Reporting Developments of Interest to Stakeholders in
Disaster Management Interoperability Services

CONTENTS:

  1. Update on DMIS
  2. Disaster Management Interoperability Services (DMIS) Outreach
  3. COG Manager's Corner
  4. DisasterHelp.gov Enhancements
  5. Upcoming Events
  6. Upcoming EIIP Virtual Forum
  7. About the Disaster Management E-gov Initiative
  8. About the Interoperations Newsletter

Phoenix OT&E Testing

The new release of DMIS, Phoenix, is in the final preparation stages for Operational Test and Evaluation (OT&E). Internal OT&E is scheduled for this week. The next stage will be the external OT&E with invited outside organizations assisting us to perform an organized test. Any DMIS user across the county that wishes to participate, please contact David Gilliam for details.

Coalition Warrior Interoperability Demonstration (CWID) Update

As reported in an earlier newsletter, DMIS will participate in the CWID trials this June. During the last week of March, DMIS attended the final of three CWID planning conferences. CWID is an assessment of technologies for potential “fast track” adoption by the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD). DMIS Tools received a war-fighter assessment in last year’s trials and scored well. This year, the DMIS Interoperability Backbone will be undergoing a formal interoperability assessment. Several systems have developed interfaces to the DMIS Backbone enabling exchange of Common Alerting Protocol (CAP) standard messages among responders at all levels of government and military command.

The CWID trials relevant to DMIS will occur within the context of a multi-location, coordinated, terrorist attack throughout the United States over a 5-day period. During the trials, commercial products such as E Team and Blue 292, and the government product CAPWIN, will be used by CWID participants playing roles as local and state responders. The DMIS Backbone will serve as the civil sector’s information gateway, interoperating with military counterpart infrastructures such as Northrop Grumman’s Information Sharing System and Boeing’s Multi-level-secure Information Infrastructure. Military participants will be sending/receiving information to/from the civil sector while using the Global Command and Control System (GCCS). Military and civil responders will also have access to situation awareness information in a DMIS-enabled publish/subscribe environment known as InfoBridge developed by the U.S. Army at Ft. Monmouth, NJ, for use in the New York/New Jersey region

SensorNet and DMIS Collaboration

The Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and strategic partners that include the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the private sector are working to design and develop a nationwide system to detect, identify and assess chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and explosive (CBRNE) hazards. The system will provide a secure and reliable information infrastructure to quickly and accurately collect and convey critical information, from any sources, to all responsible parties.

ORNL is using the state of Tennessee as a testing ground for SensorNet. Various sensors and communications equipment are installed at sites in Oak Ridge, Knoxville and Nashville, with others planned for Memphis, Chattanooga and the Tri-Cities area. However, the research effort isn't stopping at the state's boundaries. The ORNL group is partnering with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for research projects in Washington, D.C. and New York City, combining efforts to track weather patterns in complex urban environments and to monitor plume routes in the event of hazardous releases.

DMIS is collaborating with the ORNL SensorNet Project. SensorNet intends to provide their sensor data to DMIS users over the interoperability backbone through a phased approach in support of a testbed to be set up within the National Capitol Region (NCR). See http://www.sensornet.gov/index.html for more information on SensorNet.

Update on OASIS / EDXL Work and DMIS Involvement

The work of emergency management standards and requirements continue. The OASIS Emergency Management Technical Committee (EM-TC) is working on the distribution element for the emergency data exchange language (EDXL). Requirements for the distribution element were handed off from the Emergency Interoperability Consortium (EIC) to the technical committee last November. There will be a two day EM-TC meeting (April 27 and 28) where much time will be devoted to working on the standard.

The EIC with support from the ComCARE Alliance is now working on a second set of requirements that will evolve into a formal standard - the EDXL Resource Message. This effort is in keeping with the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) signed earlier this year between Steve Cooper and the EIC to promote the development and proliferation of data sharing standards for emergency response. Several meetings have been held in the past month to identify the components, transactions and vocabulary for the resource message. Collaboration with numerous groups is required due to the many overlapping and sometimes conflicting standards efforts touched by the EDXL work. DisasterHelp.gov is providing a collaboration point for relevant reference documentation http://www.disasterhelp.gov .

