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| Quick Links |
For information regarding the All Hazards Consortium, please visit www.ahcusa.org |
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| Greetings! |
Welcome to the Fall, 2010 All Hazards Consortium newsletter.
As the AHC continues to mature, the states and UASIs within the region are utilizing the AHC network of stakeholders and capabilities more and more... Looking to 2011, the AHC will focus on three new strategic themes, continue with its integrated planning stratgegy, host meetings between govermnent and private sector owner/operators, and develop and implement regional projects.
New partnerships continue to develop, and momentum is being gained on many fronts. Several new workshop reports documenting regional consensus on needs have been released.
Many thanks to all who continue to invest time and energy into the vision of the states for improving the region's all hazards preparedness. We invite you to share this newsletter with your peers, and welcome your participation in the AHC regional efforts to support the states.
Tom Moran
Executive Director
Please note that the Regional Port Security Workshop scheduled for November has been postponed until 2011.
See the AHC Events section below...
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AHC Board News
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The All Hazards Consortium welcomes new Board members Terrie Suit (VA), Scott DiGiralomo (NJ UASI) and Ira Tannenbaum (NYC UASI). Newly elected Board officers include Bud Mertz (Deputy Director, PEMA) as Secretary, and Jackie Wasni (Motorola, MSSI Vice President and Director) as Treasurer.
We would like to extend our sincere thanks to Bob Briggs, former Delaware Homeland Security Advisor, for his service. Bob has returned to private sector but will continue to actively participate in the AHC.
An AHC Board Retreat was held on August 1-2 in Wilmington, Delaware, where Board members made the following recommendations for 2011:
Ø Expand multi-state/UASI collaboration and planning activities to include private sector owner/operators, on a sector by sector basis
Ø Focus on three main areas of regional interest:
o Catastrophic Planning
o Information Sharing / Fusion
o Private Sector Integration / Critical Infrastructure Protection (CIP)
Ø Produce "products" to support government and private sector needs that provide tangible benefits and results
Ø Have participating states / UASIs fund the AHC to recommend and develop "projects"
Ø Organize specific workshops (e.g. "vendor days") during 2011 designed to educate government and owner/operators on technologies / capabilities related to projects and regional reports
For a complete list of AHC Board members, click here.
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Recent and Upcoming AHC Events | |
2010 REGIONAL TRANSPORTATION WORKSHOP
On August 30-31, 2010 the All Hazards Consortium, in partnership with Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia and the National Transportation Research Board (TRB), hosted a Regional Transportation Evacuation Planning Workshop focused on catastrophic evacuation planning within the FEMA Region III geographic footprint. This workshop was conducted as part of the FEMA Regional Catastrophic Planning Grant Program (RGPGP).
Transportation related stakeholders reviewed existing transportation planning efforts, current status of the FEMA Region III transportation related common operating pictures, and gaps (in planning, policy, technology, solutions, etc.) for future planning and implementation efforts.
2010 REGIONAL INTEROPERABILITY WORKSHOP
See PSCI Working Group Update below
ANNUAL STATE BORDER COORDINATION WORKSHOP
Hold the Date! As part of the AHC's catastrophic planning focus for 2011, the states and urban areas of the All Hazards Consortium will hold a 3rd Annual State Border Workshop on January 24-25, 2011 in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Areas of focus will include credentialing, transportation, interoperability, mass care and situational awareness. For more information, email info@ahcusa.org.
2011 REGIONAL PORT SECURITY WORKSHOP
Upon advice from the AHC Ports Executive Steering Committee, the All Hazards Consortium is postponing the 2nd Annual Port Security Workshop until 2011. The AHC will focus their current effort on meeting with the AMSCs (Area Maritime Security Committees) on the issues driven out in the recently released Mid Atlantic Region Port Security Workshop Report. We encourage you to download this report at http://www.ahcusa.org/whitePapers.htm
EXCLUSIVE TIER 1 MEMBER MEETING
The AHC will be hosting a private meeting of Tier 1 corporate members and AHC Board and REAG (Regional Executive Advisory Group) members at the upcoming State Border Coordination Workshop in January. Details and invitations to follow...
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| AHC Working Group Updates |
The Public Safety Communications and Interoperability (PSCI) Working Group held a Workshop on September 7- 9 in Rehoboth Beach, DE in partnership with the FEMA Regional Emergency Communications Coordination Working Group (RECCWG). The workshop featured an overview of the recently completed Regional Capability Assessment along with panel discussions and updates from federal partners such as DOJ, TSA and OEC.
Over the next three months, the group will be prioritizing recommendations from the report and creating an action plan for follow-up.
The Critical Infrastructure Protection (CIP) Working Group recently expressed their support for a "Guidance for State and Local Governments: Access Control for CIKR Resources" policy. The intention of this document is to serve as a guide for considerations that states could make when developing their own programs and also serve as an encouragement for interoperability and compatibility to the federal standards and NIMS.
The CIP Working Group is also actively participating in the FEMA First Responder Authentication Credential (FRAC) Technology Transition Work Group (TTWG). The goals for the TTWG include: a national standard, interoperable, and trusted ID for emergency response (PIV-I); one voice from the TTWG to policy makers; sharing lessons learned and successes; and identifying technology gaps.
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| Federal Partnerships |
The AHC relationship with DHS Science & Technology is maturing and has expanded to include the topics of communications interoperability, port security, credentialing, information sharing and research transition. Going forward, the states and urban areas (UASIs) of the AHC will be working to integrate S&T's programs into their 2011 efforts.
