INFORMATION AWARENESS OFFICE
USING THE BEST TECHNOLOGIES AT OUR DISPOSAL,ALLOWS US TO FIGHT TERROR,ANYWHERE,ANYTIME. WE MUST BE ABLE TO ADAPT AND EVOLVE. THINK BIG,START SMALL,ACT FAST.FOUNDATIONS TODAY FOR A SAFER TOMORROW.
ABOUT US/ON-THE-Q-T
PUTTING TECHNOLOGY TO WORK TO SOLVE YOUR SECURITY AND SAFETY OBJECTIVES
IAO MISSION: Information Awarness Office will imagine,develop apply,integrate,demonstrate and tranition information technologies,components and prototype,closed-loop,information systems that will counter asymmetric threats by acheiving total information awareness useful for preemption;national security warning;and national security decision making.
IAO VISION: The most serious asymmetric threat facing the United States is terrorism,a threat characterized by collections of people loosely organized in shadowy networks that are difficult to identify and define. IAO plans to develop technology that will allow understanding of the intent of these networks,their plans,and potentially define opportunities for disrupting or eliminating the threats. To effectively and efficiently carry this out,we must promote sharing,collaborating and reasoning to convert nebulous data to knowledge and actionable options. IAO will accomplish this by pursing the development of technologies,components,and applications. The technologies include:
*Collaboration and sharing over TCP/IP networks across agency boundaries
*Large,distributed repositories with dynamic schemas that can be changed interactively by users
*Foreign language machine translation and speech recognition
*Biometric signatures of humans
*Real time learning,pattern maching and anomalous pattern detection
*Entity extraction from natural language text
*Human network analysis and behaviour model building engines
*Event prediction and capability development model building engines
*Structured argumentation and evidential reasoning
*Story telling,change detection,truth maintenance
*Business rules sub-systems for access control and process management
*Biological inspired algorithms for agent control
*Other aids for human cognition and human reasoning
It is difficult to counter the threat that terrorists pose. Currently,terrorists are able to move freely throughout the world,to hide when nessassary,to find unpunished sponorship and support,to operate in small,independant cells,and to strike infrequency,exploiting weapons of mass effects and media response to influence governments. This low-intensity/low-density form of welfare has an information signature,albeit not that our intelligence infrastructure and other government agencies are optimized to detect. In all cases,terrorists have left detectable clues that are generally found after an attack. To fight terrorism,we need a new intelligence infrastruture to allow these agencies to share information and collaborate effectively,and new information technology aimed at exposing terrorists and their activities and support systems. Terrorists try to hide their activities. The key to fighting terrorism is information. Elements of the solution include gathering a much broader array of data,discovering information from elements of data,creating models of hypotheses,and analyzing these models in a collaborative environment to determine the most probable current of future scenario.
IAO MISSION: Information Awarness Office will imagine,develop apply,integrate,demonstrate and tranition information technologies,components and prototype,closed-loop,information systems that will counter asymmetric threats by acheiving total information awareness useful for preemption;national security warning;and national security decision making.
IAO VISION: The most serious asymmetric threat facing the United States is terrorism,a threat characterized by collections of people loosely organized in shadowy networks that are difficult to identify and define. IAO plans to develop technology that will allow understanding of the intent of these networks,their plans,and potentially define opportunities for disrupting or eliminating the threats. To effectively and efficiently carry this out,we must promote sharing,collaborating and reasoning to convert nebulous data to knowledge and actionable options. IAO will accomplish this by pursing the development of technologies,components,and applications. The technologies include:
*Collaboration and sharing over TCP/IP networks across agency boundaries
*Large,distributed repositories with dynamic schemas that can be changed interactively by users
*Foreign language machine translation and speech recognition
*Biometric signatures of humans
*Real time learning,pattern maching and anomalous pattern detection
*Entity extraction from natural language text
*Human network analysis and behaviour model building engines
*Event prediction and capability development model building engines
*Structured argumentation and evidential reasoning
*Story telling,change detection,truth maintenance
*Business rules sub-systems for access control and process management
*Biological inspired algorithms for agent control
*Other aids for human cognition and human reasoning
It is difficult to counter the threat that terrorists pose. Currently,terrorists are able to move freely throughout the world,to hide when nessassary,to find unpunished sponorship and support,to operate in small,independant cells,and to strike infrequency,exploiting weapons of mass effects and media response to influence governments. This low-intensity/low-density form of welfare has an information signature,albeit not that our intelligence infrastructure and other government agencies are optimized to detect. In all cases,terrorists have left detectable clues that are generally found after an attack. To fight terrorism,we need a new intelligence infrastruture to allow these agencies to share information and collaborate effectively,and new information technology aimed at exposing terrorists and their activities and support systems. Terrorists try to hide their activities. The key to fighting terrorism is information. Elements of the solution include gathering a much broader array of data,discovering information from elements of data,creating models of hypotheses,and analyzing these models in a collaborative environment to determine the most probable current of future scenario.
