"Creating a Safer Nation, One Community at a Time: Your Neighbors are Doing it -- Technology Can Help," is the second paper in a series on current data assimilation in government. It examines the immense task of securing the homeland from the bottom up and provides examples of local governments that devised ground-breaking initial responses to challenges such as Sept. 11 and Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and have since made such measures a part of daily government security.
The case studies and examples in the paper demonstrate how local governments can integrate data from regional, state or federal organizations and systems to increase safety. For example, the School District of Palm Beach County implemented a centralized/decentralized activation model that the district office uses to communicate with school principals and parents about district-wide events or closures. The district is now working with the county emergency management office to share resources and messages in case of an emergency.
"The nation cannot wait for another Katrina or the next variety of disaster or homeland security event to be reminded that there is much work to be done," says Paul W. Taylor, Chief Strategy Officer for the Center for Digital Government. "In many cases, the building blocks already exist; it may simply require purpose and focus to fully develop the solutions."
