Disaster Response Gets Boost From Viz Lab Geo-Animations

San Diego State University’s Immersive Visualization Center, popularly known as the Viz Lab, has transformed how responders navigate disasters. Founder Eric Frost spent years using his geographic visualization skills to help fuel companies find oil. In 2000, he began applying the techniques he developed to disaster response. Frost, a geographer, secured space at the university, computer hardware grants and a team of like-minded experts to create the Viz Lab. Soon after, he and the team began negotiating the declassification of data from various government agencies within the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) and others.

The results were animated maps showing damage locations, hospitals, refugee camps and other data rarely available to responders as quickly in the past. This enabled humanitarian operations to target limited resources where need was most critical.

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first published week of:   09/27/2010

Disaster Response: Criteria for developing and validating effective response plans

Among the lessons learned from the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina that devastated New Orleans, Louisiana in 2005 was effective disaster response requires planning followed by the execution of training and exercises to validate those plans, states a new Government Accountability Office (GAO) report. Published September 22, the study found that The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is responsible for disaster response planning. This testimony focuses on (1) criteria for effective disaster response planning established in FEMA’s National Response Framework, (2) additional guidance for disaster planning, (3) the status of disaster planning efforts, and (4) special circumstances in planning for oil spills. This testimony is based on prior GAO work on emergency planning and response, including GAO’s April 2009 report on FEMA efforts to lead the development of a national preparedness system. GAO reviewed the policies and plans that form the basis of the preparedness system. GAO did not assess any criteria used or the operational planning for the response to the April 2010 explosion of the Deepwater Horizon oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico.

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first published week of:   09/27/2010

Do Your Government-Oriented Products Meet Compliance? Free Guide

If you supply products to the government or government contractors, make sure they are TAA compliant. Penalties for noncompliance include award cancellation, fines and suspension or debarment from federal contracting. Learn more about IT solutions for GSA Schedule Purchases with a free TAA-Compliance Guide. This free white paper discusses the TAA- compliance guidelines, as well as IT solutions that meet compliance.

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first published week of:   05/31/2010

DoD to reduce use of Social Security numbers

The Defense Department is preparing to launch a militarywide effort to reduce the use of Social Security numbers to lower the chances of identity theft for military and civilian workers and contractors. But the announcement, included in the March 3 Federal Register, makes clear that stopping the use of Social Security numbers altogether is not feasible. The SSN is a prize to identity thieves, but it also has become ingrained in various military uses that can’t be fully eliminated, defense officials said. They are proposing new regulations calling for a complete review of military records and reports to determine when the number isn’t necessary. In phases, starting in 1969 and ending in 1974, Social Security numbers replaced service numbers as the primary identifier and authenticator of military personnel. Expanded use of SSNs has increased efficiency and allowed Defense Department information systems and processes to work together and transfer data “with a greatly reduced chance of errors,” officials said in the notice of proposed regulations. But the threat of identity theft, they said, “has rendered this widespread use unacceptable,” resulting in the requirement that all federal agencies evaluate how SSNs are used and eliminate their unnecessary use.

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first published week of:   03/15/2010

Engage Citizens Online? All They Do is Complain Anyway!

The Pew Research Center just released its “Government Online” study, and it reveals some fascinating statistics. If you are engaging citizens online, this study will help you better understand citizen behavior. If you need to make the case for social media adoption, it will arm you with concrete data.

In tandem with the study’s release, GovLoop is teaming up with Pew to learn more from you, the government employees who are interacting with citizens online. We’re asking a series of thought-provoking questions based on the survey results.

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first published week of:   05/03/2010

F.C.C. Moves to Expand Role in Broadband

The Federal Communications Commission voted 3 to 2 on Thursday to move toward giving itself the authority to regulate the transmission component of broadband Internet service, a power the commission’s majority believes is central to expanding the availability of broadband.

The vote formally begins a period of public comment on an F.C.C. proposal to overturn a previous commission ruling that classified broadband transmission as a lightly regulated information service.

The proposal would designate broadband transmission as a telecommunications service, which, as with telephone service, would make it subject to stricter regulation.

The commission has said it intends to exempt broadband service from most of the regulatory options it has under the stricter designation, keeping only those regulations that are necessary “to implement fundamental universal service, competition and market entry, and consumer protection policies.”

It would not regulate Internet content.

Opponents of the reclassification say that it would give the F.C.C. the power to regulate rates charged to consumers by broadband service providers, something that Julius Genachowski, the chairman of the commission, has said that it does not intend to do.

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first published week of:   07/19/2010

Volume 31

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