Local emergency management officials today will unveil a $3 million computer software system that will be used for the first time for the Major League Baseball's All-Star Game, allowing authorities to graphically monitor and record how resources like personnel and equipment are utilized.

The system, developed by SSI Services and dubbed "The Knowledge Center," will be up and running for Allegheny County out of its Emergency Operations Center in Point Breeze for the game but eventually will be used for the other 12 southwestern Pennsylvania counties belonging to the Region 13 Task Force.

The computer system includes data including the number and location of emergency personnel, special units and equipment. It maps in real time their movement and deployment for special events, natural disasters and terrorist attacks. The system also creates a log of everything that occurs during the event or crisis.

Use of the system, tailor-made for the region, marks the first time nationally that a local emergency management agency has utilized the technology. Some federal agencies currently use it.

Chief Robert Full, county emergency management director and Region 13 task force coordinator, said the task force had been planning such a resource-management system for about three years. Serendipity in the system's development, installation and testing made it possible for its initial real-time use to be for the All-Star Game.

"It's a tool that will assist us in organizing all of our information and coordinating our assets," Chief Full said. "This is a major advance. This is a significant resource for us."