At the recent 2005 FOSE Exhibition, “Where Government Meets Technology,” the OASIS EM-TC conducted an interoperability demonstration of the Common Alerting Protocol (CAP) 1.0. This first EM standard, approved and published over a year ago, is in wide use and gaining momentum. The demonstration utilized the DMIS server with Innovative Emergency Management (IEM) posting messages about an incident at a chemical stockpile. Anteon Corporation, EMAware and Warning Systems, Inc. pulled the message to notify first responders, send reports to FEMA, activate emergency action plans and activate alert and warning devices.

(Update provided by Elysa Jones, Chair, OASIS Emergency Management Technical Committee, Engineering Program Manager, Warning Systems, Inc.)

Other DMIS Outreach

• Staff supported BioNet table top exercise on site in San Diego. (See March edition of Interoperations for details on BioNet http://www.dmi-services.org/documents/Interoperations_Mar15_05.htm .
• DM worked with the National Law Enforcement Telecommunications System (NLETS) and vendors including ATS, Roaming Messenger, EM System, RAMSAFE, and Context Connect to be able to receive messages using the EDXL DE for routing and CAP content. (NLETS is a message switching system serving the criminal justice community. It provides for inter- and intra-state transmission of criminal justice and related information. For information, see http://www.aamva.org/drivers/drv_AutomatedSystemsNLETS.asp .)
• DM worked with the Northern Virginia Regional Commission on organizing the Northern Virginia Emergency Managers to participate in the National Capitol Region (NCR) EDXL demonstration.
• DM provided a DMIS demonstration to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Filed Operations Centers last month.
• Staff continued planning and coordination for May DMIS presentation / demonstration for 18-county region in Iowa.
• DM continued work toward Navy DMIS rollout.

3. COG Manager's Corner

The number of registered DMIS Collaborative Operating Groups (COGs) surpassed 1,300 this month. These COGS are located in all 50 states, Puerto Rico, American Samoa and Canada. Yes – as a result of a recent policy change at the Program Manager’s Office, the first DMIS COG kit was shipped in the beginning of April to a fire department in Manitoba, Canada. Additionally, there are more than 30 Federal agencies with COGs. Like the States and territories, some of the Federal agencies have more than one COG; for example, DHS has 39, the US Army 17, the EPA 12, US Marine Corp and Navy 10 each; US Public Health Service 9, and the Department of Energy 7.

This is a reminder that, if you upgrade your Windows XP operating system to Service Pack 2 (SP2), a conflict exists between XP SP2 and V-One SmartPass, the virtual private network software used by DMIS. Microsoft Patch KB884020, located at: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?amp;displaylang=en&familyid=17d997d2-5034-4bbb-b74d-ad8430a1f7c8&displaylang=en resolves this incompatibility issue. If you desire more information or need some help installing the patch, please call the DMIS Help Desk at 1-800-451-2647. NOTE: Before you execute the instructions and install the patch, please be certain that Windows XP SP2 is installed on the computer.

As David Gilliam explained in his article, we are entering the Operational Test and Evaluation (OT&E) phase for the new Phoenix release of DMIS. We continue to develop a detailed distribution plan for the new release and will inform you of how that process will work when we get it ironed out. The Phoenix release is anticipated to be fully distributed and operational by late spring 2005.

Three members of the Responder Liaison Team supported Connecticut’s participation in TOPOFF3 during the first week of April; this opportunity was an exciting and educational experience for all concerned.

The Responder Liaison Team stands ready to answer any of your questions concerning the functional use of DMIS. Remember the time to exercise with DMIS and become proficient is before you need it for an actual incident. Our team of professionals has a wealth of experience, knowledge and information that we are eager to share with any of you that wish to contact us. We strongly encourage local and regional collaborative training activities by registered DMIS COGs.

To check on the status of a DMIS registration request, obtain information concerning other registered DMIS COGs in your area, or ask any questions, please feel free to call or email Rick Hauschildt, DMIS COG Manager, at (540) 288-5671.

4. DisasterHelp.gov Enhancements

The DisasterHelp web site is a single location where public and private interests can easily access disaster information and services provided by government agencies and non-governmental organizations. If you have not registered, please do so at https://disasterhelp.gov/portal/jhtml/index.jhtml .

What’s New at DisasterHelp.gov?

The Disaster Management E-Gov Initiative (DM) provided support and / or outreach as follows using DisasterHelp.Gov:

• US Fire Administration (USFA): Registered 50 additional users to receive Infograms and updated the USFA page.
• Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USUHS): Provided a DisasterHelp demonstration at the Panel on Information Management for the USUHS Chemical Warfare and Emergency Management (CWEM) course.
• Social Security Administration (SSA): Provided Get Started in Collaboration document and training for collaboration administrators.
• US Department of Agriculture (USDA): Hosted a Web Ex demonstration for the Rural Development Agency on using DisasterHelp notifications; also provided administrators with Get Started in Collaboration document.
• Coordinated Assistance Network (CAN): Provided a demonstration of the Readiness Assessment Tool; set up the CAN page and collaboration area and conducted training.
• Emergency Data Exchange Language (EDXL): Set up the EDXL page and collaboration area and provided training.
• Updated Welcome Messages.
• Created new accounts and verified new users.
• Contacted various community partners to gain information on use of site.

June 7-9, 2005: FEMA Emergency Management Higher Education Conference. Emergency Management Institute (EMI). Emmitsburg, Maryland. Wayne Blanchard; http://training.fema.gov/EMIWeb/edu/educonference05.asp.

June 11-17, 2005: Association of State Floodplain Managers (ASFPM) 29th Annual National Conference. Madison, Wisconsin. For registration and other information, see http://www.floods.org/Conferences,%20Calendar/madison.asp .

June 21-24, 2005: 13th Annual Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (VOAD) Conference. Denver, Colorado. See http://www.nvoad.org/annualconf1.php .

July 10-13, 2005: 15th World conference on Disaster Management (WCDM). Toronto, Canada. See http://www.wcdm.org .

July 24-30, 2005: International Conference on Energy, Environment and Disasters (INCEED 2005). Bridging the Gaps for Global Sustainable Development (UNESCO – ISEG – GADR). Charlotte North Carolina. http://www.iseg.giees.uncc.edu/inceed2005/

6. Upcoming EIIP Virtual Forum

Welcome to the EIIP!

The EIIP Virtual Forum provides 'live chat' presentations and interactive Q&A with subject matter experts on timely topics on two Wednesdays each month, 12:00 Noon EDT. Please visit the EIIP Virtual Forum homepage http://www.emforum.org or subscribe to the EIIP Mail List via the Homepage to monitor our schedule for upcoming hot topics for the remainder of the year.

April 20, 2005: Homeland Security from the Business Perspective - Andrew Howell, Vice President, Homeland Security Policy for the U. S. Chamber of Commerce.

May 4, 2005: HSPD #8 - National Preparedness Goals - Corey Gruber, Director, Office of Policy, Initiatives, and Assessments, Office for State and Local Government Coordination and Preparedness (OSLGCP), Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

May 18, 2005: Pandemic - Dr. Linda A. Smith, FACEP, Chief, Medical Staff, Alaska Native Medical Center and HSRA Medical Director, State of Alaska.

No advance registration or user account is required; use the Chat Login link on the EIIP home page at http://www.emforum.org. NOTE: The Forum is using new chat software. Please check your connection prior to your first meeting with us; you may need to download the latest version of JAVA.

About the EIIP: The EIIP is an educational non-profit association of individuals and organizations seeking to enhance their effectiveness in coping with disasters and emergency situations by exploring the opportunity for sharing information and ideas made possible by electronic technology. The EIIP also shares its vision and educational opportunities through the EIIP Community on the DisasterHelp.gov Web site http://www.disasterhelp.gov .

7. About the Disaster Mangement E-gov Initiative (DisasterHelp.gov and DMIS)

The Disaster Management E-Gov Initiative is part of the President's Management Agenda for making government more focused on people and results. Its goal is to provide an easy-to-use, unified point of access to disaster management knowledge, services and toolsets to achieve an accelerated and improved quality of disaster mitigation and response. There are two major parts of the initiative: Disaster Management Interoperability Services (DMIS) and the DisasterHelp.Gov portal. DMIS is focused on the responder/emergency management profession, while the portal provides information and services to citizens, business, federal, state, and local government and non-profit organizations relating to disaster and emergency response.

8. About the Interoperations Newsletter

The Interoperations Newsletter reports on the developments of interest for the disaster management community. Reader comments, questions, and notifications to cancel this newsletter can be forwarded directly to the Editor, Avagene Moore at (931) 762-4768, or the Responder Liaison, Scott Eyestone, at (540) 288-5622; or provided via the DMI-Services Web site at http://www.cmi-services.org/. Your feedback is welcome and appreciated.