12:02:27 PM Amy Sebring:On behalf of the EIIP, I am pleased to welcome you to a special event in our Tech Arena. 12:02:37 PM Amy Sebring:Please hold all questions and comments until we get to the Q&A portion of the program about half past the hour. We will review the instructions at that time. 12:02:48 PM Amy Sebring:Now ... before I introduce our special guests, I would like to review how to use links to display Web pages in another browser window for the benefit of our newcomers. 12:03:00 PM Amy Sebring:When a full URL is typed in the message area, it becomes a hot link, so you can just click on it, and a webpage will display in another browser window. 12:03:13 PM Amy Sebring:And now, it is my pleasure to introduce James Bowen of CoordTek, Inc. who is going to speak about SitRep2200 ... 12:03:24 PM Amy Sebring:Welcome James and thanks for being here today. 12:03:31 PM James Bowen:Hello Amy, it is a pleasure to be "here" today. 12:03:42 PM James Bowen:This forum is an example of a wave of technology that is hitting the emergency management/disaster recovery field. 12:04:00 PM James Bowen:The wave will greatly revolutionize our ability to keep up-to-date on realtime events, 12:04:12 PM James Bowen:communicate between colleagues and allow us to not only act faster but more effectively for a more optimal response. 12:04:28 PM James Bowen:The product I would like to talk to you about today recognizes that this technology breakthrough is already here and can be implemented today. 12:04:43 PM James Bowen:The company I work for, CES, was established in 1975 and has its technological expertise in real- 12:05:03 PM James Bowen:time multi-user, mutli-processor systems and advanced systems utilizing artificial intelligence. 12:05:10 PM James Bowen:We have combined concepts from several fields such as military command and control, planning, and emergency/disaster management into SitRep2200. 12:05:27 PM James Bowen:Basically, in emergency management situations there is a command post and dispersed teams that need to follow a plan and accept modifications to the plan for a coordinated response. 12:05:41 PM James Bowen:This means real-time communications of the status of events, actions, etc. currently this is done through phone, radio or perhaps groupware products. 12:05:55 PM James Bowen:However, we also need a system that automatically provides the required information to the user in terms of tasks to complete and status of tasks. 12:06:08 PM James Bowen:This team might cross organizational lines and have a myriad of different types of computers involved. 12:06:20 PM James Bowen:The synchronization and co-ordination between individuals and an understanding of the status of the plan's implementation are of prime importance. 12:06:31 PM James Bowen:Many situations are of short duration ranging from hours to a few days. 12:06:40 PM James Bowen:In such situations the individuals involved are concerned with accomplishing the activities with minimal time delays and in the shortest duration possible. 12:06:52 PM James Bowen:In SITREP2200, a plan which is a set of activities, can be represented, and the software allows each team member to indicate the status of each activity item. 12:07:10 PM James Bowen:The SITREP2200 system consists of four main packages: 12:07:28 PM James Bowen:a Plan Editor, a Situation Management Centre, a Training/Message Centre, and a Command Post Console. 12:07:43 PM James Bowen:Amy, can we see Slide 1 (Microsoft 95 version)? 12:07:47 PM Amy Sebring:http://www.emforum.org/varena/jb001.htm 12:08:24 PM James Bowen:In this slide we see the Plan Editor. 12:08:36 PM James Bowen:The Plan Editor provides the facilities to define the various activities to be performed by each team member, 12:08:48 PM James Bowen:and to interconnect those activities that influence or affect other personnel. 12:09:00 PM James Bowen:Thus, for example, if there is a chemical spill, the clean-up crews may need to 12:09:09 PM James Bowen:know when it is safe to begin work based on the activity of another team member. 12:09:22 PM James Bowen:If we view a typical plan as a network of activities, linked to together. 12:09:35 PM James Bowen:For example, some individuals such as a management team need to know when certain items are 12:09:51 PM James Bowen:done for decision-making purposes, others need to know so they can begin their activities. 12:10:06 PM James Bowen:The editor allows us to represent this type of interconnected plan. As well, as basic items that we 12:10:17 PM James Bowen:simply do not want to forget such as relief of crews. 12:10:33 PM James Bowen: Amy, can we see Slide 2? 12:10:35 PM Amy Sebring:http://www.emforum.org/varena/jb002.htm 12:10:53 PM James Bowen:Thank you. 12:11:02 PM James Bowen:This slide shows the Unix version of the Situation Management Centre 12:11:15 PM James Bowen:The Situation Management Centre provides the various team personnel a reminder of the activities to perform for a given situation. 