Avagene Moore: Welcome to the EIIP Virtual Forum! On behalf of Amy Sebring and myself, we are happy to see everyone here today. Avagene Moore: For the benefit of any first-time participants, our speakers will be using a few slides today. Avagene Moore: When you see a blue hyperlink, please click on it and it should open in another browser window. If it covers your chat window you will need to bring your chat window back to the top after viewing. Avagene Moore: As an example, here is a title slide of today's session for you to try; please click on it and I will give you a few moments to get come back to the chat screen: Avagene Moore: http://www.emforum.org/vforum/topoff/slide01.htm . Avagene Moore: Please do not send private messages to our speaker or the moderator, as we will be busy with the presentation. If you need assistance, please send a private message to Amy Sebring. Avagene Moore: The transcript of today's session will be available by late this afternoon -- just check back on our home page. Avagene Moore: We will begin with the formal presentation by our guests and then invite your questions. I will provide further instructions just before we begin the Q&A portion of our session but you may wish to jot your questions down as we go through the presentation. Avagene Moore: Please be courteous and do not talk out of turn in the session or during the Q&A. We will get to everyone's questions in turn and make the session meaningful for all of us. Avagene Moore: Our session today is entitled "Disaster Management Interoperability Services (DMIS) at TOPOFF 2: Supporting Operations & Advancing Technology." Our speakers will tell us about DMI-Services participation and support of the Washington state venue of last week's TOPOFF 2 national terrorism exercise. Avagene Moore: Our first speaker is Charles R. Bell, Chief, Defense Consequence Management Systems Office (DCMSO) assigned to the Program Manager NBC, Marine Corps Systems Command. Avagene Moore: Mr. Bell is one of the four founding members of the Interagency Board (IAB) for the Standardization and Interoperability of WMD Equipment, and currently serves as the Federal Co-Chair of the Interoperable Communications and Information Systems (ICIS) Sub-Group. He also serves as the Logistics Subgroup Chair of the ODP PEP Advisory Group. Avagene Moore: Dr. Scott Eyestone, Responder Liaison for DMI-Services, is also with us today. Dr. Eyestone is internationally recognized for his expertise in object-oriented analysis for health care and disaster preparedness automated information systems. Avagene Moore: He has served as an architecture and standards implementation consultant to the U. S. Department of Defense (DoD) Military Health System Program Executive Office for Information Technology, and led object-oriented analysis and design teams for DoD and U.S. Government computer-based patient records systems. Avagene Moore: The EIIP is very pleased to host this session today. It is my pleasure to welcome Charlie Bell and Dr. Scott Eyestone to the EIIP Virtual Forum! Charlie, I now turn the floor to you and you can call upon Scott when you are ready for him to speak. Charlie Bell: I would like to tell you about our recent experiences at TopOff II in Seattle. I wear several caps at the U.S. Marine Corps Systems Command. Although by boss says one of the caps says "Dunce," . . . Avagene Moore: Charlie, are you have a problem? Amy Sebring: We seem to be having a technical problem at Charlie's end ... Charlie Bell: Yes, control C/V is in a snit Amy Sebring: he would like me to input his remarks ... Charlie Bell: Thanks Amy Sebring: (continuing) Amy Sebring: he let's me manage the Department of Homeland Security / Office of Domestic Preparedness' Pre-positioned Equipment Program and a project at the Naval Research Laboratory I call "Hot Zone Computing." Amy Sebring: Since I was one of the guys who drew up the concept for DMIS on a bar napkin about 4 years ago, I also get to ping on those folks to keep them on the straight and narrow. Slide 2 please. Amy Sebring: http://www.emforum.org/vforum/topoff/slide02.htm Amy Sebring: When the opportunity to deploy a PEP equipment pod during TopOff II - Seattle presented, I realized I had a chance to bring all three interests to bear at once. I could show how DMIS supports PEP Pod deployment through transcontinental sharing of situation awareness data ... Amy Sebring: AND find out if my Hot Zone computing project was progressing. The hospitality of the Boeing Corporation and their Fire Department