This got me thinking about my technological odyssey. It all started with a transistor radio that was really cool "back in the day." It was portable; you could have it outside with you while sitting in the yard -- we didn't have decks back then.
My introduction to a communications device that was more mechanical than technical was a typewriter in 1963. I also remember seeing typists using a newfangled device around 1976 that let them make corrections and produce a copy to edit and then a perfect copy.
A decade later I had a "Wang terminal" that connected to what we'd now call a server. Within a year, someone dropped off an IBM computer on my desk and said, "Here, use this." That was in 1986. I began my 24/7 schedule of being tethered to technology after someone gave me a pager.
In 1990 I saw important people carrying a cell phone they called a "brick," since it was about that size and weighed as much. My first cell phone didn't come until 1995 -- the year I remember e-mail arriving on the scene.
The Emergency Information System was the first attempt by the Washington State Emergency Management Division to use a computer-based information system in an emergency operations center (EOC) environment. To field the system, in 1996 we purchased computers for some local emergency managers who had none.
Since 1981, I had carried a pocket Day-Timer to organize my schedule and contacts. Around 1997 I discovered the Palm system and became a convert to the PDA. Then I discovered the HP iPAQ; it had more power and you could add a full portable, expandable keyboard and take notes with it at conferences. I was in heaven.
What doomed the iPAQ for me was the BlackBerry, which combined the PDA and cell phone.
Technology was heating up. The Emergency Broadcast System was replaced in our shop by the Emergency Alert System in 1997. The vision then was that you'd be able to contact people directly in their homes and cars -- even if they didn't have their radios and TVs turned on. That vision has yet to be realized.
I'm not sure when the Internet changed everything for good. I think the advent came to my organization when we set up a Web site, which allowed disaster preparedness information to be shared directly with citizens and improved access to planning information. By 2000, disaster plans weren't printed anymore, but were instead posted online for everyone to download and print.
2001 saw the establishment of the Project Impact TV show that I produced and hosted on government cable channels; later it was streamed online. It was also the year my pager became an alphanumeric two-way device. Web-based EOC information systems became very popular, and WebEOC was purchased and installed in our EOC.
Information sharing exploded with the Internet. I blasted e-mails every day to various lists sorted by discipline. I began blogging in 2004 on Eric's Corner. Weekly podcasts followed in 2006. Last year, I dove into Twitter, the newest social media and communications tool.
The question is, "What's next?" I've yet to take advantage of a disaster wiki or cloud computing for data storage and software. If you're holding back and wondering if any of these technologies are for you, the answer is yes -- that is, if you want to find ways to serve your citizens and clients more effectively and efficiently. You may hang back with a wait-and-see attitude, but I can tell you the technology train has already left the station.
