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Dorothy Tao reviewed the questions that discussants were asked to consider regarding an information technology that has had an impact on their work: What are its capabilities and end results; what issues did it cause you to address; how were the issues resolved; what lessons can you share with others?
Rocky Lopes discussed the World Wide Web, mentioning several ethical issues, including the ethics of copying an entire site from another agency, for whatever reason. Other issues included agreements to cross-post that may have been made between the originating author and other sites and lack of attribution to an original creator. While the public needs the information, attribution should travel with information. He also described a Red Cross study that showed that color brochures get picked up and examined at a far greater rate than do black and white ones. The Red Cross has dealt with the need for color materials by producing a letter-size paper "shell" with one-third of one side a color graphic, and the rest left blank for printing and folding to a brochure with a color cover. Text, already formatted for this blank in various languages, is available to download from a Red Cross Web site. Finally, Lopes spoke of the need for non-English materials. For example, the Red Cross recognizes the need for Spanish-language materials on the Web, but at the moment much of that is found within English-language sites, and people don't think of looking for non-English materials on what appears to be an English-language site.
Lucien Canton spoke of the need to know what a computer tool is before it can be effectively used. He is concerned about vaporware and the mistake of letting technology drive decision making, as well as the need to know how to evaluate and test a product. He is also concerned about "emergency management software" as a separate entity, because an Emergency Operations Center is very likely to be staffed by people who don't know how to use that specialized software. He hopes that the Internet-Web-Intranet-Wireless technology paradigm will allow for the "virtual emergency operations center."
Sarah Nathe addressed the unfamiliar software problem by outlining the California Office of Emergency Services' (OES) decision to adopt Lotus Notes Network as not only its emergency management software, but as its day-to-day, in-house communication software as well, thus assuring that at least the entire OES staff will be familiar with the Response Information Management System (RIMS) when the time comes to use it in an emergency. RIMS depends on T1 lines for communication, and defaults to satellite links when T1 lines fail. This system has worked beautifully in floods and fires, but so far OES has no experience using it in earthquakes.
Avagene Moore briefly discussed the development of the Emergency Information Infrastructure Partnership (EIIP) Virtual Forum, a Web-based resource with on-line chat rooms, newsgroups, mailing lists, and networking available to EIIP partners. Partners can reserve time to have group discussions in one of the chat rooms, which can provide for dynamic exchange of information. For more information, check the EMForum Web site http://www.emforum.org.
Jill Andrews and David Butler discussed technical possibilities and frustrations, which can translate to overload if one isn't careful. Andrew's "bells and whistles" include computers, peripherals, software, internet, telephony, intranets, and datalinking. Butler's "wheezes and sighs" include faster communication, more input/output, links to a wider audience, (but ironically) feelings of isolation, and technology upkeep and costs. Andrew's suggestions for keeping up included embracing the technology and learning more; Butler's response was to examine the nature of this "technological problem," and suggested looking at it as a human problem rather than a technological one. He suggested that so much linkage can lead to avoidance behaviors (escape) or acceptance and immersion - depending on the choice of the user.
Rich Huggins discussed the Year 2000 (Y2K) hazard, saying that the biggest threat is embedded chips that exist in tens of millions of machines, which may include calendars even if that is not their function. These chips can contaminate other databases through data exchange without data sharers realizing that this corruption is happening. Because of the Y2K problem, there are billions of lines of code that need examining. However, for the emergency management community, this is not only a technological problem, but a logistical one. The hazards community can help in this situation with its experience in business continuity and contingency planning. Huggins hopes that someone will set up a "gold standard" source to let troubleshooters know what sorts of tests need to be done on software and hardware, and laments that there is no single definition of "compliance" regarding the Y2K issue.
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