at Boeing Field gave us the on-the-ground resources to make it all come together. Amy Sebring: They gave us access to their Firehouse conference room, a chunk of tarmac space, and some metal buildings to serve as a simulated Incident Command Post and an ideal field test location for our needs. Amy Sebring: A big thanks to Larry Harrison at Boeing! http://www.emforum.org/vforum/topoff/slide03.htm Amy Sebring: As most of you probably already knew, the scenario was a dirty bomb terrorist attack. This sort of scenario was good to demonstrate the need for continuous shared situation awareness by a system like DMIS. Amy Sebring: Wind shifts can change access/egress routes and assembly area locations over time. Our Deployment Control Center needs to know when those changes occur and be able to accurately re-direct the equipment pod if it is en route. Amy Sebring: http://www.emforum.org/vforum/topoff/slide04.htm Amy Sebring: We excercised the stand-up of our PEP Deployment Control Center, deployment of its forward element, the local resource request and Federal authorization to deploy, and we actually moved the Seattle pod from its storage location at the south of Boeing Field up to the excercise assembly area. Amy Sebring: http://www.emforum.org/vforum/topoff/slide05.htm Amy Sebring: All the while, our DMIS Operator in the DCC-Forward element in Seattle was sharing detailed tactical information with the DCC in Virginia. The same information was also being shared with the Illinois Emergency Management Agency EOC... Amy Sebring: the FEMA EST in Washington DC, the USMC Chemical / Biological Incident Response Force in Indian Head, MD, - ANYBODY who had a potential need to know situation awareness and had an established DMIS operating group. Amy Sebring: I'm going to kick this over to Scott Eyestone now to tell you about our advanced interoperability concept experiments and demonstrations during TopOff II. Scott Eyestone: Thanks, Charlie. Slide 6 please. Amy Sebring: http://www.emforum.org/vforum/topoff/slide06.htm Scott Eyestone: Charlie told DMIS, RAE Systems, Naval Research Laboratory, Wave Wireless, and Rajant that we were all going to bring our toys to TopOff and hook them together about 2 weeks before the exercise! Scott Eyestone: While we had all been developing to the same functional requirements and technical specifications over the last year, we had NOT actually held detailed technical discussions or tested interoperability among any of our systems yet. Scott Eyestone: But off we went to Seattle, carrying our prototypes and the THEORETICAL NOTION that the items listed on this slide should be able to interoperate since we had all been developing toward the same interface specifications. Slide 7 please. Amy Sebring: http://www.emforum.org/vforum/topoff/slide07.htm Scott Eyestone: While waiting for any changes access routes or assembly areas relevant to our PEP pod deployment mission, RAE Systems set up 4 AreaRAE sensors on the tarmac in a rough upside-down "L" configuration to the north and east of our simulated "ICP" in the firestation conference room - much like the arrangement of the pictures on this slide. Scott Eyestone: We set up the connectivity between the RAE system and DMIS and Ross Yu turned on the sensors. DMIS did it's first Web Map Services request against the local RAE system server . . . nothing. Ross double-checked a configuration file, made a quick adjustment, and I pinged his server again . . . and BINGO! Slide 8 please. Amy Sebring: http://www.emforum.org/vforum/topoff/slide08.htm Scott Eyestone: The four RAE Systems sensors' locations plotted as a layer in the DMIS Mapping tool, AND correctly indicated the (red) alarm status of one of the sensors. High fives. The firefighters watching this went to get their friends from Search and Rescue and HAZMAT. Scott Eyestone: Technically, this meant that the Open GIS Consortium (OGC) interface and Web Map Services specifications are sufficiently rigorous for developers to work INDEPENDENTLY and still achieve interoperability. Scott Eyestone: So, we went after an aerial "ortho" image of Seattle from the U.S. Geological Services National Map web site. They use the same specs, so that should work too, right? Slide 9 please. Amy Sebring: http://www.emforum.org/vforum/topoff/slide09.htm Scott Eyestone: RIGHT! When the Seattle ortho-image was displayed in its layer, it automatically adjusted the view to be congruent with all the features in the base map underneath. Scott Eyestone: When the laid-back, hard-to-impress