by Eric Holdeman: Emergency management in the blogosphere
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There is a nice tidy GAO report Challenges In Federal Agencies' Use of Web 1.0 Technologies
It highlights many of the issues that have popped up as governments start to use Web 2.0 technologies to advance their department's missions and improve their interactions with the public and information sharing in general. The above report is applicable to governments at any level.
GAO was asked to identify and describe current uses of Web 2.0 technologies by federal agencies and key challenges associated with their use. There were two major items highlighted:
- Privacy and security: Our current laws date from 1974 (36 years ago) and we have had a revolution in how we communicate and the amount of information there is to "protect." The collection and sharing of individual information is one of the tough issues addressed in the report. Guidance is needed for employees on how to safely and appropriately use social media technologies.
- Records management and freedom of information: What do you record, how often do you record it, and how long do you keep this type of information? Those are only a few of the questions being asked--for which there are no definitive answers at present. The Freedom of Information Act and how to appropriately respond to requests that include social media is another aspect addressed in the report.
Here are some facts from the report that bolster my assertion that social media is not the wave of the future, but a tsunami:
- Video and social networking sites have moved to the forefront, becoming the two fastest growing types of web sites in 2009, with 87% more users than in 2003.
- Use of social networking services reportedly exceeded Web-base em-mail usage for the first time in February 2009.
- The number of American users frequenting online video sites has more than tripled since 2009
- Twitter has been the fastest growing site with a 500% increase in visitors from December 2008 to 2009.
Earlier this week I was advocating that Climate Change/Global Warming and its impacts should be part of your Hazard Identification Vulnerability Assessment (HIVA0. Another "hazard" is cyber attacks. As Government increasingly moves towards e-government solutions we are becoming more and more dependent on the Internet and technology to do our daily business.
Our critical infrastructure that supports our communities and the normal commerce of everyday living is highly dependent the connectivity and functioning networks that keep our modern world running. See Advanced Cyber-Attacks on the Rise in 2010
I think if you cracked open the books and looked at the vulnerabilities in your community you would be amazed at what you find. The issue here is that just because you are in "podunk" Iowa or Montana, it doesn't mean you are immune. Because of the viral natural of the attacks and many centralize systems you can be linked to a broader attack against an organization on the other side of the country.
TOPOFF 2 included a cyber component before the dirty bomb and it was a revealing event that showed our interconnectedness and how on a day to day basis government and industry is not interacting on this type of issue.
All of the above is another reason to get to know your Chief Information Officer (CIO) and start bonding. Activating your EOC for instance is I think a proper solution to handle the consequence management part of "things" no longer working. But, there needs to be a connection to the IT side of things because in this case--they are "Disaster Operations" on the front line fighting the good fight. You need to bring them into the fold before there is an event.
There is lots that remains to be done on this topic!
Much of the American productivity gains in recent decades has been via technology and people working longer hours--including "working" while on vacations. All of which got me thinking about emergency managers and what should they do when they are on vacation. Take the BlackBerry, or leave it at home?
This is the topic of my current Eric's Corner, Taking the Blackberry on Vacation at Emergency Management Magazine. You can read what I have to say on that topic--maybe I'm the Lone Ranger on this one, but I'm comfortable doing what I do.
Since writing that article some weeks ago I came across two other items of information.
- Sunset Magazine had a poll that said that 59% of people now check email while they are on vacation.
- Wendy Freitag sent me a note about a book she read recently (while on vacation). Hamlet's BlackBerry There is a review of the book in the NY Times Wendy commented, "The book looks back through the ages (stories from Plato's time) and gives a perspective on how email/Internet is just another step in our attempt to communicate with each other. He argues for shutting off to hear our inner voice once in a while. One of the best thought provoking books I've read in a long time."
Leave a comment and share what you do when you are on vacation -- and why! Leave a comment
Sarah Michaels, Professor, University of Nebraska sent me a PDF of an article she co-wrote on Water-Related Decision Making. Since I can't post a PDF, I'm extrapolating a few key points and adding my own two cents for you here. Tenants
- There is a high cost of Interactions--Meaning that when you bring diverse groups together that all get to comment on and contribute to the decision making process it can get "messy." There will be likely diverging opinions based on constituencies and their values.
- People weigh their own experiences most heavily--People's own experiences trump all other forms of knowledge. So scientific evidence even when it is overwhelming may not be convincing. Scientists may be considered the "outsiders" who don't understand.
- Nothing happen quickly, and then something does--Amen here brother! The process drags on with little progress and then there is a "motivating" event and everyone wants to be included and have a say.
- Values, not science, arbitrates what happens--Again, science is not the determining factor, but the values, emotions and social structures come into play when we make decisions. Our goal needs to be incorporate the value based knowledge with that of scientific information.
I remember one of my old bosses telling me the "funny season" is when elections are pending. Then you never know what is going to happen. The following is extracted from an email I received. Given we have the federal mid-term elections this year I expect that the scenario described below will play out. That will delay homeland security grant programs by 2-3 months.
...it is growing more and more likely if not outright certain that Congress will need to pass a continuing resolution to fund much of the government until after the November election, thereby postponing final action on these appropriations bills until November-December. The one bill that may be completed before the elections, as well as being used as the vehicle for the Continuing Resolution, is the Defense Appropriations bill.
Defense spending is traditionally seen as a must-do piece of legislation, particularly in an election year. However, even with the nation fighting two wars, Congress doesn't always get the defense spending bill done on time. It has missed the Oct. 1 deadline in three of the seven budget years since the 2003 invasion of Iraq, and in two of these cases, fiscal 2010 and fiscal 2006, it took until December to get the law enacted.