12:11:56 PM James Bowen:Wait, thats actually the training center slide 12:12:18 PM Amy Sebring:http://www.emforum.org/varena/jb003.htm 12:12:35 PM James Bowen:Thats better 12:12:46 PM James Bowen:now what I say makes more sense 12:13:05 PM James Bowen:As I was saying 12:13:28 PM James Bowen:The Situation Management Centre provides the various team personnel a reminder of the activities to perform for a given situation. 12:13:40 PM James Bowen:The Situation Management Centre also provides a mechanism to pass status information to people who require it before being able to complete their own activities. 12:13:54 PM James Bowen:From here we can see the status of any activity item (Applicable, Not Applicable, In Progress, No Longer In Progress, Complete, Not Complete), 12:14:05 PM James Bowen:all the activity items that will be automatically updated when we complete a particular item. 12:14:21 PM James Bowen:For example, we see that when we complete activity item #1, team member Bill's activity item "Ensure all units are functioning" will also be updated. 12:14:32 PM James Bowen:As well, we see the time stamps for each time an activity item was changed including who changed it and to what status. 12:14:41 PM James Bowen:From this focal point, we can access reports on the status of all activity items and activity lists as a whole. 12:14:51 PM James Bowen: As well, we can enter log items. 12:14:59 PM James Bowen:Log items can be notes for future reference, an action item for 12:15:13 PM James Bowen:some one else to work on, or an item to bring to some one's action list. 12:15:18 PM James Bowen: As well we can send messages to other team members and have an automatic notice "pop-up" on their screen. 12:15:54 PM James Bowen:Amy, can we see Slide 2? again (the training center) 12:15:56 PM Amy Sebring:http://www.emforum.org/varena/jb002.htm 12:16:13 PM James Bowen:This slide is also a Unix version. 12:16:26 PM James Bowen:The Training/Message Centre provides the staff in the Command Post the ability to send messages to specific users. 12:16:28 PM James Bowen: Thus providing a dual purpose tool for setting up and running training simulations and for sending messages to team members during a situation. 12:16:44 PM James Bowen:The Command Post Console provides the command post personnel a view of the 12:16:48 PM James Bowen:interactions that the team is having with the central computer including the 12:16:56 PM James Bowen:name and machine ID of those that log in and out, and any problems that they are 12:17:02 PM James Bowen:having accessing their activity list, etc. 12:17:10 PM James Bowen:In addition, SITREP2200 offers many other capabilities: 12:17:15 PM James Bowen:The system captures the various activities and processes that must be 12:17:21 PM James Bowen:interconnections can be corrected easily, and preserved for the future. 12:17:29 PM James Bowen:Plan coordinators can change the plans and all people involved can be updated 12:17:34 PM James Bowen:with new activity lists. 12:17:42 PM James Bowen:SITREP2200 can be installed and communicate amongst existing computing platforms, for example, 12:17:49 PM James Bowen:the SUN (under SPARC solaris or x86 solaris), PC (under windows 95 or windows NT) 12:18:01 PM James Bowen:and the Macintosh under System 7.5. Other platforms are also possible. 12:18:14 PM James Bowen:Using a laptop and a modem, the system is totally portable allowing any official 12:18:27 PM James Bowen:to move around and keep up to date at the same time. 12:18:27 PM James Bowen:There is no requirement for the additional purchase of special terminal software. 12:18:31 PM James Bowen: In many client/server systems where one type of machine, 12:18:36 PM James Bowen:for example, a SUN, serves as the central computer, 12:18:42 PM James Bowen:and another type is actually used to operate the software, 12:18:48 PM James Bowen:such as a Macintosh, extra software has to be purchased. 12:18:57 PM James Bowen:SITREP2200 is compact thus saving memory and hard disk space for the user. 12:19:05 PM James Bowen:SITREP2200 is Internet compatible. 12:19:10 PM James Bowen:SITREP2200 can be utilized through a local area network, dial in connection and the internet. 12:19:15 PM James Bowen:The vision behind SitRep2200 will continue to explode outward in capability as 12:19:24 PM James Bowen:we move more technology into the product, for example, in the near future we can 12:19:32 PM James Bowen:see using new internet compatible cellular phones as the unit for the field 12:19:44 PM James Bowen:teams. 12:19:55 PM James Bowen:That ends my presentation. Thank you for your attention. 12:20:00 PM James Bowen:Amy, I would be pleased to answer any questions. 