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(More customer reviews)"Achieving Interoperability in Critical IT and Communication Systems" is a must-read for the top management (of both operations and technology departments) and planners at government agencies with a role in public safety, and the system integration and consulting firms that support them. Robert Desourdis and his principle contributors provide a clear analysis of the root-causes for communication failure and are the first to adequately emphasize the importance of leadership and planning in preventing it. Unless leaders and decision makers at all levels of governance take the lessons of past information sharing failures to heart, and proactively eliminate information silos (aka "stovepipes") and address the root causes of poor communication, government will fail in its primary mission of security and emergency preparedness.
In the United States, responsibility for homeland security and emergency management is fragmented among many organizations. They must communicate and share information in a timely manner in order to succeed in their missions. Yet, in almost every critical incident, communication problems unnecessarily impede the mission, endangering lives and costing millions of dollars. As far back as Pearl Harbor (which is analyzed in great depth in the book), and more recently after the failure to prevent the terror attacks of 9/11 and the uncoordinated response to Hurricane Katrina, the U.S. government has recognized the need to improve information sharing, interoperability and collaboration. After the fact it is often discovered that critically important information was not shared between organizations in a timely manner, leading to inadequate coordination. More recent events such as the Toyota Recall Crisis, the Christmas Day Bombing, and the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico again show the need for a more systematic approach to sharing information about risk.
Hopefully, this book will help organizations realize that in order to respond effectively in a crisis, they must proactively analyze information needs, create information sharing plans and procedures that specify who needs to share what information with whom, and exercise them and address issues ahead of a crisis. Emergency preparedness standards, planning and management frameworks such as the National Response Framework, and the National Incident Management System (NIMS) now all acknowledge the need to include information sharing, communication and notification procedures in security, disaster, business continuity and emergency preparedness plans. In the interoperability Project called SAFECOM, the US DHS acknowledged the critical importance of governance, plans, standard operating procedures (SOPs), training and exercises, in addition to technology such as radio hardware, in achieving interoperability. Nevertheless, most of the resources and efforts for improving information sharing and interoperability have gone towards the purchase of radio, communication and information access systems. But no matter how many such systems are deployed, during a crisis, information clearly will not spontaneously flow as it should within and between organizations with inter-dependent missions.
Before allocating limited money and time to new systems, networks and information integration projects, organizations should:
-Read Bob's book and visit the companion website ([...] )
-Analyze information needs, develop information sharing plans and procedures (see [...] for a description of the Channels software that implements what Desourdis calls for in Chapter 7 of his book).
This kind of proactive approach is less costly and more effective than skipping the planning phase, deploying more and more networks and systems, and making excuses after a preventable communication failure.
David Kamien
CEO & Founder
Mind-Alliance Systems
[...]
Editor, The McGraw-Hill Homeland Security Handbook
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Addressing several misconceptions and misunderstandings about communications interoperability that continue to limit capabilities in the field, this unique book provides a detailed examination of the subject, focusing on the use of voice, data, and video systems for public safety and emergency response. This practical resource makes in-depth recommendations spanning technical, planning, and procedural approaches to provide efficient public safety response performance. Readers find coverage of the many approaches used to achieve interoperability, including a synopsis of the enabling technologies and systems intended to provide radio interoperability. Featuring specific examples nationwide, the book takes practitioners from strategy to proper implementation, using enterprise architecture, systems engineering, and systems integration planning.
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