GIS
The recent terrorist attacks on U.S. soil have forever changed how our nation addresses the issue of providing for the safety and security of its citizens,communities,and assets. Homeland Security is now at the forefront of issues in the United States,and GIS will play a vital role in integrating information,organizations,and people in this critical effort. Homeland Security entails understanding all the systems,infrastructure,organizations,and vital interactions that contribute to our communities,our livelihoods,and ultimatley,our safety. Embarking on a new level of Homeland Security means rethinking policies and planning,allocation of resources,and partnership strategies among federal,state,local,and private sectors. Part of that rethinking means viewing Homeland Security at the Global and National level as something that encapsulates Natural disasters,man-made catastrophes,and terrorism.Today,terrorism has never been a greater threat to our National Security. Traditional threats to security were state-based and were aimed at U.S. forces and allies overseas. But with weapons of mass destruction,extremist group terrorism,attacks on information infrastructures,and other possibilities,threats may now involve civillians and nonmilitary targets.
For federal,state and local government officials and private businesses and nonprofit organizations of all sizes in multiple industries,this requires a new,comprehensive approach involving people,processes,and technology to effectively and rapidly plan and respond to new emergencies and threats to our communities. As demonstrated by recent events,GIS is the technology that will be crucial to this security effort.
GIS is critical to Homeland Security because it enables integration of all types of information. Utilities,law enforcement,fire,health,building and safety--data from all of these entities and more can be integrated using GIS. This type of data sharing,analysis,and graphic representation speeds understanding of event and improves the secision making process at all levels of response. A great deal of data is sitting in stovepipes,stored in isolated silos that are useless unless they can be accessed in an emergency. GIS provides the tools for secure access to these data sets in the event of a local,regional,national emergency. GIS is a powerful tool for integrating people,organizations,and their efforts.GIS has been used to help government and business entities meet the challenges of major emergencies. Fire,police,public works,building and safety,water,engineering,utilites,telecommunications,and every other discipline have long recognized the utility of GIS in emergency response and have discovered how traditional tasks can be performed more efficently and how previously impractical or seemilgly impossible tasks can be easily addressed. Emergency management applications include:
* Managing and locating recources.
* Planning(ability to develop analysis-based plans).
* Visual decision support.
A few of the benifits of using GIS include:
* Fast response capabilites.
* Saving time.
* Fast access to information.
* Integrated layers of information.
* Strong analyitic capabilites.
* Powerful visualization.
While GIS was an important and intergrative technology used in response,rescue,and recovery efforts in New York and Washington,D.C., these were predominantly focused on responding to situation that had already occured. GIS is equally important in assessment planning activities and managing activites that people are referring to as Homeland Security.Homeland Security is focused on three primary objectives:Protecting Life,Property,and Critical Infrastructure.
Technology and information are crucial in this effort. Homeland Security efforts require a multitude of critical tasks that incorporate both short-range and long-range planning efforts including risk assessment,mitigation,prearedness,response,and recovery.
With localized GIS data creation,management,and analysis,users can build highly accurate,detailed geodatabases that can be fully integrated,using ArcIMS technology,into a shareable,distributed network at a national scale in the case of an emergency.
Our goal is to wrk with users in a number of industries to build information at the local level and,in the event of an emergency,enable these users to plug into a virtual network to use the richest possible data resources via the Internet and other sources to respond to and manage the event. Businesses such as electric utilities,transportation,and health organizations may build their own databases that are proprietary,yet when the need arises,the information can be accessed for use by rescue,law enforcement,fire and other government officials.
This is a key component to the vision we have for GIS and its place in Homeland Security and Society.
In the context of Homeland Security,GIS can be used to develop a community's emergency response plan by identifying the location of schools,medical centers,staging areas,and evacuation routes.
Analysis can identify transportation choke points near bridges or overpasses. During an emergency,GIS can be used to route response vehicles and quickly identify critical infrastrucures such as water storage/treatment facilities,communication networks,electric generation facilities and refineries.
