humanitarian.info

Another ridiculously late notice on an article in TechNet magazine from October: Communication & Collaboration: Building an Emergency Operations Center on Groove and SharePoint. As always, mine eye is drawn to the lessons that can be drawn from these experiences, which the article sums up as:

First, network connectivity and bandwidth are not guaranteed… Second, the Internet isn’t always there. This may seem like a given in light of the previous constraint, but it’s important to highlight the potential frailty of an Internet uplink…Third, the definition of “users” expands greatly… How many organizations are ready to bring potentially hundreds of volunteers, contractors, and various civilian and military governmental staff into their information systems in a rapid and secure way? Finally, people need to access data using a variety of machines and connectivity scenarios. New users will often bring their own computers, configured in their own ways with their own sets of applications on them.

Now that’s like a primer for technology professionals on what to expect in a disaster. An EOC is a very specialised set-up – you’ll rarely find one during a disaster in a developing country – but the lessons run across the board. Wise words from John Morello.