2014 Digital Yearbook of Homeland Security Awards

GSN 2014 Digital Yearbook of Homeland Security Awards Recipients
Government Agency Awards
U.S. Army Garrison (USAG) in Bavaria –
2014 Silver Winner
Awards Category:
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Most Notable Critical Infrastructure Protection Program
Name of Nominated Product, Service,
or Program:
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Bavaria Interagency Deployment
Reason this entry deserves to win:
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Founded in 1999, AtHoc pioneered interactive crisis
communication. Today, the company protects millions
of people around the world – including more than 75%
of U.S. Military and Homeland Security personnel, as
well as leading corporations and universities.
The U.S. Army Garrison (USAG) in Bavaria provides protection
to those in their community by utilizing AtHoc’s
product. The USAG Bavaria strives to provide a quick,
effective response to crisis in order to ensure the security
of their infrastructure. They recognize that emergencies
do not occur in isolation, and that efficient communication
with the greater community is paramount in assuring
the safety of the community in times of crisis. However,
the Garrison had previously encountered many
problems as it attempted to establish an effective way
to communicate within a community of organizations
that covers 180 miles. It lacked the efficiency to communicate
between organizations, without having to alert
external points of contact, in order to distribute alerts
internally. In addition, USAG Bavaria was challenged
with the prospect of maintaining an up-to-date list of
inter-organizational contacts, gathering them manually,
a time consuming task at the very least.
USAG Bavaria uses AtHoc’s cross-agency communication
system or “Connect” to connect its numerous organizations
via cloud. With this system in place, the commander
responsible for safety and security will now be able
to invite 13 tenant commands and components (such
as the DoD school system, Morale Welfare and Recreation
facilities, NATO schools, USO), as well as off-site
but contiguous affected organizations, to join a secure
network of communication in which the tenants will
“connect” with the host command. This allows them to
communicate directly with all desired organizations and
external contacts in times of crisis, without the timeconsuming
task of relaying the alerts to key contacts in
other organizations. Additionally, each organization has
the ability to enter and manage their own personnel’s
data. All of this allows USAGA Bavaria to communicate
effectively and efficiently between their organizations,
and ultimately, within their entire community.
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