12:20:11 PM Amy Sebring:Thank you James... 12:20:20 PM Amy Sebring:I would like to take a moment here to review how we will handle the Q&A so that we have an orderly session. 12:20:28 PM Amy Sebring:We ask that you indicate that you have a question by typing just a question mark (?). 12:20:40 PM Amy Sebring:Then you can prepare your question, but PLEASE HOLD (don't hit end or send) your question until you are recognized. 12:20:51 PM Amy Sebring:If we run out of time, you will have a chance to ask James afterward in the follow up session in the Virtual Forum. 12:21:02 PM Amy Sebring:Ok, I think we are ready. 12:21:27 PM Amy Sebring:Audience, do we have some questions or comments for James? 12:21:47 PM Tim Murphy:? 12:21:54 PM Amy Sebring:Go ahead Tim. 12:21:59 PM Tim Murphy:Who is currently using this applicaltion? 12:22:04 PM Rick Tobin:? 12:22:19 PM James Bowen:Good Question Tim... 12:22:29 PM James Bowen:SitRep2200 is new to the market with the ... 12:22:41 PM James Bowen:orginial concepts being purchased by the ... 12:22:44 PM James Bowen:military. 12:23:17 PM Amy Sebring:Rick please. 12:23:56 PM Rick Tobin:What is the optimum number of participants in this system? It seems there might be an overload level. 12:24:12 PM James Bowen:Hi Rick... 12:24:38 PM James Bowen:by optimum that can mean either machine capacity... 12:24:45 PM James Bowen:or team size... 12:24:58 PM James Bowen:It is a multiuser mulittasking system... 12:25:19 PM James Bowen:which means that as long as the machine has the speed... 12:25:28 PM James Bowen:it can handle large numbers... 12:25:37 PM James Bowen:As for team size... 12:25:53 PM James Bowen:it has been my experience that as the team grows.. 12:26:08 PM James Bowen:in size that overhead to coordinate it grows much faster... 12:26:33 PM James Bowen:I would say that this overhead explosion starts around 10-20 people... 12:26:45 PM James Bowen:what does your experience say? 12:26:49 PM Rick Tobin:The question really falls back to human perception. During testing, you must have noted a point at which people became "zoned out" with the layers of data and messages. I just wondered if there was a maximum practical size for such applications before people go on overload. 12:27:19 PM James Bowen:The system is concerned.. 12:27:39 PM James Bowen:with task completion rather than a general messaging system.. 12:28:03 PM James Bowen:this allows the user to concentrate on coordination information with other users. 12:28:09 PM Rick Tobin:I'd guess when you hit about 100, active participants, you are in big trouble. 12:28:17 PM James Bowen:I would say so... 12:28:28 PM James Bowen:my experience in the military... 12:28:43 PM vern adler:? 12:28:47 PM James Bowen:suggests that before that some personnel ... 12:28:58 PM James Bowen:become dedicated to coordination activities. 12:29:08 PM Amy Sebring:Vernon please. 12:30:22 PM Amy Sebring:Not TOO long Vern! 12:30:27 PM James Bowen:It might interest audience members... 12:30:40 PM James Bowen:to know that in June a free 2 user beta.. 12:30:43 PM vern adler:Is this a mechanism parallel in operation to the old PERT (Program Evaluation Review Technique) which was used for complex systems and critical resources allocation while showing critical path functions? 12:31:07 PM James Bowen:Hi Vern... 12:31:29 PM James Bowen:no... 12:31:40 PM James Bowen:it allows the user to devise a plan... 12:31:53 PM James Bowen:and divide the plan into activity list per user... 12:32:14 PM James Bowen:and form the information flows between activities as needed... 12:32:36 PM James Bowen:it doesnot concern it self with reviewing critical paths... 12:32:55 PM James Bowen:but on ensureing that each team member is update on task... 12:33:08 PM James Bowen:completing and other coordinated related activities. 12:33:32 PM Amy Sebring:James, please go ahead and finish about the free beta. 12:33:39 PM James Bowen:sure... 12:33:51 PM James Bowen:In June on our website.. 12:34:05 PM vern adler:Can this system be "exercised"? It is hard to grasp its value absent a hands-on familiarity. 12:34:07 PM James Bowen:there will be available a free 2 user version.. 12:34:18 PM James Bowen:of the new release. 12:34:23 PM James Bowen:hi Vern... 12:34:54 PM James Bowen:in june you can download a copy and try it... 12:35:15 PM James Bowen:the system once set up will allow the controller ... 12:35:26 PM James Bowen:to devise execerise senarios to train a team. 12:35:49 PM James Bowen:I provide two answers... 12:36:01 PM James Bowen:to your question.. 12:36:07 PM James Bowen:depending on what you meant. 12:36:23 PM Amy Sebring:Let's put up that website James .... http://www.sitrep2200.com/ 12:36:37 PM James Bowen:Thanks Amy. 12:36:50 PM James Bowen:We are expecting... 