Mr. Bell saw this, he jumped straight up from his chair and not-so-cooly exclaimed, "Hot damn! That's the interoperability picture I've been after for 4 years." Scott Eyestone: Now more responders were gathering around. When we explained to them that this is how Geospatial One-Stop is going to work, and that it will be available to them at no cost, they went to get even more of their colleagues. Slide 10 please. Amy Sebring: http://www.emforum.org/vforum/topoff/slide10.htm Scott Eyestone: While we were on a roll, Dave Derieux and Atul Govani from the Naval Research Laboratory set up the Rajant "bread crumb" wireless network while Patrick Pacifico and Knight Hamalian set up the Wave Wireless "mesh network." Scott Eyestone: The wireless networks were established "through" line-of-sight obstacles to communications as depicted and described on this slide. Again, the technology gods smiled and Murphy was somewhere else. Scott Eyestone: Both networks successfully passed data from the "other side" of barriers or from inside buildings resistant to wireless communications. Images, GPS data, sensor data were all delivered to DMIS in their native context. Scott Eyestone: Within DMIS, files were either linked to objects on map layers or attached to the TopOff incident record as appropriate and shared with operators on the other side of the continent. The observing responders were in a buzz asking for the capabilities instantly. Scott Eyestone: And that highlights an important point. While successful beyond our expectations, these events were only demonstrations of PROTOTYPES. There is a lot of "bullet-proofing" work to do to get these capabilities operationally ready for field use. Scott Eyestone: But we did show that the technologies are in hand and that our designs are on track. Let me kick this back to Charlie for a wrap-up. Amy Sebring: We knew that DMIS would maintain the necessary situation awareness before we went and suspected that its use would cause others to want it. It did. Amy Sebring: http://www.emforum.org/vforum/topoff/slide11.htm Amy Sebring: We weren't completely sure that our adopted standards and technical approach were sufficiently rigorous functionally and technically, but we're more confident now. We feel we are on track. Amy Sebring: It was clear that local responders are going to need access to more bandwidth during the first hours of response. As communications became saturated during the first afternoon of the exercise, data transfer became slower than we would like. Amy Sebring: It worked; we just wanted it to work faster. Amy Sebring: The government / science / industry group on the ground in Seattle spontaneously meshed into a highly effective team. Seems to me that sort of thing is a competive advantage we have over the bad guys. I want to thank all of the organizations and individuals involved - well done. Amy Sebring: It also strikes me that we really don't have to invent much more basic technology to boost homeland security. If we assemble what we have on hand now, responders can have a quantum leap in information system interoperability at affordable cost. Amy Sebring: With that, I will turn this back to our hosts to moderate questions and discussion. Avagene Moore: Thank you for your presentations, Charlie and Scott. I am sure our audience will have many questions for you. ... Avagene Moore: Our protocol for audience questions is to enter a question mark ? to indicate you wish to ask a question or make a comment. ... Avagene Moore: Then go ahead and compose your question to have it ready, but do NOT hit your Enter key or click on the Send button until you are recognized by name. ... Avagene Moore: To expedite our Q&A, please address your question to either Charlie or Scott. ... Avagene Moore: If you have a follow up question to your original question, please input another question mark (?); otherwise, we are talking over each other and it makes Q&A difficult for our speakers, the moderator and the audience. Patience and courtesy are the order of the day to make the discussion meaningful. ... Avagene Moore: We will take questions in the order the question marks are sent to the screen. We are ready to begin now. Please input your ? now if you wish to ask a question of either Charlie or Scott. Stephen Ambrose: ? Avagene Moore: Stephen, whenever you are ready .... Avagene Moore: the first question takes a few moments. Dave Weir: ? Dennis Atwood: ? Avagene Moore: Anyone else with a question? Please input your ? at any point. Stephen Ambrose: GIS lends