Henry Jackson is the deputy commissioner and CIO of the NYC Office of Emergency Management. He is responsible for information technology, geospatial information systems, logistics, facilities and fleet. He has worked at OEM since 1999.
Phelan: What are the essential IT operations that support the office of emergency management?
Jackson: Communications are paramount, both internal and external. Support for the operations center, majorly radio with multiple, interoperable channels for situational awareness; traditional voice (including automatic notification systems), email (closely monitored), and data communications. We are working on data interoperability. For example, we had a tornado that took down many trees. Loading tree data from parks and recreation into our GIS system produces good lessons learned. Eight-five percent of geospatial data is in GIS.
Phelan: What about external communications with partners?
Jackson: Regional partners are important. We are working with New Jersey, Connecticut, and our own NY State Emergency Management Office in Albany on command and control software, so we can share situational awareness information. OASIS standards, (see http://www.oasis-open.org/committees/tc_home.php?wg_abbrev=emergency) and the common alerting protocol, (CAP) and the emergency data exchange language (EDXL) are all part of this process.
Phelan: How do you handle public emergency communication?
Jackson: OEM is a warning point. To talk to the public we have an opt-in notification system for alerts with actionable notifications, notifications for significant events that might impact public transportation or safety, and we use multiple modalities on a daily basis. We also have EAS which is tested monthly but has not been used in a real disaster. We are developing cell broadcasting system for wireless emergency alerting. Using cell towers, FCC rules for wireless emergency alert (WEA), and FEMA PAWS, the public does not have to sign up. Testing for this system is in the live pilot stage.
Phelan: Who do you see as your âcustomers?â
Jackson: We are the government, so the customers are the public in all shapes and sizes. We deal with diverse communities. Warning the public about emergencies is a priority. We do presentations and create materials for all-hazards and for all types of audiences. Customers include regional partners, the private sector, other levels of government, non-profit, and elected officials. Our core mission is to educate the public. We do presentations and create materials for all-hazards and for all types of audiences.
Phelan: Are there major differences in business continuity/disaster recovery for an agency vs. a business? Do you feel emergency management and business continuity are working more closely than in the past? How?
Jackson: We did a COOP program and spent time talking with the private sector about business continuity. We learned a great deal from them. Our people attend training in business continuity. We cross check on tools and programs. In the city, we are consolidating IT like many businesses. It makes sense conceptually and financially for better economies of scale. It is easy to consolidate some things, not others. We are less of a distributed environment. How you feel the business community in NYC depends on your services. The private sector creates information and makes decisions based on what OEM will do. Evacuation information is critical. We plan with them. They know how our plans work. We help the private sector with continuity plans and have implemented programs to help them maintain operations. Our Corporate Emergency Access System (CEAS) is an example.
Phelan: What was the major IT/DR lesson learned from the attacks of 9/11?
Jackson: You need to have a back-up end-user site. You need to have a plan for a back-up site.
Dr. Tom Phelan is program director, emergency and disaster management, fire science, and explosive ordnance disposal at American Public University System, Charles Town, WV.
