Developed by the University of Maryland, a centralized transportation grid called the Regional Integrated Transportation Information System (or RITIS) will give security officials a clear view in real-time of what's going on during President-Elect Barack Obama's inauguration. Its chief use is to process all of the decision-making data sent in from the various security forces helping police the inauguration and translate that into directions and points of interest on an easy to read map. Think of it like a tactical Google Maps.

RITIS was originally just software design to coordinate traffic, but the UM students saw a chance to expand it to aid in protecting and guiding convoys, such as Obama's presidential one. In the future, the team would like to include other data that can affect decision-making, such as changes in weather.

UM Newsdesk, via EurekAlert!