Key Initiatives Involving the Academy

ITEC

The Academy-hosted Internet2 Technology Evaluation Center (ITEC) at Texas A&M University supports the advancement and deployment of Internet technologies, with special expertise in areas associated with Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) and Information Assurance. Some of ITEC's main projects include participation in the American Distance Education Consortium (ADEC)'s efforts in testing and monitoring VoIP initiatives, VoIP Phone Codec Testing (PCT), and a collaborative Next-Generation 9-1-1 (NG9-1-1) project being conducted by Texas A&M and Columbia University researchers and numerous other partners (see below).

Disaster Relief and Emergency Medical Services (DREAMS™)

The Academy manages Texas A&M University’s participation in Disaster Relief and Emergency Medical Services (DREAMS™). DREAMS™ is using rapidly developing computer and telecommunications technology and new research in basic and clinical science to improve trauma victims’ survival, especially in remote areas and battlefields beyond the physical reach of specialists in well-equipped trauma centers.

An important initiative involved in DREAMS, the Digital Emergency Medical Service™ (Digital EMS) project, is the product of a partnership including The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston and The Texas A&M University System. Digital EMS findings and developments will have crossover applications in the military and aerospace arenas.

Next-Generation 9-1-1

The advent of Internet-based communications has produced a significant challenge in providing location and telephone number information for emergency calls. Previous technologies had the advantage of being able to report a fixed location for the calling devices. While Internet-based communications offer the advantage of availability wherever there is an Internet connection, this makes the routing of emergency calls and the caller’s location difficult with current technology.

Next-Generation 9-1-1 will develop, deploy, and demonstrate solutions for Internet-based emergency services using emerging open standards, common off-the shelf technology (COTS), and a unique partnership of researchers, university network practitioners, operators of public safety answering points, and state governments. The Academy’s wealth of expertise enriches and furthers Texas A&M’s presence in this partnership.

SCOOP

Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita: These disastrous 2005 storms alone illustrate the need for the SURA Coastal Ocean Observing and Prediction program (SCOOP), proposed by the Southeastern Universities Research Association (SURA). SCOOP will be “a distributed system for predicting and visualizing the coastal response to extreme atmospheric events, including the damaging and catastrophic effects of storm surge, inundation and wind waves” for the southeastern coastal region of the United States. Guy Almes, Director of the Academy and researcher Gerald Creager are members of the team that has proposed and is developing SCOOP.
Focusing on distributed resources and service-oriented architecture, SCOOP is seeking to create an enhanced environment in which to perform coastal science by providing access to large computing and storage resources, as well as visualization capabilities.

Lonestar Education And Research Network (LEARN)

LEARN is a cooperative effort of 33 institutions of higher education in Texas to provide high-speed connectivity between their institutions as well as to research networks across the country in support of higher education's research, teaching, health care, and public service missions. The LEARN network is intended to enhance Texas' research competitiveness and the state's economic competitiveness and to provide state-of-the-art, cost-effective data communications that enable effective education of students around the state.

Texas Mesonet

The Academy is playing a part in an exciting initiative in meteorology that is designed to “close holes” in accurate weather forecasting for Texas. The Texas Mesonet is a network of automated meteorological monitoring instruments that gather weather data and display it at a single point in near-real-time, for use by the public as well as scientific experts. The Mesonet will provide reliable weather data for improved forecasting and more accurate severe weather warnings, help decision-makers in policy and planning, and serve as an important source of information for students and teachers at all educational levels.

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