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Summary and Recommendations
Pages 1-14

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From page 1...
... is broadly defined as including computing and communications technology; and disaster management is defined as encompassing mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery efforts undertaken to reduce the impact of disasters. The purpose of this report is to inform federal, state, and local policy makers and public safety and emergency management professionals about future opportunities for the application of IT to disaster manage 1The committee's first report -- National Research Council, Summary of a Workshop on Using Information Technology to Enhance Disaster Management, The National Academies Press, Washington, D.C. -- was published in September 2005.
From page 2...
... USING INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AS A POINT OF LEVERAGE TO ENHANCE DISASTER MANAGEMENT The challenge of disaster management is reducing the harm disasters cause to society, the economy, and the lives of individuals and communities. That task requires disaster managers to reduce uncertainty, to calculate and compare costs and benefits, and to manage resources, often on a much larger scale and at a much faster pace than are supported by methods and means for solving ordinary problems.
From page 3...
... Other examples of "low-hanging fruit" include the following: • Use of sensors, wikis (editable Web sites) , blogs, and data-mining tools to capture, analyze, and share lessons learned from operational experiences; • Use of database, Web, and call center technologies to establish a service to provide information about available equipment, materiel, volunteers, and volunteer organizations; • Use of planning, scheduling, task allocation, and resource management tools to help in formulating disaster management plans and tracking execution of the plans and to ensure timely recognition of problems and associated follow-up decision making; and • Use of deployable cell phone technology to rapidly establish standalone communications capabilities for use in disasters where local infrastructure is damaged.
From page 4...
... The committee identified six key areas of IT-enabled capability (described in Box S.1 and discussed in more detail in Chapter 2) in which shorter-term development and longer-term research offer the potential for significant benefits: • More robust, interoperable, and priority-sensitive communications; • Better situational awareness and a common operating picture; • Improved decision support and resource tracking and allocation; • Greater organizational agility for disaster management; • Better engagement of the public; and • Enhanced infrastructure survivability and continuity of societal functions.
From page 5...
... , and the research laboratories of the armed services. In a number of federal programs, multiple agencies work jointly to tackle broad problems.
From page 6...
... Whereas situation awareness provides decision makers with information relevant to their tasks and goals, decision support focuses on assisting them in formulating pro spective actions -- helping them understand and assess characteristics and conse quences of alternative courses of action and follow-up on decisions, closing the feedback loop from decision to result. Recommendation 2: The federal government should leverage the capabilities of its agencies to carry out multidisciplinary research in pursuit of six key IT-enabled capabilities -- more robust, inter operable, and priority-sensitive communications; better situational awareness and a common operating picture; improved decision support and resource tracking and allocation; greater organiza tional agility for disaster management; better engagement of the public; and enhanced infrastructure survivability and continuity of societal functions -- and establish a coordinating mechanism for those research activities.
From page 7...
... Large disasters upset physical infrastructure, such as the electric grid, transporta tion, and health care -- as well as IT systems. IT infrastructures themselves need to be more resilient; IT can also improve the survivability and speed the recovery of other infrastructure by providing better information about the status of systems and advance warning of impending failures.
From page 8...
... Diversified Acquisition Strategy and Attention to Design Issues Disaster management has traditionally relied heavily on specially built technology and on a traditional "waterfall" acquisition model in which a full set of specifications is developed and a vendor is selected to build a system in compliance with the specifications. In the commercial world and in sectors such as defense, there is growing acceptance of a richer, more diversified acquisition strategy that employs a mix of tradi
From page 9...
... Recommendation 4: Federal, state, and local agencies should em brace a diversified acquisition strategy that includes increased use of commercial information technology and greater use of open source software and open standards development as a complement to more traditional acquisition approaches. Reliance on turn-key systems has meant that disaster management organizations have paid less attention to the underlying design issues that ultimately affect the functionality of their IT systems.
From page 10...
... However, training large numbers of people to deal with infrequent events poses logistical challenges and is also costly. Recommendation 6: In the design, acquisition, and operation of IT systems, disaster management organizations should emphasize the incorporation of disaster response capabilities into the systems that support routine operations.
From page 11...
... Obviously, the effectiveness of IT use is just one facet of an assessment of the overall effectiveness of disaster management activities for any particular incident, albeit an important one. Recommendation 8: Disaster management organizations should make use of independent mechanisms for assessing the effective ness of disaster management operations, including the use of IT, and for disseminating lessons learned and best practices.
From page 12...
... The interdependence of technology and practice suggests that developing a cadre of people with expertise in both disaster management and 3Good Samaritan laws shield people from liability in emergency circumstances provided that they have acted in a reasonable manner.
From page 13...
... Deeper expertise spanning both domains could be fostered through a number of mechanisms, including the following: • A combination of fellowships, shorter-term visits to research centers, and other training and educational activities that help technology experts and other practitioners to stay abreast of the latest developments in both practice and technology; • Field tests and field work conducted by IT researchers working with disaster management practitioners; and • Combined disaster management-IT expert teams that jointly analyze the performance of processes and systems after a disaster. Recommendation 9: Disaster management organizations should support the development of a cadre of people with expertise in both disaster management and IT.
From page 14...
... also helps to ensure healthy intellectual competition, cross-fertilization of ideas, specialization in specific types of disasters and specific technology capabilities, and attention to the comprehensive needs of particular geographical areas. Research centers could also act as a resource for agencies seeking to implement a diversified acquisition strategy and incorporate the latest best practices and a mechanism for disaster managers and responders to share experiences and communicate requirements to guide further technology developments.


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