The map-based Insta Blue Aware™ situational awareness system, offering a shared situational picture and efficient situational leadership, has been updated with a new software version.
The latest version enables enriching drone-provided video images with the other situational data provided by the system. In practice, users will see this as overlays of other situational information in the form of icons and drawings on top of the video images. New features also include easier customization for various customer needs and improved communication channel (voice and chat) properties.
- All of the features in the new version aim at making situational awareness and leadership even more efficient. Combining drone video and map-based situational data, for example, enables visualizing the situation more quickly, says Blue Aware™ expert Mika Lignell from Insta.
- With our advanced customization, we can now offer the system broadly to very different customers and for various use cases, Mika Lignell says.
Comprehensive situational picture, more efficient situational leadership, and support for debriefing
One significant benefit of Insta Blue Aware™ is that it can be used internally by an organization as well as a shared platform between several different actors and partners and that boosts cooperation.
Insta Blue Aware™ combines information from various data sources in order to create a shared, consistent, and map-based situational picture. Data providers may include field personnel mobile applications that are included in the system, the drone pilot’s application, or external data sources integrated into the system. At command centers, the system is used with a Web browser.
Drone video enriched with situational information brings situational awareness to an entirely new level. Using visualized situational data as well as situational picture symbols and drawings to supplement the video image makes it easier to interpret the video images, establish situational awareness, and lead the situation.
Communication features, such as chat and voice communication, support coordination and leadership. The chat channel enables linking situational picture data as a dynamic link that boosts the joint functionality of the situational picture presented on a map surface and the communication. The system also offers a push-to-talk channel for the needs of immediate situational leadership.
History replay enables retrospectively examining the progress of the event and the entire situation on a map surface. Chat and voice communications can also be exported from the system for a post-event review.
- The system has been developed for the needs of different customers. As we can now freely define the map locations desired by the customer for each specific use case and adjust the information that each user can see, the situational picture platform serves customers even more efficiently during their daily work as well as in the management of various deviations, Lignell adds.
Trusted, secure situational picture on offer in a versatile manner
Insta’s situational awareness system is an excellent match for security authorities, first responders, and other authorities, such as cities and municipalities. It is also suited for all actors benefiting from a situational picture displayed on a map surface, such as critical infrastructure actors, water and electricity utilities, and extensive industrial zones. The system can be utilized in the organizations’ own internal leadership and, if necessary, in shared operations between the different actors.
The command & control and situational awareness system developed by Insta is comprehensively utilized in Tampere, for example, for the purpose of improving the safety of everyday life and large-scale events in the rapidly growing city, as the City of Tampere has signed an agreement with Insta for the use of the system.
Insta Blue Aware™ will once again be used at the 2023 World Ice Hockey Championships, where it acts as the shared platform for the security operators of the event. Insta Blue Aware™ is a natural tool for large public events taking place across an extensive area; examples of these are the Ruisrock festival and Särkänniemi amusement park. The system has also been successfully utilized by the Voluntary Rescue Service Vapepa.
The system has been in use during military exercises and events where cooperation between authorities played a key role. Furthermore, Insta Blue Aware has been a shared communication and situational picture platform for cooperation between the authorities and various businesses in the civilian sector.
Insta Blue Aware™ enables• Shared situational awareness• Task management and coordination• Effective and secure team communication• Proactive incident management• Improved safety and security
