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Indiana Beaches Alert. Beach Notification System for Mobile Devices. Thomas W. Easterly Commissioner Indiana Department of Environmental Management ECOS Innovations Award – September 25, 2011. Indiana Beaches Alert.
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Indiana BeachesAlert Beach Notification Systemfor Mobile Devices Thomas W. Easterly Commissioner Indiana Department of Environmental Management ECOS Innovations Award – September 25, 2011
Indiana BeachesAlert Mobile application allowing beachgoers to check the status of favorite beaches from any Web-enabled cell phone or mobile device Shows “real-time” information throughout the beach season Allows beachgoers to subscribe to e-mail or text alerts about particular beaches
Indiana BeachesAlert GPS-enabled phones automatically show nearby beaches Integrates mobile, Web and on-site (QR Code Tagging) technologies for multiple information routes on various devices Uses HTML 5 web coding for universal mobile device access (iPhone, Droid, Blackberry, etc.)
Indiana BeachesAlert:Location • Monitors 54 (and counting) public and private beaches • GPS-enabled devices automatically find regional beaches and mark status via scalable Google maps • Other devices allow users to select by counties and lists of beaches
Indiana BeachesAlert:Flags Flags alert beachgoers to conditions at beach Easy to see and remember “stop light” color-codes are used Favorite beach closed or under an advisory? The mobile app makes finding a nearby beach open for swimming easy = Beach Closure = Beach Advisory = Beach Open
Indiana BeachesAlert:Closures • The number of active advisories or closures for all beaches • Specific location information and beach status • Date the advisory or closure started • Link to monitoring data for this beach • Link to e-mail or text message sign up for this beach (users notified if any changes at that beach)
Indiana BeachesAlert:QR Codes • Made for smartphones • Can tie physical location to virtual world • Can be coded for Web content, links, video or text • Used to drive traffic and deliver specific content
Indiana BeachesAlert:Other Features • Monitoring data for each beach from IDEM’s BeachGuard database • Descriptions of IDEM’s Lake Michigan Beaches Program • Information on E. coli monitoring and health effects • Links to beach amenities and maps for each beach • Links to U.S. EPA mobile app for UV Index
Indiana BeachesAlert:Customer Links U.S. EPA UV Index Mobile App
Indiana BeachesAlert:How Does It Work? Uses an RSS feed from a third-party vendor database setting behind a secure firewall (no active data portals through the state firewall) Data is continuously fed out via the RSS feeds to a HTML 5-based website designed for multiple users and device types Using HTML 5 instead of native app development saves time and money by eliminating multiple apps (one for each type of device) and reduces future maintenance costs IDEM also used a “joint agreement” with the developer to reduce costs for development and maintenance Allows developer to “re-sell” idea to other cities or states with an agreement that the sales defer or eliminate costs for improvements and maintenance
Mark Amick (mamick@idem.IN.gov) • Michelle Caldwell (mcaldwel@idem.IN.gov) • Hala Kuss (hkuss@idem.IN.gov) Visit IDEM’s BeachesAlert System: For More Information: www.IN.gov/beachesalert