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Disaster systems attract interest
(Washington) - Dealing with disasters, it seems, is a growth industry. As the world's top technology companies converged on Washington last week for the annual tech-for-government trade show, major players were focusing on providing systems to be deployed in the wake of disasters, natural or otherwise. Hoping to improve disaster response after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and Hurricane Katrina, industry giants such as Cisco Systems Inc., IBM Corp., Motorola Inc., NEC, PacStar and others are unveiling new or enhanced emergency systems to be deployed when disaster strikes. "The landscape of government opportunity has expanded since 9/11," said Bill Howell, vice president of the 1105 Government Information Group, which puts on the annual Federal Office System Expo called FOSE. He cited homeland security, the war on terrorism and natural disasters as "drivers of growth in government spending." Although some have complained that President Bush's budget blueprint for 2008 devotes too little money to disaster response, Congress has been moving toward a renewed emphasis on state and local, as well as federal, homeland security funding. In addition, the administration backs a $1 billion Department of Homeland Security grant program aimed specifically at funding communications interoperability at the local level. Communication failures plagued first responders during the Sept. 11 attacks and Katrina. Computing giant IBM and networking leader Cisco teamed up to offer a series of plans for government and industry that can provide an array of communication systems, for both voice and data, within a few minutes of arriving at a disaster scene. Under the new service, called Crisis Management Services for Crisis Response, the companies will design a plan — perhaps for local or state government or for a private company — that could include dispatching to a disaster site a complete mobile communications network contained in a sport-utility vehicle. For lesser needs, a suitcase-size network might do. Working together Standing before a shiny black network-equipped SUV, Charles Largay of IBM and Bob Browning of Cisco said the companies have worked together on disaster response in 70 countries, including the 2004 tsunami in Southeast Asia and the 2005 earthquake in Pakistan. "We're trying to put some velocity into recovery," Largay said. He said the system is intended to work with "whatever network is left, if there is any, but we go prepared for none." It can link cellular and land-line telephones, computers and wireless communications, even when personnel from different agencies use different devices and frequencies. Offering a similar self-contained communications system was NEC of Santa Clara, Calif., which specializes in Voice over Internet Protocol, or VoIP, telephone service. The company showcased its Mobile Voice and Data Unit, which is small enough to fit in the trunk of most cars. "During any time of crisis, including natural disasters, terrorism and civil emergencies, it's critical that government agencies are immediately able to communicate," said Paul Lopez, NEC's general manager for marketing. Doug Martinez, director of government solutions at NEC Unified Solutions, said the unit, contained in a reinforced box, is aimed at limiting network and communications downtime by "setting up a virtual office almost immediately." Creating the "secure communications environment of a small office anytime and anywhere" is also the goal of the PacStar 3500, another deployable network communications terminal that was demonstrated at FOSE. Robert Frisbee, chief executive officer of the Portland, Ore.-based PacStar, said his company's product is made to be sold and operated by customers, unlike the IBM-Cisco system, which is a service that is run for clients by the companies' technicians. "The PacStar 3500 is simple to operate, giving users with limited technology experience the ability to be up and running in a matter of minutes," he said. Not all post-disaster systems displayed were communications systems: Tenth Floor, an Ohio-based software company, was touting its Base 10 software that presents disaster response and recovery data on the Web after network access is restored. 'Zero delay' Sean Fagan, vice president of Tenth Floor, said his product makes it simple for early responders to quickly post information to emergency Web sites even if they have no IT experience. "This allows the people that are on the ground to get information to Web sites with zero delay," he said. In some instances, after a terrorist attack for example, first responders might be as interested in controlling communication as in enabling it. Los Angeles-based Meganet displayed tools that can jam communication among terrorists while allowing encrypted communication among responders. "Say you have a bomb that is detonated by a cell phone. You want to be able to jam that area to be sure a second (one) cannot be set off," said Jonathan Zuk, as he stood before a truck-based jamming system capable of controlling communications up to a 1 1/2-mile radius. More than 150 new technology products were introduced by the 550 exhibitors at FOSE, which ran Tuesday through Friday. |
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