12:37:06 PM James Bowen:to have the version 2.0 beta on the site by mid june. 12:37:25 PM Amy Sebring:James, how is this system different from other groupware systems? 12:37:25 PM James Bowen:We are currently... 12:37:37 PM James Bowen:devise our tradeshow list for the coming... 12:37:44 PM James Bowen:year. Any suggestions? 12:37:57 PM James Bowen:Perhaps.. 12:38:10 PM James Bowen:we can get to a place near some of the audience members. 12:38:34 PM Amy Sebring:Will you be at the FEMA Technology Conference, Argonne IL? 12:38:52 PM James Bowen:We could. 12:39:28 PM James Bowen:I think the ... 12:39:54 PM James Bowen:interesting part of the technology approach... 12:39:54 PM James Bowen:we have chosen is the growth we... 12:40:05 PM James Bowen:will see as the product grows... 12:40:22 PM Avagene Moore:? 12:40:23 PM James Bowen:The underlying technology is aimed at communication abilities... 12:40:46 PM James Bowen:this means that team members can... 12:41:06 PM James Bowen:expect to see the field unit shrink in size... 12:41:06 PM James Bowen:and connect to faxes, computer, pages, etc. 12:41:26 PM Amy Sebring:Here is the webpage for the Argonne conference http://fema.dis.anl.gov/info.html 12:41:27 PM James Bowen:sorry that should read "pagers". 12:41:36 PM Tim Murphy:? 12:41:51 PM Amy Sebring:James, I interrupted above asking about how this system was different from other groupware? 12:42:15 PM James Bowen:group ware is an entirely different technology... 12:42:32 PM James Bowen:for example, we are concerned with... 12:42:47 PM James Bowen:the presentation of activities... 12:43:04 PM James Bowen:and alerting each team relevant team member... 12:43:16 PM James Bowen:of our task status and whether they can ... 12:43:28 PM James Bowen:make their decisions or start their tasks... 12:43:49 PM James Bowen:in a way that presents preformed information.. 12:43:59 PM James Bowen:to be "checkoff". 12:44:11 PM Amy Sebring:Avagene please. 12:44:13 PM Avagene Moore:I may have missed this in your earlier remarks, but has the system been used successfully in a real incident? 12:44:31 PM James Bowen:No, it is new to the market... 12:44:48 PM James Bowen:primarily since the underlying... 12:45:02 PM James Bowen:technology was only recent available... 12:45:11 PM James Bowen:to built a low cost system... 12:45:25 PM James Bowen:that can operate on almost any machine... 12:45:35 PM James Bowen:however, the orginial system... 12:45:42 PM James Bowen:was purchased by the military. 12:45:56 PM Amy Sebring:Tim please. 12:46:10 PM Tim Murphy:This software seems to be written for a very controlled situation such as an industrial plant or a nuclear power plant...comment? 12:46:26 PM James Bowen:good question... 12:46:41 PM James Bowen:bascially there are two types of situations that we are concerned with... 12:46:50 PM James Bowen:the preplanned and adhoc.. 12:47:09 PM James Bowen:the preplanned as represented in our emergency plans can be readily ... 12:47:40 PM James Bowen:implementated. Currently the adhoc can be dealt with through the log and messaging capabilities... 12:48:00 PM James Bowen:in the future we are looking at having the capability... 12:48:13 PM James Bowen:of the user to create adhoc task... 12:48:26 PM James Bowen:and incorporate them into a plan on the fly... 12:48:50 PM James Bowen:. 12:49:09 PM Amy Sebring:We have time for one or two more questions. 12:49:47 PM James Bowen:Well Amy... 12:50:02 PM Amy Sebring:James, does the system monitor and adjust for message traffic? 12:50:22 PM James Bowen:I would like to extend an invitation to the audience members to try the product in June. 12:50:42 PM James Bowen:Good question... 12:51:05 PM James Bowen:The system, given the computer capacity... 12:51:24 PM James Bowen:can handle large volumes. 12:52:12 PM Amy Sebring:Thank you very much James for being with us... 12:52:26 PM Amy Sebring:I for one intend to take you up on your invitation to try the beta. 12:52:32 PM James Bowen:Thank you Amy and audience members. 12:52:49 PM Amy Sebring:Before we shut down, I would like Avagene to tell us about upcoming EIIP events... 12:53:21 PM Amy Sebring:actually, I am not sure if Avagene is still connected. 12:53:41 PM Amy Sebring:Let me say we do have our Round Table discussion this Thursday evening... 12:54:08 PM Amy Sebring:8:00 Eastern, topic to be announced! ... 12:54:24 PM Avagene Moore:Yes, Amy I am here.... 12:54:25 PM Amy Sebring:We will have our June calendar posted on the Events page this weekend. 12:54:47 PM Avagene Moore:Next week, on Weds, Elaine Enarson will be in the Virtual Library.... 12:55:03 PM Avagene Moore:a paper on Domestic Violence and Disasters. 12:55:09 PM Neil Nelson:Is it too late for questions? 12:55:25 PM Amy Sebring:We are going to adjourn to the Virtual Forum Neil... 12:55:33 PM Amy Sebring:and we can ask further questions there. 12:55:38 PM Amy Sebring:Thank you all.