And We're Off and Running

"In the days and weeks ahead, our nation must ask tough questions about the response to the national tragedy in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama," Stupak wrote. "One thing is clear: The inability of our first responders to communicate is one of the biggest factors hindering our relief efforts. As a former law-enforcement officer and founder of the Congressional Law Enforcement Caucus, I once again call on your Administration to finally make a commitment to the public-safety officials who are working so bravely and diligently in the devastated areas of the Gulf by making a meaningful investment in public-safety communications and interoperability."

After Katrina: Congressman Slams Comms Funding: TelecomWeb Congressman Bart Stupak of Michigan knows what he's talking about when he calls for a better approach to communication for first responders. He's a former law-enforcement officer and founded the Congressional Law Enforcement Caucus. Some facts and estimates he cites to make his case:

- 80 percent of local U.S. first responders are unable to communicate with their counterparts at other agencies
- 97 percent of cities are unprepared to communicate during a chemical plant disaster
- 94 percent are unprepared for a rail disaster
- 92 percent are unprepared for a seaport disaster

There's a common thread building here. See similar comments from an expert of a different sort, former FCC Chairman Reed Hundt, highlighted on these pages a few weeks ago. Let's Use Proven Tools to Fix What's Broken - Amen, Reed, Amen.

One of the perplexing things for those of us who don't live "inside the beltway" is the painstakingly slow pace of progress on what should be patently obvious. Hello, Washington leaders, in a disaster, you get help from wherever you can find it, and on-site responders need to talk to each other and coordinate their efforts, or its a mess (I could use stronger language here).

Yet, four full years after 9/11, we see a glaring problem that has not been solved, much less addressed. First responders can't talk to each other after a disaster. The problem is described very factually, in excruciating detail in the June 2004 The United States Conference of Mayors Interoperability Survey, wherein mayors from 192 cities make very plain the problem and its root causes.

Communication in a disaster would seem to be a fairly straightforward problem to address and one that would have a sense of urgency attached to it. And yet, people died in New Orleans because of such a poorly coordinated response to a national disaster. This is a national shame and an utter failure of our nation's political leaders to do the most basic of their jobs, to keep our nation safe.

Hopefully, the efforts of leaders like Congressman Stupak will start to bear fruit now that Katrina has caught the attention of our representatives in Washington. Hopefully, they will turn from a focus on the politics of staying in office to a focus on the governing tasks of stewardship of a body public. Hopefully, our nation's voters will replace those who fail to lead and govern.

Let's hold on to our hopes, but in the meantime, prepare at the local level with municipal wireless broadband. Its within our grasp, and while help from Washington would speed things along, mayors can do this now without the help of the federal government. Either way, here's a call for leadership on this vital issue. As the saying goes,

Lead, follow, or get out of the way.

Posted on September 30, 2005 at 09:03 AM | Comments (0)

Let's Use Proven New Tools to Fix What's Broken - Amen, Reed, Amen

A Better Communications System for Emergency Workers - Center for American Progress Former FCC Chairman Reed Hundt has the perspecitve and background to speak with authority on communications issues. So when he weighs in here on the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and the chronic and unresolved communications problems experienced by first responders, we should perk up our ears and listen, shouldn't we? Let's hope some ears are open in Washington, DC, where open mouths and closed ears are the order of the day.

Reed's prognosis? We don't need to invent some new redundant, fault-tolerant, affordable emergency communications network to fix this long-held and unresolved problem. We don't even have to look as far as the nearest Starbucks, where today's version of the traveling salesperson has figured out how to get access no matter where she is. The solution is right under our noses, it's the Internet. And Wi Fi, based on standards and an open archtecture, extends the Internet to the field, where it can be accessed by first responders with mobile communication centers in their vehicles and affordable hand-held devices capable of the most basic communciation (simple text data and voice) to ensure that emergency workers are kept in communication with each other and the outside world in a disaster. Reed says such a solution needs the help of the FCC with spectrum adjustments and the help of grants to get handheld units widely distributed among the 3 million plus first responders nationwide.

The nature of mulit-node mesh networks makes them ideal for use in a disaster, where fixed hubs and central stations so vital to traditional telecommunications can be wiped out in a disaster, bringing down the communications network. The military, and Al Queda (and apparently, Katrina) know that the way to take down a network is to attack its hubs. Where legacy proprietary radio systems so prevalent today among police and fire departments prevent outsiders from injecting themselves into the local radio network, a Wi Fi based system would not. Multiple redundant communication paths ensure that peers can continue to talk to each other and use of IP over the Internet as the standard language means that an IP device can get on the network - just as English is the universal spoken language in a global disaster, IP over the wireless Internet should become the norm in a storm. So I would add one other element to Reed's prognosis.

Cities should be required to install such new disaster preparedness wireless networks in their vehicles and among their staffs as a matter of national security. And they should be encouraged to deploy wireless networks throughout their cities as a redundant fault-tolerant emergency network to butress the prevailing dominant networks, when they fail during the next disaster. And I'll be doing all I can to encourage the creation of a new CitiGrid to link these networked cities in the event of a disaster. Look for more in this space in coming days and weeks on what such a network could look like.

