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

Reminder re: Upgrade of Windows XP

If you upgrade your Windows XP operating system to Service Pack 2 (SP2), please be aware that a conflict exists between Windows 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 assistance 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.

Status of OT&E Testing

The internal OT&E Testing of the Phoenix release is progressing well and DMIS developers continue to resolve issues as we identify them. It may still be a week or two before external OT&E testing can take place. A good number of DMIS users have either volunteered or have been asked to participate in the testing. However, if there are other users interested, there is still time to take part in the external OT&E – just contact David Gilliam as soon as possible to be added to the list. DMIS staff views external OT&E as vital to ensure the next release of the application is robust enough to support our user community.

Responder Liaison Team Assisting Federal Agencies with DMIS Roll-out

The Office of Management and Budget issued the following mandate to Federal agencies this past winter:

"To improve interoperability and sharing of disaster-related information among and between all levels of government, Federal Agencies should deploy the Disaster Management initiative's Disaster Management Interoperability Services toolset within each of its emergency operations centers (EOCs) and ensure that the toolset is integrated with existing EOC systems no later than June 30, 2005. All EOCs should also implement the capability to send and receive alert messages using the Common Alert Protocol standard no later than June 30, 2005."

The DMIS Responder Liaison Team has been heavily engaged with these agencies as they implement DMIS in their EOCs. Activities have included briefings and discussions on DMIS capabilities, COG planning, COG creation, and training for DMIS Operators and COG Administrators.

Other DMIS Outreach Activities

• DM staff presented at the Navigator 2005 Conference of the National Academies of Emergency Dispatch on future emergency communications; provided information on the EDXL process.
• Staff helped organize a panel on standards for the DHS Integrated Public Alert and Warning (IPAWS) initiative meeting last month.
• DM organized and facilitated EDXL Working Group meeting on resource messaging.
• DM attended an Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards (OASIS) Technical Committee (TC) conference in New Orleans.
• DM met with the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the DHS Secretary’s office to discuss the DisasterHelp.gov portal last month.
• Staff participated in a Global Justice Advisory Board Committee meeting.
• DM attended a NWS/FEMA meeting in Silver Springs, Maryland.

3. COG Manager's Corner

The diverse agencies that make up the over 1,350 registered DMIS COGs range in size from rural volunteer fire departments to large federal agencies and reside in all 50 states, DC, Puerto Rico, American Samoa and Canada. Due to the OMB mandate on federal agencies discussed in another article, the DMIS Project Team has registered new federal COGs in the past month for the Department of State, Department of Justice HQ (2) and US Marshals Service, Department of Transportation, Transportation Security Administration, USDA, USAF (2), US Navy, and General Services Administration.

The DMIS staff is completing development of a detailed distribution plan for the Phoenix release and will share that information with DMIS users and beyond as soon as it is finalized.

All DMIS COGs are urged to become thoroughly familiar with the features and tools provided in DMIS by exercising and training within the community as well as collaborating with other DMIS COGs. If there are questions related to DMIS use, installation, status of a DMIS registration request or other registered DMIS COGs in your area, please call or email Rick Hauschildt, DMIS COG Manager, at (540) 288-5671.

4. DisasterHelp.gov Enhancements

As DisasterHelp.Gov registrations approach 40,000, you are urged to check out the improvements and enhancements. 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:

• Emergency Data Standards Page: Now available to the public with links to emergency standards efforts, calendar of standards events and EDXL overview information.
• Next of Kin Registry (NOKR): Added the community and provided training for Collaboration Center and page administration.
• Social Security Administration (SSA): Added users as administrators in the Collaboration Center.
• US Fire Administration (USFA): Updated headlines channel on community page and provided assistance for bulk registration.
• FEMA Mitigation: Trained administrators on use of calendars for the group and provided input on calendar documentation; added a calendar channel to the FEMA page.
• Updated Welcome Messages.
• Created new accounts and verified new users.
• Completed the re-validation/revocation of .us users as appropriate.
• Contacted list of Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) to add to the Disasters area of DisasterHelp.gov.

June 21-22, 2005: IAEM Region IV Annual Conference (with Alabama Association of Emergency Managers [AAEM]). Mobile, Alabama. See http://www.aaem.us .

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: 30th Annual Hazards Research and Applications Workshop. The Natural Hazards Center, Boulder Colorado. http://www.colorado.edu/hazards/workshop/2005/

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/

August 28-31, 2005: 2005 Annual National Emergency Management Association (NEMA) Conference. Anchorage Alaska. http://www.nemaweb.org

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.

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

Please visit the EIIP Virtual Forum homepage http://www.emforum.org or subscribe to the EIIP Mail List via the Homepage to monitor upcoming topics for June 2005.

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.