RouteWatch - Mutual Assistance
Help build and validate the next generation of cross-border mutual-assistance tools before the next major deployment. This six-month operational research and development project will build on the work utilities and regional mutual assistance groups have already done, then use artificial intelligence to organize, streamline, and operationalize that knowledge for faster and easier use.
Join the organizations helping shape the operational model.
Founding participants will help bring together the procedures, documents, lessons learned, and operational experience already developed across the mutual-assistance community, then help turn that body of knowledge into faster, simpler, AI-enabled tools for current and future users.
Building on a decade of mutual-assistance work
This project starts with appreciation for the utilities, regional mutual assistance groups, contractors, public-sector partners, and subject-matter experts that have spent years improving how cross-border mutual-assistance deployments are planned and executed.
We are not starting from scratch
Over the past decade, utilities and regional mutual assistance groups have developed procedures, checklists, forms, contacts, lessons learned, operating practices, and institutional knowledge that already help crews move across the U.S.-Canadian border. That work is the foundation for this project.
The next step is to make that knowledge easier to use
RouteWatch will work to organize, validate, and streamline that existing information with artificial intelligence so users can access it faster, apply it more consistently, and turn it into practical tools for today's deployments and tomorrow's workforce.
From existing knowledge to faster operational tools
The project will look for ways to transform proven information and experience into easier-to-use operational products, including AI-enabled agents, digital playbooks, readiness checklists, pre-arrival packages, scenario exercises, dashboards, decision-support tools, and other repeatable resources.
The operational problem we are solving
Emergency mutual-assistance resources may be ready to move quickly, while the administrative and regulatory requirements surrounding an international deployment can be far less straightforward.
Requirements are fragmented
Immigration and work authorization, customs, tax and compensation, crews, vehicles, equipment, and port-of-entry coordination can involve different organizations and information sources.
Preparation can be inconsistent
Utilities and contractors may be working from different forms, procedures, checklists, interpretations, contacts, and prior experience.
Uncertainty creates friction
Missing information, unresolved questions, and late discoveries can create rework, deployment delays, or surprises at the border when time matters most.
What the project will build
- Validated cross-border requirements with authoritative source links.
- Standardized forms, checklists, crew and vehicle information packages, and playbooks.
- Port-of-entry contacts, escalation paths, and pre-arrival coordination guidance.
- Border-readiness dashboards identifying missing documents, approvals, contacts, and unresolved issues.
- AI-enabled agents, playbooks, dashboards, exercises, and decision-support tools for faster operational use.
What founding participants receive
- A seat in the project work group and direct participation in requirements development.
- Opportunities to contribute real deployment issues, procedures, forms, checklists, and lessons learned.
- Access to working sessions, interim findings, prototype outputs, and project demonstrations.
- Access to the custom RouteWatch - US Canadian Border Crossing AI agent plugin, designed for use within the participant's own organizational technology environment and internal operating structure.
- Participation in realistic agent scenario tests and validation exercises.
- The ability to help identify and prioritize future use cases and capability enhancements.
- Recognition as a Founding Project Participant in project communications and materials, where appropriate.
- A final project briefing and access to validated project deliverables produced during the six-month effort.
- A role in helping preserve and modernize mutual-assistance knowledge for future users.
Six-month development path
The project will move from operational discovery to validated capability development through a structured, collaborative process.
Build the Work Group
Months 1-2Utilities, contractors, border SMEs, emergency management, transportation, immigration, tax/legal, workforce, and other specialists.
Build the Knowledge Base
Months 2-3Collect and validate forms, checklists, playbooks, port-of-entry information, websites, contacts, requirements, and escalation paths.
Develop the Capability
Months 3-5Organize validated information into repeatable workflows supporting crews, vehicles, equipment, documentation, readiness, and deployment planning.
Validate & Exercise
Months 5-6Run realistic agent movement scenarios, identify gaps, refine outputs, validate the process, and move toward an operational agent capability.
Initial use-case parking lot
The work group will start with the issues most likely to affect cross-border emergency deployments and expand the use-case library as new requirements emerge.
Who should be at the table?
Help build the cross-border mutual-assistance process before the next major event.
AHC is forming the initial work group now. Founding organizations can help preserve and build on the mutual-assistance community's existing work by contributing subject-matter expertise, operational documents, lessons learned, real-world use cases, and scenario-test support.
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