Emergency Interoperability Summit 2009 - Facilitating Emergency Response Using Open Standards, 30 September - 1 October, Baltimore, MD

Summit Proceedings

*subject to change


Tuesday, 29 September

View entire NIEM & Summit schedule

8:00-1:00
 OASIS EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT TECHNICAL COMMITTEE MEETING
1:00-2:00 Lunch on own
2:00-5:00

EXECUTIVE BRIEFING WORKSHOP, including:
A Special Session on "How Federal Data Programs Support Each Other"

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This interactive panel session will provide the opportunity for the community to learn about the value of mutually supportive standards for information sharing, and how this information ecosystem can benefit us all.

Moderator: 

  • Patrick Gannon, President and COO, Warning Systems, Inc. (WSI) and Member of the OASIS Emergency Management Technical Committee

Speakers: 

  • Denis Gusty, Deputy Director, U.S. Department of Homeland Security

  • Donna Roy, Executive Director, The National Information Exchange Model (NIEM)

  • Ira M. Grossman, Chief Enterprise Architect, Enterprise Architecture Branch/ITD, Federal Emergency Management Agency - FEMA
2:00-5:00
 EI SUMMIT DEMONSTRATION SET-UP


Wednesday, 30 September

View entire NIEM & Summit schedule
8:30-10:00 NIEM PLENARY
10:00-10:15 Coffee Break & EI Summit Demonstrations Open
10:15-11:30

EI SUMMIT DEMONSTRATIONS

The OASIS EI Summit will showcase interoperable applications and tools that support OASIS Emergency Management standards, including the Common Alerting Protocol (CAP) and the Emergency Data Exchange Language (EDXL) suite of standards.  Attendees of the EI Summit and the NIEM training event will have ample opportunities to view InterOp demonstrations throughout the event. Demonstrations will address the operational and economic benefits, as well as coherent frameworks that enable a more accurate, rapid, coordinated emergency response. 

Participates include: AtHoc, Desktop Alert Inc., Google, Warning Systems, Inc., CellCast Technologies, LLC,  Evolution Technologies, Inc., Federal Emergency Management Agency/DHS Science and Technology, MyStateUSA, Inc., National Weather Service, Safe Environment Engineering, L.P., Solace Systems, and TeleCommunication Systems, Inc.

11:30-1:00 Lunch with NIEM Speaker & EI Summit Demonstrations
1:00-2:15 EI SUMMIT DEMONSTRATIONS CONTINUE
2:15-2:45 Coffee Break & EI Summit Demonstrations
2:45-4:00

ROADMAP TO EMERGENCY DATA STANDARDS ROUNDTABLE

The development of a coordinated family of standards is underway within government and industry to help our various systems share information promptly and accurately in emergency situations. While work on new Emergency Data Standards in the Emergency Data Exchange language (EDXL) family of standards continues, much remains to be done in helping vendors and governmental agencies at all levels of jurisdiction to adopt the standards that have been developed thus far. Both defining a common language for emergency data exchange, and adopting the components of that language as they become available are  equally necessary.

Attendees from all levels of government internationally, along with emergency managers and those from the vendor community, are invited to join this roundtable session.  Participants in the roundtable will discuss the current efforts underway that will bring closer coordination among first responders, policy makers, legislators, government agencies and the software vendor community.  This is a chance for all to see what is in development, what interoperable solutions are being implemented today, and a chance for stakeholders to express their actual needs.

Come witness real-world interoperability demonstrations and listen to the experts on what interoperability actually means to the public.

Moderator: 

Speakers: 

4:00-4:15
 Coffee Break
4:15-5:30

COORDINATING THE DEVELOPMENT AND ADOPTION OF EMERGENCY DATA STANDARDS WITH THE ONGOING DEVELOPMENT OF NIEM

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The development of the set of NIEM components and the family of Emergency Data Exchange Language Specifications spring from the same impetus to share information more effectively, and they are complementary. These two sets of specifications are being increasingly coordinated. Facilitating this coordination is an essential task. Thus this session of the Roundtable will focus on how to accomplish this and improve this coordination so that adoption and implementation are facilitated effectively.

This session provides the opportunity for the community learn about the value of mutually supportive standards for information sharing, and how this information ecosystem can benefit us all. Engaging all participants appropriately, from the practitioner community, the standards development communities and the governmental communities will ensure that all viewpoints are represented and that their concerns are addressed properly.

Moderator: 

  • Gary A. Ham, Systems Architect, Eyestreet Software Corporation & FEMA's Disaster Management Program

Speakers:  

  • Donna Roy, The National Information Exchange Model (NIEM)

  • Tim Grapes, Vice President, Evolution Technologies, Inc.