itself to easy display of remote sensing technologies.. like from satellite. Were you able to provide remote sensing data during TOPOFF through these web services? Victoria Laing: ? Scott Eyestone: Stephen, . . . Scott Eyestone: Yes, remote in the sense of the sensors many yards away Scott Eyestone: and data collected by a receiver . . . Cynthia Leighton: ? Scott Eyestone: then fed to DMIS. We did not use any satellite data delivery. Avagene Moore: Dave Weir, your question, please. Dave Weir: You spoke of Seattle, what was the experience in Chicago? Howard Berkowitz: ? Charlie Bell: We don't know. We weren't there. We went to Seattle to deploy a PEP pOD and exercise Avagene Moore: Dennis Atwood, please. Charlie Bell: the DCC forward Dennis Atwood: First, congrats and what appears to be a very successful prototype test. With the first round of DHS/DOJ comm interoperability grants about to be announced, I hope Charlie has been in on grant guidelines development, to ensure that applicants understand DMIS relationship to building their own "organic" capabilities to interoperate with DMIS. Avagene Moore: Do you wish to comment, Charlie? Scott Eyestone: We're trying to "get the word out" . . . Scott Eyestone: to as many responders as possible. . . . Scott Eyestone: Those who now use DMIS do indeed know to tie its use to the grant application. Avagene Moore: Victoria, please. Victoria Laing: Would compression technology address the bandwith issue? Avagene Moore: (Anyone with a question or comment, please input ? at any point of the discussion.) Scott Eyestone: That helps and it feels like we've tried them all . . . MARK AURIT: ? Scott Eyestone: always in search of that 100:1 compressor. :-) Avagene Moore: Cynthia, you are next, please. Cynthia Leighton: How much bandwidth was needed for the local responders? Scott Eyestone: When we had forty-something KPS . . . Scott Eyestone: or better, we were OK . . . Scott Eyestone: Below that, for mapping functions, we got a little ragged . . . Scott Eyestone: We know 28.8 is reality for many local responders. Avagene Moore: Howard Berkowitz, your question, sir. Avagene Moore: Howard, do you have a question ready for Charlie or Scott? Howard Berkowitz: Are there now or planned collaborative software capabilities? I'm thinking of a scenario where a remote participant wants to ask a question about a point on the main display... Howard Berkowitz: is there a remote graphics pointer?Did you handle external group communications with an audioconference or text groupware? Charlie Bell: We already have that... Charlie Bell: Weheld "geographic conversations" inside our mapping capabilities... Isabel McCurdy: ? Charlie Bell: The entire focus of this program is to provide responders... Charlie Bell: with the ability to share useful, timely, actionable information from various media. Avagene Moore: Mark Aurit, your turn, please. MARK AURIT: What is your gis format for vector data? .shp, cov, gdb? Are you using the spatial database technology to deploy this via the web? Ex. SDE/Oracle Server holds raster/vector data users dial in via a cellular connection to input and see data real time using a hand held Avagene Moore: (If you have a question, please input ? to the screen now.) Scott Eyestone: Will defer to our architect on this one. Neil, want to jump in here? . . . Amy Sebring: ? Avagene Moore: Yes, welcome, Neil Bourgeois. Neil Bourgeois: Today we are handling shp GIS format. - In the future this will be expanded. Thomas Miller: ? Avagene Moore: Anything else, Neil? Dennis Atwood: ? Neil Bourgeois: no Avagene Moore: Isabel, your question next. Isabel McCurdy: Was there any 'shared situation awareness' with the province of British Columbia? Charlie Bell: No Avagene Moore: Amy, your turn, please. Amy Sebring: Charlie, have you had enough time after this experience to consider what might be the next steps ahead in terms of moving beyond the prototype? Charlie Bell: Given this experience... Charlie Bell: we are looking at all stakeholder needs... Charlie Bell: and will do a priority rack and stack... Charlie Bell: for the upcoming DMIS work... Charlie Bell: The main thing is for folks to understand that this is most cost effective... Charlie Bell: We did this whole thing with a computer, a cell phone, and a $300.00 digital camera .. Charlie Bell: for mpeg... Charlie Bell: many thanks to Dave Derieux at NRL. Avagene Moore: Thomas Miller, your question now, please. Thomas Miller: TO both of our speakers today I wish to address the following question: