The government has taken various measures, including installation of internet of things (IoT) and bringing the entire country under a Geographic Information System (GIS) software, to make the National Emergency Service-999 more effective and speedily spread the service all over the country.   Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan said this in Parliament on Monday while replying to a query from Jatiya Party MP Fakhrul Imam.   Talking about the future features to make the 999 service more effective and easier while replying to a tabled question, he said under the supervision of Bangladesh Police, the total map of the country will be brought under a modern GIS software.   “Through this, it’ll be possible to identify the emergency-providing site quickly and accurately. As a result of the GIS software, it’ll be possible to provide service under the National Emergency Service-999 specifically,” the minister said.   He also said the entire policing system will come under a modern technological system as a special feature of crime map will be included in this GIS software.

Through the system, police will be able to take prior preparations to eliminate crime in line with the trend and type of a crime of a particular area, Asaduzzaman said.

He also said it will be possible to provide service quickly through identifying locations of the endangered persons and those of response teams. “All vehicles of police and Fire Service and Civil Defence will also come under the GIS.”

About IoT technology, the home minister said it will inform any emergency situation or accident to the National Emergency Service-999 automatically without human-to-human or human-to-computer interaction.

He said the government and private buildings, vehicles, industries and factories and banks will come under the coverage of the National Emergency Service-999 through this technology (IoT) which will enable quick emergency service at any place.
 
Asaduzzaman said the government has taken a plan to install body cameras on police members and special camera on their spectacles to ensure quick and accurate monitoring during any emergency situation. “Through this system, the service centre of the National Emergency Service-999 will be able to observe, collect and preserve videos of the place of occurrence directly.”
 
“Besides, it’ll be possible to observe any emergency situation and tackle it within a short time through installing cameras with artificial intelligence at different important points of the country,” he added.
 
In his reply, the home minister also said the government has taken a plan so that the National Emergency Service can respond to 500 calls at a time. “At present, it can reply to 100 calls at a time.”
 
Besides, the government has also planned to set up a 100-seat Disaster Recovery Centre if the present service centre stopped its operation for any reason, he added.