Integrated Public Alert and Warning System
Description of Program  
The Integrated Public Alert and Warning System, or IPAWS, came about as a result of Executive Order 13407, which mandated a more comprehensive and integrated national alert and warning system.  Through IPAWS, FEMA and its federal partners (FCC, NOAA, and DHS S&T) are transforming the alert system from an audio-only signal sent over radios and televisions to one that can support audio, video, text, and data alert messages sent to residential telephones, websites, pagers, email accounts, and cell phones, in addition to traditional broadcast media.  

Ongoing Initiatives 
The objective of IPAWS is to create an infrastructure for alerts and warnings that will be interoperable so that federal, state, and local emergency managers can exchange alert and warning messages seamlessly.  The following programs within IPAWS support this objective.  

Common Alerting Protocol (CAP)
The Common Alerting Protocol (CAP) is a data exchange format to transport emergency information among alerting systems.  CAP will ensure interoperability among public alert and warning systems that partner with the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System.  CAP can be used to collect and distribute all types of hazard warnings from local, regional, and national sources. 

Commercial Mobile Alert System (CMAS)
CMAS will allow the public to receive alerts via cell phone.  Using cellular broadcast technology, CMAS will send text alerts to cell phones for three types of alerts: presidential, imminent threat, and AMBER alerts.  Alerts may be pinpointed to county-sized geographic areas.    

Geo-targeted Alerting System (GTAS) 
IPAWS is cooperating with the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to develop software for emergency managers that will allow geo-targeting of alerts and warnings.  Called Geo-targeted Alerting Systems (GTAS), the software will model the forward progress of, for example, a chemical cloud or toxic spill, so that people in the path of the plume can we warned first, while not disturbing others who are more distant. 

NCP Directorate, IPAWS Division         	
Antwane V. Johnson 				Wade Witmer 
Division Director and Program Manager 		Deputy Director	
(202) 646-4383					(202) 646-2523
Antwane.V.Johnson@fema.gov 			Wade.Witmer@fema.gov
http://www.fema.gov/emergency/ipaws