The AHC recently met with the new FEMA Region III Administrator, Mary Ann Tierney, to discuss working together on important issues, how the AHC can assist in the overall integration of the private sector into the regional efforts of the states, and coordination of calendars and Working Group activities going forward.
The AHC and DHS Office of Infrastructure Protection partnership also continues to mature as the AHC CIP Working Group works with the SLTTGCC (State, Local, Tribal, and Territorial Government Coordinating Council) and its RPWG (Regional Partnerships Working Group). These partnerships produced the newly-released 2009 Regional Port Security Workshop Report, joint planning meetings, and a regional requirements development effort focused on regional risk analysis.
Finally, new partnerships are being developed with US Department of Transportation and DHS Transportation Security Administration. Working with DOT, the AHC is collaborating on regional transportation planning efforts, while the DHS TSA has invited the AHC to attend their new "Cyber Security in Transportation Summit" this month (October 21 in Washington, DC), and to explore a joint workshop in 2011.
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| Regional Grant and Project News |
The Regional Catastrophic Planning Grant Program (RCPGP) 2008 projects continue to make significant progress. The results of the Behavioral Analysis study were released in the spring, and are available upon request. In August, the Transportation project held a two-day workshop where results of the regional gap analysis were discussed and next steps determined. A current area of focus for the Transportation project is building a regional repository of evacuation routes in the Regional Integrated Transportation Information System (RITIS).
The Mass Care project is finalizing their first deliverable which outlines the impact of a catastrophe on Mass Care. The Resource Management - Key Partnerships project continues their outreach to private sector partners. A workshop is planned in December to discuss how private and non-profit sectors can be incorporated into regional emergency response capabilities. Finally, the West Virginia Modeling & Simulation project is at the critical design review phase.
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| Report Releases |
See the AHC homepage at www.ahcusa.org to download the new featured reports: The 2nd Annual State Border Coordination Workshop Report and the Mid Atlantic Region Port Security Workshop Report.
The AHC State Border Coordination Workshop Report outlines gaps and next steps in the areas of interoperability, access management and credentialing, mass care and transportation. The Regional Port Security Workshop Report outlines twenty recommendations in the areas of the Port of the Future, Essential Public-Private Partnerships, and sustainability, among others.
The National Capital Region (NCR) has released a new Homeland Security Plan. This plan is a long-term, unified effort to improve "all-hazards" preparedness across the region. For a free download, visit the following link: NCR 2010 Homeland Security Strategic Plan
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| AHC Corporate Member Spotlight |
The AHC would like to recognize Sprint as a new Diamond Level member. A long time supporter, Sprint looks to further increase their participation in the regional collaboration efforts of the AHC.
Sprint Nextel offers a comprehensive range of wireless and wireline communications services bringing the freedom of mobility to consumers, businesses and government users. Sprint Nextel is widely recognized for developing, engineering and deploying innovative technologies, including two wireless networks serving almost 49 million customers at the end of the second quarter of 2009; industry-leading mobile data services; instant national and international push-to-talk capabilities; and a global Tier 1 Internet backbone. Unique to Sprint, the Emergency Response Team (ERT) provides wireless telecommunications equipment, infrastructure and operations support to federal, state/local public safety, law enforcement, military and private sector entities when it matters most. These services can be deployed during declared emergencies, agency-specific events, field training exercises and National Special Security Events.
Contact Ron Murphy at ronald.murphy@sprint.com or (703) 729-7200.
Mutualink is an IP based multimedia interoperable communications company that enables radio, telephone, video and data to be shared on a real time, dynamic incident basis. Mutualink has gained rapid acceptance because of its ease of use, ease of deployment, low cost and full featured capabilities. Mutualink enables communities to create a large scale, real time interoperable emergency communications networks at a reasonable cost while getting best of breed features and capabilities. Mutualink was recently deployed by five key law enforcement agencies, including the Pentagon Force Protection Agency, during the Presidential inauguration, providing the agencies with seamless communications interoperability and real time video surveillance sharing during the event.
Contact Colin McWay at cmcway@mutualink.net or (860) 965-9500 or Joe Marinich at jmarinich@mutualink.net or (202) 438-1837.
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| AHC Products / Programs | The AHC has been asked to better define and communicate its activities and efforts in order to better inform our stakeholders. Below is a listing of each activity and its correspding desired outcome:
Regional Workshops - Focused on a specific issue, these meetings bring together stakeholders from state/local/federal government and the private sector to develop requirements, build consensus and coordinate planning efforts and investments.
Webinars - Used as virtual meetings, webinars also focus on a specific topic and are designed to educate regional and national stakeholders on a solution, research effort, project, product, etc. As appropriate, webinars are recorded and made available for future playback in a library hosted by the AHC.
Regional Case Studies - Introduced in 2010 and featured in the latest workshop report (Port Security), case studies are designed to showcase specific solutions or projects that are directly linked to the AHC regional workshop report requirements. Case studies show a national audience how requirements are converted to results thru the collaboration efforts of the AHC and its member states.
Regional Research - Leveraging government, academic and private sector stakeholders, the AHC scans the region for existing efforts in a specific subject area and produces a report that informs leadership, reduces overlap/duplication, and improves coordination of projects and investments across the region.
For more information, email info@ahcusa.org
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| People on the Move | |
Chris Geldart, former FEMA official, will be leaving URS Corporation to start his own consulting firm.
John Gibb, AHC Board member, has taken on a new role as Acting Commissioner of New York's Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services, a new agency merging the Office of Homeland Security, the State Emergency Management Office, the State 911 Board, the Office of Cyber Security and Critical Infrastructure Coordination, and the Office of Fire Prevention and Control.
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