working for years to improve the success and reliability of emergency services by helping our partners become NG9-1-1 ready. A faster, more resilient system designed to receive calls and data from emerging technologies is necessary and can make all the difference in an emergency situation,” said Jason Bivens, General Manager at DATAMARK, Michael Baker International. “As the only cloud-native provider, our solutions will allow the Alabama 9-1-1 Board to use cloud computing to reduce overall cost and provide a work-from-anywhere approach and deploy highly available and reliable GIS data.”

As a part of the contract, DATAMARK will complete a gap analysis on local GIS data and provide unlimited and on-demand GIS data validation capabilities to support the National Emergency Number Association (NENA) NG9-1-1 GIS data standard. Upon completion of statewide GIS data aggregation, the Alabama 911 Board will be provided a statewide GIS dataset for NG9-1-1.  In addition, DATAMARK will provide training and local support.

Leah Missildine, Executive Director at the Alabama 9-1-1 Board said, “The Alabama 9-1-1 Board’s goal is to work in partnership with Emergency Communication Districts of Alabama to facilitate and promote effective, efficient and reliable 9-1-1 service statewide to the residents and visitors of our great state.  Each action taken by the Board is meant to improve service in every aspect as we deploy the technology that serves as the next generation of 9-1-1 for our stakeholders, which includes the person(s) in need, the personnel staffing our 9-1-1 centers, the field responders and any other partner agencies that provide safety for our public.  Embarking on this next component of the modernization of our 9-1-1 system with DATAMARK will allow GIS data to take on a mission-critical role and gives life to our GIS Program.”

“A NENA-compliant GIS dataset is the engine that will power Alabama’s NG9-1-1 network. DATAMARK was selected by the Alabama 9-1-1 Board as a partner to help us develop that dataset because after thorough evaluation, they were deemed to provide the best solutions to Alabama’s unique NG9-1-1 issues. The Board looks forward to working with DATAMARK to cultivate the state’s 9-1-1 GIS Program,” added Anderson Brooms, GIS Program Manager for the Alabama 9-1-1 Board.

The project commenced in Fall 2020 and will continue through October 2023.