Virtual City is an initiative of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Science and Technology (S&T) Directorate, which wanted to develop a Microsoft-based platform for information sharing, said Jeff Friedland, emergency management director for St. Clair County. “There’s Esri, there’s Google, there’s a variety of platforms — and Science and Technology thought a Microsoft-based platform would be beneficial to have as another option for communities to use,” he said.
Although St. Clair is a smaller county — with about 170,000 residents — it frequently works with Canada and has a high concentration of critical infrastructure. It didn’t have an information sharing platform, and Friedland said the county had been looking at different avenues to fill that void. When approached about participating in the Virtual City pilot, Friedland said the county was willing, but he required two things: First, the system had to be cost-effective so smaller communities could afford it. And second, the county’s staff would be able to input 95 to 99 percent of the data and not have to rely on GIS technicians or the company to make updates. St. Clair started working with the S&T around March 2010 and the pilot began in July of that year.
The system, called the Regional Interoperability Collaboration Network and dubbed RESILIENT, is a Web-based interface that provides a common operating picture for the county. Data that can be viewed in it include: the location of government facilities; special needs populations; at-risk areas based on the chemicals present; ongoing 911 incidents and public schools.
“If we need to do our job, we’re dependent on so many other facilities and people to get the job done,” Friedland said. “If you keep the information within a fire department and your water system goes down, then your fire department can’t operate.”
Aside from sharing information countywide, the S&T is also looking at how to connect different systems together for cross-border and international collaboration. Friedland said the good thing is that governments don’t have to use the same platform and also that “Science and Technology’s focus is on the umbrella that connects all those together at a higher level.”
The Virtual City program has been implemented in three phases. It began with the platform’s creation when the S&T contracted with Michigan-based IDV Solutions. Phase two included adding extra data feeds and components that the county thought was pertinent, like “white board” functionality for incident commanders. St. Clair is beginning phase three, which will integrate additional software like the Critical Infrastructure Management System.
Although RESILIENT is an emergency services platform, the county is creating a second application that will be public-facing. Friedland said there will be a certain amount of information that will be publicly available, but the secure information will only be available to those who are authorized to access it. Attention also is being focused on creating mobile applications for the platform so it can be used on a smartphone.
In Friedland’s opinion, one of the best parts of the platform is that it is used in everyday events. “It’s too many times we develop things waiting for the big event and it sits on a shelf,” he said. “Then when it’s time for the big event — if it ever happens — you pull it off the shelf and then scratch your head for a couple hours saying, ‘How do we use this? I don’t remember.’ If you develop something that can be used every day then you’re all set.”
