The Benefits of Real-time Stream Analytics for Tactical Operations

Blueforce Announces General Availability of BlueforceEDGE Azure IoT Plugin for Real-Time Stream Analytics

Our industry talks a lot about the importance of information, but what often goes missing is any consideration of the PERISHABILITY of information. That is, some bits of data have a shelf life measured in minutes and hours, where other bits hold value for days, months, and even years. Blueforce chose to innovate on the former in order to positively impact decision superiority, operational efficiency, and life safety at the tactical edge. Yet, we also chose to embrace interoperability with enterprise and higher echelon systems that place value on perishable data as feeders to real-time stream analytics, rules engines, theater-wide C2 systems, and historical and/or regulatory processes. This extensibility is the “third-leg” of the Blueforce value proposition: Rapid adaptation and interoperability using a system of systems approach to securely link loosely coupled systems.

The flood of tactical information can be overwhelming to a commander. Blueforce enables exception-based notification in all of our products, but we saw a need for real-time stream analytics that would help notify the commander of correlation anomalies among forward deployed human and sensor assets where artificial intelligence and machine learning spots and notifies of potential threats. That’s why we partnered with Microsoft and are proud to announce general availability of our new BlueforceEDGE AzureIoT plugin.

The BlueforceEDGE AzureIoT Plugin publishes itself as a subscribable endpoint allowing rapid swarm of human endpoints, but also Azure services that accelerate decision process and spot potential events before they disrupt the operation or response. There is also a longer term value proposition in that Blueforce human data can be pushed to the Azure IoT cloud for long term monitoring for processes such as exposure reporting. Consider the following real-world scenarios where BlueforceTACTICAL for Android, MSA Altair gas sensors, and other environmental sensors were leveraged for real-time decision-support, but also intelligent cloud stream analytics:

• Transit Counter-terrorism: Blueforce has been deployed with a major “NFL city” transit counter-terrorism explosives K9 outfit since 2014. Police K9’s and handlers are outfitted with streaming video capabilities, location services, MSA industrial gas and homemade explosive (HME) gas sensors, motion detection, and gamma radiological detection. While the tactical teams leverage real-time data for threat detection and mitigation, this same data can be pushed to Azure IoT stream analytics to determine threat versus natural environmental “dial-tone”.
• Fire Technical Rescue: Firefighter cancers and neurological issues are a real problem and the fire service is interested in working to mitigate, but also support, firefighters who are being exposed to dangerous pathogens. During Operation SCORE, technical rescue teams were deployed to a simulated terrorist attack on a school where responders encountered a real building collapse on Joint Base Cape Cod. Streaming low light infrared video, thermal imagers, location services, MSA Altair gas sensors, Kestrel weather meters, and other sensors were deployed for real-time situational awareness to the Incident Commander, but also made available to the intelligent Azure IoT cloud as an example of leveraging the cloud for long-term exposure reporting and predictive analysis.

Marrying the intelligent edge with the intelligent cloud yields many benefits, none more important than the desired move from mere assessment to anticipation during operations. Blueforce plus Microsoft Azure IoT enable real-time monitoring, but also sense-making and machine correlation amongst humans and sensors. Blueforce plus Azure IoT delivers data and analytical interoperability which facilitates unified action in dynamic and ambiguous operational environments.

For more information on the new BlueforceEDGE Azure IoT plugin, call us at 866-960-0204 or email us at info@blueforcedev.com.