As a DOD Logistics Product Manager I am developing an electronic publication with logistics data such as supplies and equipment that can be used in time of Disaster Response or Terrorist attacks, Do either of our speakers have any logistics data or POC's I may contact to obtain any tailored list they may have developed? Charlie Bell: Not in this forum. Call me. James Caton: ? Steve Moore: ? Avagene Moore: Dennis Atwood, your question. Dennis Atwood: Did Seattle or King County EOCs, or the Regional Medical Coordination Center, link into the DMIS operation? In other words, what the capabiity used for actual decision making support in the exercise? If not, did Seattle express a commit to making such a capability organic in their IT configuration? Scott Eyestone: We were focused on support to the PEP Pod deployment . . . Scott Eyestone: so our "front channel" DMIS use was constrained to the PEP support. . . . Scott Eyestone: While we have a core of DMIS users in Seattle . . . Avagene Moore: James Caton, you are up next. James Caton: What is the time table for this type of system to be used in day to day operations a the local responder level. Scott Eyestone: they were not deeply involved in mainstream TopOff play. Avagene Moore: (sorry Scott - jumped in too soon.) Scott Eyestone: DMIS is available to any responder today . . . Scott Eyestone: only need to go to the Registration Center at . . . James Caton: yes but you have been saying you are working with a proto type Scott Eyestone: www.dmi-services.org , complete the form, get authenticated as a responder . . . Scott Eyestone: by state EM office, and you receive the installation kit. Charlie Bell: You probably already have most of the tools available.... Charlie Bell: Rae systems products are pretty standard throught the community... Charlie Bell: and we hope to have all this tied together pretty soon. It's only been.. Scott Eyestone: It was the advanced technology experiments that were prototypic. The DMIS functions are available now. Charlie Bell: a couple of weeks. Avagene Moore: Steve Moore, your question, please. Steve Moore: For Charlie - How do you see hazard prediction models fitting into DMIS? What issues do you expect to have to deal with? Charlie Bell: Hazard prediction modeling capability is on our to do list... Charlie Bell: Next week in New Orleans at the IAB annual conference james caton: ? Avagene Moore: (More questions, folks? We have a little more time. Input a question mark ? and compose your question or comment.) Charlie Bell: we intend to discuss standards for models Scott Eyestone: Tag on to Charlie if I may . . . Scott Eyestone: We intend to dump the DMIS weather data into the "front" of the plume models . . . Scott Eyestone: and then port plume model output to our mapping functionality. Avagene Moore: James Caton, please. Our last question for today. Avagene Moore: James? Are you still with us? james caton: Can get your response to my earlier question..I lost connection and did not get the answer Avagene Moore: It will be in the transcript, James. Avagene Moore: Will make sure you get the link. All right? james caton: Thank you Avagene Moore: We are out of time. Charlie and Scott, we appreciate your time and effort on our behalf today. If you will allow me to make a couple of announcements .. Avagene Moore: If you are not currently on our mailing list and would like to get program announcements and notices of transcript availability, please see the Subscribe link on our home page. Avagene Moore: We are proud to announce three new EIIP Partners since our last session: Avagene Moore: University of Kuopio, Department of Health Policy & Management (Kuopio, Finland) http://www.uku.fi/english/ - the EIIP Point of Contact is Eelco H Dykstra, MD; Avagene Moore: Blue292, http://www.blue292.com - Martin Hyatt is the EIIP POC; and Avagene Moore: Excelliant, http://www.excelliant.com with Joanne G Martin, VP Sales & Marketing, serving as our POC. Avagene Moore: If interested in partnering with the EIIP, please see the Partnership link on our homepage http://www.emforum.org/partners/criteria.htm . Avagene Moore: We will have the transcript of today's session posted later this afternoon. Please look for it then. Avagene Moore: Thanks to everyone for participating today - you have been a great audience - and ... Avagene Moore: Please help us thank Charlie Bell and Scott Eyestone for their fine presentation. Charlie and Scott, you did a great job! Best wishes as you continue your work with DMI-Services. Thank you!