Advisers to the Nation on Science, Engineering, and Medicine

The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit, self-perpetuating society of distinguished scholars engaged in scientific and engineering research, dedicated to the furtherance of science and technology and to their use for the general welfare. Upon the authority of the charter granted to it by the Congress in 1863, the Academy has a mandate that requires it to advise the federal government on scientific and technical matters. Dr. Ralph J. Cicerone is president of the National Academy of Sciences.

The National Academy of Engineering was established in 1964, under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences, as a parallel organization of outstanding engineers. It is autonomous in its administration and in the selection of its members, sharing with the National Academy of Sciences the responsibility for advising the federal government. The National Academy of Engineering also sponsors engineering programs aimed at meeting national needs, encourages education and research, and recognizes the superior achievements of engineers. Dr. Wm. A. Wulf is president of the National Academy of Engineering.

The Institute of Medicine was established in 1970 by the National Academy of Sciences to secure the services of eminent members of appropriate professions in the examination of policy matters pertaining to the health of the public. The Institute acts under the responsibility given to the National Academy of Sciences by its congressional charter to be an adviser to the federal government and, upon its own initiative, to identify issues of medical care, research, and education. Dr. Harvey V. Fineberg is president of the Institute of Medicine.

The National Research Council was organized by the National Academy of Sciences in 1916 to associate the broad community of science and technology with the Academy’s purposes of furthering knowledge and advising the federal government. Functioning in accordance with general policies determined by the Academy, the Council has become the principal operating agency of both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering in providing services to the government, the public, and the scientific and engineering communities. The Council is administered jointly by both Academies and the Institute of Medicine. Dr. Ralph J. Cicerone and Dr. Wm. A. Wulf are chair and vice chair, respectively, of the National Research Council.

www.national-academies.org

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For more information on CSTB, see its Web site at http://www.cstb.org, write to CSTB, National Research Council, 500 Fifth Street, N.W., Washington, DC 20001, call (202) 334-2605, or e-mail at cstb@nas.edu.

To improve how information technology is used in disaster management, Section 214 of the E-Government Act of 2002 called on the administrator of the Office of Electronic Government in the Office of Management and Budget, in consultation with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), to “ensure that a study is conducted on using information technology to enhance crisis preparedness, response, and consequence management of natural and manmade disasters” (see Box P.1). In early 2005, in response to a request from FEMA to the National Research Council (NRC), via a contract with Battelle Memorial Institute, the Committee on Using Information Technology to Enhance Disaster Management was established under the auspices of the Computer Science and Telecommunications Board to study these issues. The committee’s first report, Summary of a Workshop on Using Information Technology to Enhance Disaster Management,¹ summarized the discussions at a public workshop held on June 22-23, 2005. Representatives of federal, state, and local government agencies; private industry; and the research community participated in the workshop.

Over the next year the committee met four times and made several site visits to gather input from federal agencies; state and local public

safety officials and emergency management practitioners; experts in disaster management; information technology researchers; and hardware and software vendors. In preparing this, its final report, the committee also drew on perspectives and information gleaned from professional conferences, the technical literature, and government reports.

Chapter 1 briefly characterizes disaster management, placing the use of information and communication technology in the broader human and organizational context and providing a framework for considering the range and nature of information and communication needs. Chapter 2 presents the committee’s vision of the potential for information and communication technology to improve disaster management. Chapter 3 focuses on structural, organizational, and other non-technical barriers to the acquisition, adoption, and effective use of IT in disaster management. Chapter 4 provides an initial outline of the elements of a research program aimed at strengthening IT-enabled capabilities for disaster management.

During the development of this report, Hurricane Katrina struck the U.S. Gulf Coast. In the days following the hurricane’s landfall, damage to the communications infrastructure, together with a host of other communications and information concerns, was cited by decision makers and reported on in the press as among the major challenges facing those involved in response and recovery efforts. The tragic events that occurred in Katrina’s wake have, of course, served to underscore the importance of disaster management; they have also highlighted the role of information technology in disaster management, the interplay between technical and organizational considerations, and the contributions that research and development in these areas could make to future disaster management activities. However, although a number of the inputs focused on Katrina, the committee’s charge, its deliberations, and this report encompass disasters in all (natural and human-made) forms and in all phases, from mitigation and preparedness to response and recovery.

Ramesh R. Rao, Chair

Committee on Using Information Technology to Enhance Disaster Management

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This report has been reviewed in draft form by individuals chosen for their diverse perspectives and technical expertise, in accordance with procedures approved by the National Research Council’s Report Review Committee. The purpose of this independent review is to provide candid and critical comments that will assist the institution in making its published report as sound as possible and to ensure that the report meets institutional standards for objectivity, evidence, and responsiveness to the study charge. The review comments and draft manuscript remain confidential to protect the integrity of the deliberative process. We wish to thank the following individuals for their review of this report:

David Borth, Motorola,

Thomas J. Cowper, New York State Police,

Sharon Dawes, University at Albany, State University of New York,

Otto Doll, State of South Dakota Bureau of Information and Telecommunications,

Mica Endsley, SA Technologies,

Al Flax, Consultant, Potomac, Maryland,

W. Craig Fugate, State of Florida Office of Emergency Management,

Sara Kiesler, Carnegie Mellon University,

Prabhakar Ragahvan, Yahoo!,

Eric Rasmussen, U.S. Navy Medical Corps,

Myra Socher, TriMed, Inc.,

Kathleen Tierney, University of Colorado, Boulder, and

Charles Werner, Charlottesville, Virginia, Fire Department.

Although the reviewers listed above provided many constructive comments and suggestions, they were not asked to endorse the conclusions or recommendations, nor did they see the final draft of the report before its release. The review of this report was overseen by Samuel H. Fuller, Analog Devices, Inc., and Richard N. Wright, National Institute of Standards and Technology (retired). Appointed by the National Research Council, they were responsible for making certain that an independent examination of this report was carried out in accordance with institutional procedures and that all review comments were carefully considered. Responsibility for the final content of this report rests entirely with the authoring committee and the institution.

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