An ASU alumnus and the University's Center for Advancing Business through Information Technology are partnering to improve the Amber Alert system, which helps find missing children.
Chris Warner, CEO of Earth911 and E2C (Engaging and Empowering Citizenship) and an ASU graduate, developed technology that helps spread Amber Alert messages.
Ajay Vinze, director of ASU's Center for Advancing Business through Information Technology (CABIT), said the center will partner with Warner's companies and the Arizona Broadcasters Association to improve upon the current "daisy-chained" system, which does not safeguard against outages.
On Friday, CABIT held a Security Symposium to address homeland security concerns following the second anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks.
As part of the all-day event titled "Responding to Future Security Concerns with Emerging Technologies," CABIT announced plans to host a pilot Amber Alert system for research purposes. The partnership's goal is to develop a way to guard against technical problems.
Currently, a power surge that disables one point of the system can start a chain reaction that stops the spread of the Amber Alert.
Until that one location's network is fixed, patrol units, radio stations and television networks cannot receive information that would be useful in recovering a missing child.
With a new system, different locations would house hardware to allow several systems to talk with one another. If one breaks down, other networks would not be affected.
The model would improve the national Emergency Alert System, not replace it, said Frank Navarrete, director of Arizona Homeland Security.
"In order to protect our homeland, we must first protect our hometown," said Navarrete.
Arizona is one of 46 states that have started up a statewide Amber Alert plan since the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children began a national campaign for the plan in 2001.
Arizona's Amber Alert plan was implemented in fall 2002 and has been activated three times. In each case, a child was successfully returned and the suspect apprehended in less than two hours, Navarrete said.
Reach the reporter at michael.miklofsky@asu.edu.
