Amber Alert

Innovating to Fight Child Abductions

Qualcomm is a world-renowned innovator of wireless technology and has pioneered efforts to integrate wireless solutions into diverse markets. Perhaps one of its most rewarding innovative applications is the work it has done with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) and the AMBER Alert program.

AMBER Alerts are issued by law-enforcement agencies only in the most serious child abduction cases—when it is believed that a child is in imminent danger of serious injury or death. The first few hours are critical. The goal of an AMBER Alert is to instantly galvanize the entire community to assist in the search.

Eyes on the Road

Qualcomm’s first major commercial product—the OmniTRACS® mobile communications system—revolutionized the trucking industry. Today, over 300,000 trucks are equipped with Qualcomm communications systems. With a driver in every truck, that’s a lot of eyes on the road.

“The national AMBER Alert program provides a means for both individuals and businesses in a community to participate in finding abducted children,” says Marc Sands, vice president and division counsel for Qualcomm Enterprise Services (QES)—and internal champion for the AMBER Alert program. “With our unique capabilities, we were in a prime position to lend a hand in communicating alerts to truck drivers on the road.”

“ Qualcomm is dedicated to applying innovative technology to the real world in a way that improves people’s lives. It’s not just innovation for the sake of innovation, but innovation that’s meaningful to the community at large. ”

- Marc Sands

Vice President and Division Counsel for Qualcomm Enterprise Services (QES)

In 2003, Qualcomm partnered with Wal-Mart to create its “Roadwatch: Missing Child Alert System,” which allowed it to distribute AMBER Alerts to its drivers. Qualcomm quickly decided this service should be offered to all its trucking customers.

Targeting the Solution

However, expanding the service was a challenge. The solution had to send time-sensitive alerts only to appropriate trucks, based on their most recent locations. With Wal-Mart, this was simple because its trucks operate out of local distribution centers and are always in the same geographic area. However, most of Qualcomm’s other customers were long-haul transportation companies and had trucks moving from coast to coast and everywhere in between.

Kara Glaze, a supervisor in the QES hub operations group, was part of the initial development team. “It took quite an effort to break new ground to get this application running, but knowing Qualcomm put a lot of resources toward this amazing cause was inspiring,” she says.

Leveraging the Highway Network

Ultimately, Qualcomm successfully coupled its expertise in mobile technologies with its customer network of thousands of trucks to fortify the efforts of the AMBER Alert program.

In 2006, Qualcomm launched the AMBER Alert Highway Network (AAHN), an initiative created in partnership with the NCMEC and supported by the American Trucking Associations.

The network’s mission is simple: help find and reunite abducted children with their loved ones.

Participation in AAHN is voluntary and Qualcomm offers the service for free to its customers. Over 110 companies participate—representing over 80,000 trucks on the road, driving the nation’s highways every day.

The Innovation Continues: AmberWatch Mobile

As Qualcomm’s technology evolves, so does its ability to help keep children safe.

Most recently, in June of 2008, Qualcomm and the AmberWatch Foundation announced the AmberWatch Mobile initiative, a BREW-enabled application that turns cell phones into an effective tool to help safeguard kids by using two-way GPS technology.

“Qualcomm is dedicated to applying innovative technology to the real world in a way that improves people’s lives,” says Sands. “It’s not just innovation for the sake of innovation, but innovation that’s meaningful to the community at large.”