Indiana BeachesAlertBeach Notification System

for Mobile Devices

Thomas W. EasterlyCommissioner

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. EPAUV 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 typesUsing 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

For More Information:

• www.IN.gov/beachesalertVisit IDEM’s BeachesAlert System:

• Mark Amick (mamick@idem.IN.gov)• Michelle Caldwell (mcaldwel@idem.IN.gov)• Hala Kuss (hkuss@idem.IN.gov)