Question: How long have EOC digital information management systems been in existence, and what has the progression in the technology been over the years?
What are some of the considerations before implementing an EOC information management system for an individual jurisdiction?
People need to look at solutions that can be used daily. They also need to look at how information can be shared throughout a community. You need to think about growth and information sharing with other systems. Does the solution provide the basis to manage things via the Incident Command System (ICS) or emergency support function or have the flexibility to manage via department or agencies? Also, can the solution allow the jurisdiction to do business how it does business on a daily basis? What are the hidden costs? Some solutions are very inexpensive to start with but by the time you’re done deploying you have lost a lot of time. We usually have potential customers look at a four- to-five- year cost of ownership to see the real cost of a solution. Also COTS [commercial off-the-shelf] products tend to be better solutions since they are better supported, have more robust performance and are more cost-effective.
What are you seeing for the integration of EOC information management systems and first responders in the field at incident sites? Is video playing a role?
I am seeing the need for all these folks to be on the same page and sharing information in a real-time environment. Virtual solutions are becoming critical to allow this kind of collative environment for people to work within when managing incidents at all levels whether in the field or in the EOC. In fact, we’re seeing the need for EOC-type of details information for incidents that don’t warrant the necessity to activate the EOC for whatever reason. We are starting to see streaming video come into play. The problem is still bandwidth and most of the solutions are still in early stages of development so they are not yet as evolved and tend to be a little clunky. But they will evolve, and we’ll see big improvements. Obliviously smartphone and tablet evolution will help the maturation of video-streaming solutions. They can become an integral part of incident management solutions in particular early on at the scene of incidents.
What role, if any, is social media playing in being integrated into information management systems either in the EOC, command post or ICS?
Now that is an interesting conversation. I think there is definitely a role for social media. We have conducted discussions within our user base, and in fact I actually led the discussion at our last users’ conference. It was a very lively discussion that had opinions all over the board. Part of the group was very much in favor of integrating social media capabilities, but there were those who were very opposed due to the security challenges social media presents to the community. We as a company are trying to develop a good strategy to leverage this capability in a way that makes sense to our customer base. So this is an ongoing conversation, and I would be pleased to offer some thoughts in the near future as we continue to get feedback from the field.
What innovations should we be expecting as technology plays a bigger role in emergency management in general and in EOCs in particular?
The proper integration of social media tools, more use of GIS tools as they get easier to use, integration of streaming video within GIS tools, real-time tracking of resources via GIS tools are a few that come to mind. Also in more metropolitan areas we are seeing the use of Pictometry technology starting to be used. The challenge with these tools is they tend to be more client server-based tools and not available to the broader community due to the bandwidth issues. As this technology evolves and becomes less bandwidth dependent, we’ll start to see these solutions being integrated into incident management solutions. I see more applications being made available for tablet devices and smartphones. This is an area that is growing rapidly. The need for better and real-time information anytime anywhere continues to be demanded by the community.
Do you think it will ever be possible to have a “virtual EOC” where there is only a small core of people and the majority of staff members are working remotely from offices? What collaboration tools do you see coming that would assist with a virtual EOC concept?
That feature is currently available, and today every modern EOC application should have this ability. One of the stronger capabilities of a next-generation up-to-date EOC is its ability to provide real-time information anytime, anywhere. Some systems do this better than others, but most are still somewhat old school. Our original design made this a “must have” right from the start. In addition, integration capabilities are also very important. A good system should have the ability to share information with different systems without having to worry about working with expensive middleware products.
What type of regional or statewide implementation of EOC information systems are you seeing? What are the challenges of implementing such a system beyond the individual jurisdiction?
We are seeing a shift to standing up more regional and statewide implementations. This is important and needed to provide true “situational awareness.” Information sharing is becoming critical when dealing with regional or statewide incidents and events. In some cases, we are still seeing that information sharing is still not as accepted as it needs to be. That may be due to the community not wanting to share info with others, or from other software solutions not wanting their customers to share outside their respective solutions. The more the vendor community works with these DHS standards, the easier it will be to achieve information sharing of different environments. The DHS also needs to continue to evolve these standards.
What types of challenges do jurisdictions have that have an information system that it is not functioning optimally?
What we see and hear back from the field are many different issues. Ease of use comes up very quickly; not having a robust enough functionality to accommodate the managing of information. For example, many systems advertise resource management but can’t effectively provide the capability. This is also true with mapping capabilities. Many solutions don’t provide a fully intergraded GIS capability, thus making this tool ineffective. Another big challenge occurs when software tools are purchased that need to then be built and the jurisdictions either don’t have the appropriate funding in place to see a project through or don’t have the technical resources needed to build the solution or continue to support the solution. Other issues we see are solutions not built or bought for daily use or they’re too difficult to use and put on the shelf and just not employed. We also see situations where the end-user feels they have such a different environment that they need to build or create a one-off solution, which becomes the most expensive way to go as well as the most difficult to use and support. These situations also create more challenges for information sharing.
Prior to 9/11 emergency management did not typically have the financial resources to implement technology solutions or to support their ongoing operational costs. How do you see the profession and its allied professions — health, education, first responders — continuing to use technology while federal funding is dwindling?
This is becoming more of a problem every day. Communities should look at better ways to share solutions across more disciplines; look at more COTS solutions that are better supported (which means they will cost less to support), they need to do a better job at developing the statements of work so vendors can offer better solutions. In some cases decisions are made for just one group or agency, rather than looking at what is needed across the board. The fusion center market is an area that can be identified with this in mind. The fusion centers that are looking to become “all-hazards” centers are more likely to provide a capability for the entire public safety community than the law enforcement fusion center approach, which tends to cater to more law enforcement agencies and not be as broad as it could be with this capability. In this case, the community suffers and you may see duplications of funding requests for duplicate solutions.
What are the most common mistakes people make in implementing information systems and how should they avoid them?
They can differ at different levels. At a state level, we see that so many people have their input with the requirements document with so many different agendas that either the RFP becomes difficult to quote, or if you do win, there are so many stakeholders that it becomes impossible to have a successful implementation. Other mistakes we see are the customers not being on the same page as the vendor and they don’t get what they want or what they thought they bought. Not having a practical project manager can also create problems for the end-user community. In many cases, we see project managers from the customer more concerned with filling out the paperwork than making sure the implementation goes the way it should. We always work very closely with the project manager from the customer and this ensures a successful deployment. Also direction from the top down is just as important as buy-in from the bottom up. So we always work with clients at all levels as everyone is important in our deployments.