Emergencies can impact all or any number of government departments or agencies and can escalate from local to national in scope. There are common elements of emergency management planning that are als critical to Homeland Security. GIS is a powerful tool in each of these processes in that it provides critical information,intuitively displayed,for mission-critical decision support for key applications such as the following:
Risk Assessment and Planning-Homeland Security programs begin with understanding the problem. This involves strategic and tactical planning to locate and identify potential emergency management problems and,using GIS,pinpointing these hazards and evaluating the consequences of potential attacks,emergencies,or disasters. They can identify obvious hazards(chemical strorage,nuclear plants,flood zones,earthquake faults) as well as evaluate less obvious hazards such as critical resources(forests,water,fod supplies),critical infrastructures(utilities,telecommunications,water lines), and other potential hazards or targets. The hazard data can be viewed with other map data(population density,streets,pipelines,power lines,etc.) to develop a risk assessment. With GIS tools,lives,property,and critical infrastructure at high risk from potential attack or other emergency are much easier to identify.
Mitigration-Once the risk assessment has been completed,GIS analysis can easily determine adjoining structures,utilities,population areas to the possible hazard. It can identify facilities that require reinforced construction or relocation. Other mitigation efforts may target hazardous material storage,estabishing security buffers around high-risk structures or environmental health monitoring. Mitigation involves understanding potential hazards(human life,property,infrastructure,environmental,etc.) at risk from these emergencies and targeting them for protective and/or preventive action. The goal is to take information and employ mitigation efforts to prevent or reduce the harmful effects of an event.
Preparedness-This includes activities that prepare emergency workers for actual emergencies. These activities include contingency planning,model building,and training. GIS can be used to answer such questions in a given emergency as the following:
* Where shouls first responder teams be staged to improve response time and capability?
* Where should fire stations be located if a five-minute response time is expected?
* How many paramedic units or ambulances are required,and where should they be staged?
* Where are the best potential evacuation routes?
* Where are medical and public health assets?
* Will the road networks handle the evacuation or rescue traffic?
* What facilities will provide evacuation shelters?
* What critical assets have I lost?
* What quantity of supplies,bed space,etc., will be required at shelters based on expected evacuees?
Response-These are the critical activities occuring immediatly following a terrorist event,emergency,or disaster. These activities are designed to provide emergency assistance for victims(for example,search and rescue,emergency shelter,medical care,mass feeding). Emergency workers seek to stabilize the contaiminated water supply sources,cordoning off affected areas to prevent further injury,looting,or other problems. as well as to speed recovery operations. GIS is critical to understanding the scope,complexity,and severity of the emergency as well as available assets and those lost or no longer available. The full range of GIS capability is utilized in assigning rescue personnel and equipment,placing evacuation and staging areas,organizing medical support,monitoring enviromental problems,establishing evacuation routes,providing logistical support,establishing perimeters,determining lost services(electric,phone,water) and hundreds of other uses.
Recovery-Recovery efforts begin when the emergency(immediate threat to life,property,and critical infrastruture)is over. Recovery efforts are often in two phases:short term and long term.
* Short-Term Recovery-A GIS can work in concert with GPS to locate each damaged facility,identity the type and amount of damage,and begin to establish priorities for action(triage). Laptop or handheld computer can update the primary database from remote locations through a variety of methods. Emergency distribution center supplies(medical,food,water,clothing,etc.) can be assigned with appropriate amounts to shelters based on population displacement and type of damage in each area. GIS can display the number of shelters needed and where they should be located for reasonable access. The use of biometrics can aid in the recovery as it makes it easy for the teams to access the victims and give the care that they need and alert their families on their condition and whereabouts. The immediate recovery efforts can be visually displayed and quickly updated until short-term recovery is complete. This visual status map can be accessed and viewed from remote locations by critical decision makers. This is particularly helpful for large emergencies or disasters where mutiple efforts are ongoing at several different locations.
* Long-Term Recovery-Long-term recovery means restoring all services to normal or better. Long-term recovery(replacement of homes,water systems,streets,hospitals,bridges,schools,etc.) can take several years. Long-Term plans and progress can be displayed and tracked utilizing a GIS. Prioritization for major restoration investments can be made with the assistance of GIS. And as long-term restoration is completed,it can be identified and visually tracked. Accounting for disaster costs can be complicated. As funds are allocated for repairs,accounting information can be recorded and linked to each location. As evidenced by recent events,long-term recovery costs can be in the billions of dollars for large disasters. Accounting for how and where funds are allocated is a demanding but necessary task. Every government agency,business,private utility,and institution has data that is invaluable to Homeland Security efforts. Having this data available in an emergency saves time and resources that can best be emplayed in saving lives and property. No response agency wants to have to waste critical time constructing a data set and a GIS after an event has taken place--the key is preparing before the crisis occurs and the need for database GIS systems to coomunicate together for a better tomorrow.
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