What form the post-election appropriations process takes will be determined in large part by the outcome of those elections. The options could include:
⢠An omnibus appropriations bill bundling all the bills together into one legislative behemoth
⢠Several minibus appropriations bills bundling several but not all of the bills together
⢠Although unlikely, two other options could be:
. Passage of each individual appropriations bill.
. Passage of a long-term Continuing Resolution
I have to say I had not heard of the Department of Homeland Security's Office of Emergency Communications (OEC). It was established in 2007 after Katrina to improve interoperable communications during disasters.
They are the source of the Interoperable Communications Grants and the Statewide Interoperability Communications Plans repository. I wonder what all those plans say. Are we really on a path to equipment interoperability? My guess is that we are, but is the people side of things is lagging? Generally our failure to be able to communicate with one another has more to do with organizational and personality issues than it does the technical side of things.
If you ever look at how homeland security grants are being spent, interoperable communications is one of the bigger items. I believe the State of Michigan has used all their discretionary funding to build their state-wide communications network.
If there is one lesson to be learned from the current news storm on the WikiLeaks story of leaked intelligence reports from the War Against Terrorism is that nothing is sacred.
There was a day when you could hide information from the press. In the past, the press might have even cooperated with not "revealing" all that they knew. That day is long gone!
If you think you have a secret that you can keep from "getting out" -- think again. Besides the media of the past, you now have every disgruntled worker, amateur sleuth and others who may just be "passing by" documenting your comings and goings. The public eye is inquisitive and the mounting list of public information requests is only one indicator of the increasing interest in all things government. With the Internet and social media there are plenty of channels for the distribution of information about you.
Disasters attract lots of attention, so whatever you do, try to be transparent when bad things happen. Don't spin the facts, just share them. The truth will come out. Better for you to share it than to have others "discover" it.
Just yesterday there was a dam in Eastern Iowa that failed following a rain storm that dropped 10 inches of rain. CNN reported that the dam, located in a fairly unpopulated area failed on Saturday and the good news is that authorities must have been monitoring the dam and were able to evacuate many people who were in the flood zone before the failure occurred.
Interestingly the Governor said, "Such a failure had never happened before." Never before for that dam maybe. Which is what I'd like to comment on. It was maybe 1-2 years ago that I wrote something about the fragile nature of our critical infrastructure across the United States. How we don't keep up with the repair and replacement of the infrastructure and then it is in danger of failing. I don't recall who told me then, "Eric there is infrastructure failing every day here in the United States." It is one bridge, one dam, one water system at a time. Unless there are deaths associated with the failures they don't make the national news.
One other local "failure to act" is highlighted by the South Park Bridge in Seattle. It was closed the end of June because of its rickety condition. While money is being raised to replace it, that will take a good two-three years before residents in that neck of the woods see a new bridge. Another piece of infrastructure that was not replaced in a timely manner.
Back to the dam failure. Have you noticed all the talk of "record rainfall" this year? Could climate change be part of that? On a personal note, my brother-in-law and sister are vacationing in Northern Illinois and visiting people living on a lake. They had two back to back rain storms that dropped five and nine inches of water. The lake they were on rose 5-6 feet and boats were floating away from their lifts.
Here in Washington people are still worried about the Howard Hanson Dam. Washington State Senator Patty Murray was successful in getting funding from the senate to make more permanent repairs to that facility. Will the record rains hold off and allow the repairs to be accomplished before it fails too-that's the question of the day.
I noted this morning that I passed the 2,000 mark in the number of blog posts to www.disaster-zone.com That is a lot of information sharing!
My purpose in writing today is to say thank you to everyone who has forwarded information to me. There are many days that I don't have time to "go looking for news and views" and then someone sends a piece of information along that is pertinent to the business of emergency management or homeland security.
So thanks to everyone for sharing what they come across with me and the rest of the Disaster-Zone readers.
I hope you are having a restful Sunday that is disaster free!
For those folks in the Iowa Emergency Operations Center (EOC) we are thinking of you.
Hillman Mitchell will be the new King County Office of Emergency Management (OEM) Director beginning August 3rd. This was officially announced via a King County News Release Robin Friedman is leaving to pursue other opportunities.
All of this made me think about how long should someone stay in a position? My tenure at King County was eleven years. I have often said that I would rather have someone who is terrific be part of an organization for three years and then leave versus have someone stay for 15-20 years and they are just a so-so employee.
Certainly the larger and more complicated a jurisdiction is the need for a longer tenure person as a director is probably necessary. In emergency management you are working to build relationships and trust with a multitude of organizations and individuals. All of this takes time to accomplish. Then there are the larger projects. We started working on the need for a new Emergency Coordination Center (ECC) in 1996. It wasn't completed and we moved in mid-2003. The Regional Disaster Response Plan effort started in 1998 and it wasn't officially launched until the Spring of 2002. These are long gestation projects that need continuity in the leadership to see them come to fruition.
There is also the question, "Do you appoint someone you know to a position like OEM Director, or do you do a formal recruitment, even a national search? Beauty is in the eye of the person doing the hiring and I suppose if you know someone who you think can do the job and would be "perfect" for the position--go for it. On the other hand, you never know who is out there who could be a better candidate. There is comfort in hiring who you know. You are not wrong until the person hired does not pan out!
For both Hillman and Robin I wish them the best in the future in their new adventures--whatever they bring!
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