And when the Federal Telecom Act gets addressed by Congress (and that timetable should be hastened in light of the events of the past two weeks), Congress should ensure that highly networked cities become the new communciations backbone, not only to make our nation more competitive in the global market, but also to make sure that our Homeland Security plans can be implemented when they are needed. As we all learned these past two weeks, a plan without a communications infrastructure is the same as no plan, and chaos ensues. And, as they say, the road to Hell is paved with good intentions, so we must measure success on actions and solutions, not plans, bureaucratic reogranizations, or legislative wrangling. There is too much at stake to not take this flaw in our public protection more seriously than we have in the past.

Posted on September 10, 2005 at 08:11 AM | Comments (0)

Networking is a One-Way Street

I've argued in this space that the more one knows about networks and how they work, the better off one will be, now that we are firmly esconsed in the Network Age. So when I see an article like this, Caught Up in Our Own Connections, which discusses the dangers of becoming ever more connected, I can only nod my head and agree, not only with author Thomas Homer-Dixon's assessment of the situation, but with his conclusions as well.

THE CASE: Risk of another major blackout will continue until huge investments of money, time and political capital are expended (don't hold your breath, but do hold onto your hat). Cheerleaders abound for all things network (i.e., the more connected, the better), which blinds us to the risk inherent in highly internetworked systems. For all the benefits of being highly connected, connectivity also brings additional risks (Asian Bird Flu, anyone? it could be on the next airplane landing right now). JIT production with lean inventories tolerates much smaller margins of error, so slack has a risk mitigation value if you don't happen to control all the pieces of the equation, and few networks do these days.

Cascading damages are the principal risk in a highly networked economy. That's what happened in Ohio and spread to Ontario and NYC two years ago. And on the management side, a too-complex system can become unmanageable when the manager is disconnected from the inputs needed for sound management. At the time of the blackout, this system included 6,000 power plants run by 3,000 utilities overseen by 142 regional control rooms. The straw that broke that camel's back was the fact that system rules were outdated, inappropriate and inadequate.

THE REMEDY. General principles for network risk management are clear: 1) distributed and decentralized production of vital goods (e.g., energy and food); 2) slack has an insurance role, so don't cut it out entirely; and 3) connect with caution and weigh all costs and benefits, remaining aware of risks.

This is a sound cautionary note at the right time. As a "network cheerleader," I welcome this type of discourse, because it is so pragmatic. Whether we like it or not, the world will get ever more complex and its people will become ever more connected. North Korea aside, the days of isolation are over. Disengagement is not an option, but we can make sure that when we do connect, we do so with open eyes, ears, and minds.

And with my open eye, I spy ... our most critical network at risk. In The Terrorist and the Grid, author Gregory S. McNeal, a research fellow at the Case Western Reserve University School of Law's Institute for Global Security Law and Policy, brings us back to the electric grid, two years later, citing a particular point of vulnerability, the electric distribution substation. Prof. McNeal calls on our political leaders to spend up to the $1 Billion he estimates is needed to protect our nation's grid from terrorist attack.

I would add that wireless networks can play a vital role to make electric utilities more reliable and safe. Such an effort to protect our most vital network will take Education, Awareness, and a Paradigm Shift to focus on future opportunities and threats, rather than traditional means to keep the lights on. Today's utility does not look out on the same world as yesterday's utility did even 10 years ago, so managing it to mitigate risks will require new ideas and approaches, and the courage to insist on adequate funding and the latest technology to make it work better.

Posted on August 16, 2005 at 09:18 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Fingerprints over the air

BIO-key Announces IdentityMatch(TM) - The Industry's First Patented Wireless, Web-Based Fingerprint ID System High Tech crime fighting takes another big leap forward with this anouncement. Fingerprint identification can be performed in the field using BIO-key's PocketPC with a wireless connection, from a police cruiser using a laptop or from a stationary office location using a desktop PC. The real power of IdentityMatch is it enables almost immediate suspect identification directly from the scene of a crime.

Posted on June 17, 2005 at 06:49 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

From Telegraph Lines to Wireless in a Single Bound: Super!

TownOnline.com - Beverly Citizen - Local News Sensor applications like the one discussed in this article are the wave of the future. This town was faced with an upgrade to an old (very old) wireline system, which supported their fire alarm system, at a cost of $750,000. By working with a generous private sector partner, the town was able to install a wireless system at a cost of $100,000. I like this story for several reasons (public private partnership, great cost savings of wireless solution over a wireline solution, and focus on future-looking technology to replace older, backward looking technology).

Posted on June 17, 2005 at 06:15 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Neighborhood Security Resources

Tropos Metro-Scale Wi-Fi Networks for Video Surveillance This white paper describes the impact that a "crime control system" had on high-crime neighborhoods in New Orleans. By combining a Tropos wireless mesh node with a streetlight and a wireless video camera, New Orleans police were able to realize dramatic reductions in assault and murder rates, often crimes of opportunity. A well-lit area that is under video surveillance becomes mighty unattractive for criminals, who we assume either forego their crime or go to seek out a more favorable venue. Either way the community benefits when criminals are disrupted in their nefarious pursuits. Score one for technology!

Broadband Public Safety Data Networks in the 4.9 GHz Band:Potential, Pitfalls & Promise Tropos authors drill down on the potential of using the Public Safety spectrum to bring wireless broadband to a community.

Police officers in Idaho use Wi Fi to fight crime with voice over IP, e-mail and remote-controlled video cameras over the network for use in 22 patrol cars. Idaho knows Wi Fi.

Posted on May 22, 2005 at 12:02 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack