FEMA - Integrated Public Alert & Warning System (IPAWS)
Investment ID: 024-000007001
Overview
Program Title
FEMA - Integrated Public Alert & Warning System (IPAWS)
Description
IPAWS is FEMA's national system for local alerting that provides authenticated emergency and life-saving information to the public through mobile phones using Wireless Emergency Alerts, to radio and television via the Emergency Alert System, and on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Weather Radio. The purpose of the program investments is to build effective, reliable, and comprehensive system to help ensure that the President and Federal agencies, and State, Tribal, Territorial and, Local (FSTTL) governments can alert and warn the civilian population in areas endangered by natural disasters, acts of terrorism, and other man-made disasters or threats to public safety [P.L. 114-143]. The public benefits when authorities use the IPAWS to effectively alert, warn, and guide people with preparatory actions to avoid injury, death, and destruction of property from threats to their safety.
Type of Program
Major IT Investments
Multi-Agency Category
Not Applicable
Associated Websites
http://www.ready.gov/alertsfemaipawslab.webex.comhttps://www.fema.gov/emergency-managers/practitioners/integrated-public-alert-warning-systemhttps://messageviewer.tdl.apps.fema.gov/ALERT_SERVICES/postedmessages.phphttps://messageviewer.demo.apps.fema.gov/ALERT_SERVICES/postedmessages.php
Investment Detail
ROI was calculated by dividing External Benefits by Total Program Cost: ($961,407,000 BY14 / $794,204,808 BY14) = 1.21 (21% ROI). We defined External Benefits as estimated cost savings for federal agencies using IPAWS & the value of advanced/post alerts and warnings in the preservation of life and protection of property. This calculation uses quantitative analysis to capture both quantitative & qualitative benefits resulting from IPAWS.
From a mathematical perspective, an ROI of 21% indicates that IPAWS has increased benefits to society such that the initial investment is recovered & a return (savings in excess of original investment) is incurred. The External Benefits and LCCE presented in Base Year 2014 dollars allows for accurate comparison of each of the total costs without inflation affecting the ROI calculation. Note, at the time of this business case submission, the IPAWS Program is undergoing an administrative adjustment to rebaseline the LCCE due to the impact of COVID on the Program's cost and schedule, as well as NDAA impacts to the IPAWS Program's scope and funding. The ROI calculations use the latest approved LCCE numbers (April 2022) until the updated LCCE and rebaseline are approved.
Cost Savings for Federal Agencies: IPAWS is free for public safety officials at all levels & allows users to leverage the federal investment to send alerts & warning to citizens. NCMEC cancelled a cellular alerting contract valued at approx. $1M/year when the AMBER Alert capability via IPAWS was initiated in Dec 2012. Estimated cost for the National Weather Service to implement a national cellular alerting capability independent of IPAWS is estimated at $2M/year. Numerous other state & local authorities have benefitted from the federal investment in IPAWS as a national standard for alert and warning vice independently investing in unique alert & warning capabilities on their own.
Lives Saved by IPAWS: Weather warnings issued in response to major weather events (such as tornadoes, hurricanes, floods, lightning, extreme temperatures, etc.) are highly effective in providing advance warnings with protective action information to allow people to evacuate or seek shelter. IPAWS evaluated weather-related fatalities & found a significant decrease in loss of life and severe injuries over the last 15 years of available data (2007-2021), compared to the same period prior to the launch of IPAWS (1995-2006). Since we cannot definitively attribute this difference to IPAWS, we conservatively attribute 10% of the difference in lives saved per year to IPAWS resulting in 43 lives saved. Combined with the 123 children rescued as a direct result of AMBER Alerts sent through WEA (data from NCMEC, 7/2022) this gives us a total of 166 lives saved by IPAWS as of 2022.
The Cloud Migration improves IPAWS infrastructure, its operational availability, and the time it takes to disseminate alerts & warnings to the public upon receipt. Disaster impact avoidance & mitigation benefits society by enabling people to take protective measures, saving lives & reducing the cost of response & recovery activities after a disaster.
From a mathematical perspective, an ROI of 21% indicates that IPAWS has increased benefits to society such that the initial investment is recovered & a return (savings in excess of original investment) is incurred. The External Benefits and LCCE presented in Base Year 2014 dollars allows for accurate comparison of each of the total costs without inflation affecting the ROI calculation. Note, at the time of this business case submission, the IPAWS Program is undergoing an administrative adjustment to rebaseline the LCCE due to the impact of COVID on the Program's cost and schedule, as well as NDAA impacts to the IPAWS Program's scope and funding. The ROI calculations use the latest approved LCCE numbers (April 2022) until the updated LCCE and rebaseline are approved.
Cost Savings for Federal Agencies: IPAWS is free for public safety officials at all levels & allows users to leverage the federal investment to send alerts & warning to citizens. NCMEC cancelled a cellular alerting contract valued at approx. $1M/year when the AMBER Alert capability via IPAWS was initiated in Dec 2012. Estimated cost for the National Weather Service to implement a national cellular alerting capability independent of IPAWS is estimated at $2M/year. Numerous other state & local authorities have benefitted from the federal investment in IPAWS as a national standard for alert and warning vice independently investing in unique alert & warning capabilities on their own.
Lives Saved by IPAWS: Weather warnings issued in response to major weather events (such as tornadoes, hurricanes, floods, lightning, extreme temperatures, etc.) are highly effective in providing advance warnings with protective action information to allow people to evacuate or seek shelter. IPAWS evaluated weather-related fatalities & found a significant decrease in loss of life and severe injuries over the last 15 years of available data (2007-2021), compared to the same period prior to the launch of IPAWS (1995-2006). Since we cannot definitively attribute this difference to IPAWS, we conservatively attribute 10% of the difference in lives saved per year to IPAWS resulting in 43 lives saved. Combined with the 123 children rescued as a direct result of AMBER Alerts sent through WEA (data from NCMEC, 7/2022) this gives us a total of 166 lives saved by IPAWS as of 2022.
The Cloud Migration improves IPAWS infrastructure, its operational availability, and the time it takes to disseminate alerts & warnings to the public upon receipt. Disaster impact avoidance & mitigation benefits society by enabling people to take protective measures, saving lives & reducing the cost of response & recovery activities after a disaster.