Problem
Effective homeland security emergency preparedness and incident response calls for an unprecedented level of coordination between government and private sector organizations. In the United States, for example, national planning and emergency response frameworks and preparedness standards require organizations to develop plans and procedures for sharing information and communicating in a crisis.
It is vital that agencies from different disciplines (e.g., law enforcement, emergency management, public
health, and transportation), and, as appropriate, the media and
private sector partner in a systematic effort to clarify, in advance of an incident, what information they need to exchange in different planning scenarios. Optimal information flow will not occur spontaneously without planning. Yet today, there is no software that maps out homeland security information flow based on functional roles and responsibility in a way that can easily be updated and extended.
Solution
Channels
is a tool for developing information sharing plans and standard
communication procedures that define roles and specify what information
people need to send or receive in order to be effective. The system is
also used for analyzing where the flow of information can be made
faster, more resilient, and policy-compliant. Channels is used in the
context of security, emergency preparedness, business continuity
planning, and compliance.
Mind-Alliance works with clients to create
emergency information sharing plans that specify the events that should
trigger communication, notification, information-sharing and
requests-for-information.
Mind-Alliance helps clients methodically analyze information needs and
assets in key scenarios, evaluate protocols and procedures, and improve
the capability to share information effectively. Channels maps out the flow of information for each planning scenario, generating role and task-specific information exchange procedures by filling out forms. These maps and procedures help the different players understand what information needs to be shared with other players. Mind-Alliance helps state and local agencies plan the flow of communication with partners. The Channels software complements systems for situational awareness, notification, and emergency incident management.
Benefits
- Clarifies communication protocols, minimizing the risk of information flow breakdown or delay
- Enhances preparation for exercises and compliance with federal frameworks and regulations.
- Lowers the cost and increases the speed of analyzing business processes that involve cross-firm information flow and developing plans and procedures.
- Reduces knowledge loss caused by personnel turnover.
| Before |
After |
| Agency leadership is unaware of preventable gaps in the inter-agency flow of information sharing and communication problems surface with every exercise and incident |
Agency leadership sets capability goals for inter-disciplinary, cross-jurisdiction information sharing and collaboration for key critical incident scenarios and receives ongoing reports about progress in fixing regional information sharing problems |
| Agencies lack an efficient way to profile information needs and information exchange requirements in different planning scenarios |
Priority information needs are validated and exchange mechanisms identified for a variety of scenario options |
| State office of homeland security and Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI) regions discuss communication issues ad-hoc and agencies from different disciplines meeting only periodically because of limited time and budget and awareness of interconnectedness |
Agencies task senior planners and operations managers with systematically identifying and fixing communication issues and risks are mitigated by optimizing the flow of information, identifying and removing barriers to information flow |
| Inter-agency plans lack specific protocols for information sharing and communication. If documented at all, information sharing and communication protocols are recorded in static documents, which are soon out-of-date |
Communication procedures which detail the elements of information for each functional position in each scenario are recorded in detail online, and updated in real-time, with relevant participants notified |
| Institutional know-how is lost when people retire or are transferred |
Communication profiles are retained, and improved on an ongoing basis |
|