  • Denis Gusty, Deputy Director, U.S. Department of Homeland Security

  • Scott Shoup, Enterprise Architecture Branch, Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA)
5:30-7:00

Special Emergency Interoperability Summit Cocktail Reception & Demonstration

* A special demonstration and cocktail reception will be held on Wednesday, September 30, from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. in Track 6 (Emergency Interoperability Summit Room) for all NIEM Emergency Track attendees and other interested parties.

Stop by the demo area between 10:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. on Wednesday to pick up a reception pass from any of the Interop participating organizations. Attendance will be limited to those with reception passes.


Thursday, 1 October

View entire NIEM & Summit schedule
8:30-9:45 NIEM PLENARY
9:45-10:15 Coffee & EI Summit Demonstrations Open
10:15-11:30

EI SUMMIT DEMONSTRATIONS

The OASIS EI Summit will showcase interoperable applications and tools that support OASIS Emergency Management standards, including the Common Alerting Protocol (CAP) and the Emergency Data Exchange Language (EDXL) suite of standards.  Attendees of the EI Summit and the NIEM training event will have ample opportunities to view InterOp demonstrations throughout the event. Demonstrations will address the operational and economic benefits, as well as coherent frameworks that enable a more accurate, rapid, coordinated emergency response. 

Participates include: AtHoc, Desktop Alert Inc., Google, Warning Systems, Inc., CellCast Technologies, LLC,  Evolution Technologies, Inc., Federal Emergency Management Agency/DHS Science and Technology, MyStateUSA, Inc., National Weather Service, Safe Environment Engineering, L.P., Solace Systems, and TeleCommunication Systems, Inc.

11:30-1:00 Break for Lunch & EI Summit Demonstrations
1:00-2:15

THE OPEN STANDARD FOR ALERT AND WARNING MESSAGES IN ANY MEDIUM

Warning coordination is key to any successful emergency plan. Warning messages need to be coordinated over multiple delivery systems, should contain all the information people at risk need to evaluate their individual situations and take appropriate action, and avoid sending details to those people not being affected by this particular emergency situation.

During this session, experts will breakdown the Common Alerting Protocol (CAP), and how it is being used as the standard format for expressing essential content of effective warning messages, regardless of the technology by which they'll be delivered. Discussion will include the variety CAP implementations, CAP IPAWS, work to-date on CAP 1.2 and innovative uses of CAP. 

Moderator: 

  • Art Botteral, Manager, Community Warning System Contra Costa County Office of the Sheriff

Speakers: 

2:15-2:45 Break
2:45-4:00

EXPANDING THE FAMILY OF DATA FORMAT FOR EXCHANGING OPERATIONAL INFORMATION BEYOND WARNING

Through formed partnerships, industry experts developed an expanded family of data formats for exchanging operational information beyond warning. The Emergency Data Exchange Language (EDXL) was developed to be the "umbrella" for a number of emergency data message types including resource queries and requests, situation status and forecasts, financial and personnel data, message routing instructions and the like. During this presentation experts will dive into EDXL and its supporting family of open standard and specifications including:  Distribution Element (EDXL-DE), Resource Messaging (EDXL-RM), Hospital Availability Exchange (EDXL-HAVE), and the work underway on Situation Reporting (EDXL-SitRep).

Moderator: 

  • Elysa Jones, CTO, Warning Systems, Inc. and Chair, OASIS Emergency Management TC

Speakers: 

  • David Ellis, Principle Member of the Technical Staff (PMTS) Information Technologies,
    Sandia National Laboratories | VIEW SLIDES

  • Alessandro Triglia, Technical Staffer, OSS Nokalva, Inc.

  • William Tabor, Desktop Alert CAP/XMPP Engineer, CTO Protexx, Inc, A Widepoint Company
4:00-4:15 Coffee & EI Summit Demonstrations Open
4:15-5:30

FUTURE OF EDXL STANDARDS

VIEW SLIDES

Industry leaders strive to continue improving the family suite of EDXL open standards. During this session, the presenters will review the lessons learned and the opportunties available to guide the future development at all levels. Whether a first responder, a manager of an emergency operations center, a vendor of emergency management capabilities, or just a concerned citizen, everyone should have the opportunity to contribute. Well rounded input is critical to the success of this endeavor. 

Moderator: 

  • Tim Grapes, Vice President, Evolution Technologies, Inc.

Speakers: 

  • Kevin McGinnis, Program Advisor, National Association of State Officials (NASEMSO)

  • John Donahue, Chief of Regional Programs and Emergency Operations, Maryland Institute for EMS Systems (MIEMSS)

  • Jeff Sexton, Tennessee Department of Health Office of Information Technology Services Preparedness and Response Systems

  • Dr. Greg Mears, Medical Director, HITSP & UNC Chapel Hill EMS

  • F. Christy Music, Program Director, Health & Medical Defense Support of Civil Authorities OASD(HD&ASA), Department of Defense
6:30-8:30
 EDXL CAP and DE: Ask the Experts Session