DHS and FEMA Blogger Roundtable
John Solomon yesterday joined Jonah Czerwinski of Homeland Security Watch and Rich Cooper of Security Debrief in a Blogger Roundtable on Hurricane Preparedness with Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator David Paulison.
Post-Katrina, DHS and FEMA appear to be vastly more prepared and well-positioned to take on large-scale disasters, from decentralized regional teams to partnerships that shine visibility and clarity on available resources. My take is that last mile sustained communications has not been thoroughly addressed at the DHS and FEMA level. Secretary Chertoff had some very positive things to say about a notification technology called IPAWS:
But taking a large forest fire or a pandemic as an example, residents may be at the computers scouring the web for any information they can find on the incident. They'll reload and reload the browser, hoping that every couple minutes there is new information that allows them to feel more comfortable about the situation, and allows them to make better decisions about their family, home, pets and businesses. That information might be official from an Office of Emergency Services, from a local media outlet or, yes, bloggers aggregating information for their communities.
Secretary Chertoff later offers the following:
Emergencity is well-positioned to answer this question, just a scant 90 miles north of "the guys in Hollywood." As they say in Hollywood, have your people call our people and let's do lunch.
Post-Katrina, DHS and FEMA appear to be vastly more prepared and well-positioned to take on large-scale disasters, from decentralized regional teams to partnerships that shine visibility and clarity on available resources. My take is that last mile sustained communications has not been thoroughly addressed at the DHS and FEMA level. Secretary Chertoff had some very positive things to say about a notification technology called IPAWS:
This goes beyond the typical radio and TV-based alert system to one that allows Internet-based warning and cell phone-based, text message based, warning with an opt-in feature. We piloted this system last year in the Gulf. It worked very well. It is not terribly expensive. We are going to be encouraging the governors of the states in the hurricane areas to sign up for this system. I think it's only a few million dollars, and there's even some of our grant money. If they want to use some of that, they can do it. But we're providing them with a tool that will enhance their ability to reach out to the members of their community - particularly people who may be hearing-impaired - and give them notice if there's any kind of an event. And they need to step up to the plate and accept this invitation; and we're going to be encouraging them to do that.)
But taking a large forest fire or a pandemic as an example, residents may be at the computers scouring the web for any information they can find on the incident. They'll reload and reload the browser, hoping that every couple minutes there is new information that allows them to feel more comfortable about the situation, and allows them to make better decisions about their family, home, pets and businesses. That information might be official from an Office of Emergency Services, from a local media outlet or, yes, bloggers aggregating information for their communities.
Secretary Chertoff later offers the following:
You know, 21st century networking is about the power of the network. How do you harness text messaging, cell phones, internet? We've done some things with Ready to try to do that, but maybe - I wish some of the guys in Hollywood who are focused on some of these other things would actually pay a little bit of attention to this. We could maybe get a real boost.
Emergencity is well-positioned to answer this question, just a scant 90 miles north of "the guys in Hollywood." As they say in Hollywood, have your people call our people and let's do lunch.
