VizCenter - San Diego State University

February 8, 2012 - 8:00am

Purpose of X24 México

Exercise 24 (X24) México is the third iteration of a primarily virtual, open-invitation, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR) exercise with real-world functional components that is hosted by San Diego State University’s “Immersive Visualization Center” (VizCenter).

Participants include DHS/Office of Health Affairs, NORAD-NORTHCOM, US Customs and Border Protection/Global Borders College, Mexican Army and Navy, Mexico Federal Police, Ministry of Defense from Vietnam, India National Disaster Management Agency, World Shipping Council, Red Cross, Pacific Disaster Center, NYK Logistics, National defense University, and growing.

X24 México Goals

'It's day after day after day' ... two stranded common dolphins being rescued at Herring River in Wellfleet, Cape Cod. Photograph: Julia Cumes/AP

The worst spate of dolphin strandings in a decade will be brought to the attention of Congress

by Suzanne Goldenberg - The Guardian - February 3, 2012

Scientists in Cape Cod are trying to determine what is causing dolphins to swim dangerously close to shore, with more than 100 becoming stranded in the last three weeks.

Members of Congress are due to be briefed on Friday about the strandings, the worst such event in more than a decade. Volunteers are maintaining coastal vigils and trying to get the animals back to sea.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

submitted by Mike Kraft

gsnmagazine.com - by Mark Rockwell - February 1, 2012

The next generation public safety communications network should be managed by a non-governmental, non-profit organization that could impartially reconcile the myriad standards and procedures affecting emergency responders nationwide, said a report by an independent government advisory committee.

It also recommended that such a network should take advantage of “assigned public safety spectrum.” Congress has been trying to get spectrum for a national public safety network for years, battling over whether to assign the spectrum directly to first responders or auction it off to communications companies, so they can share it with responders and manage its back-office functions.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

submitted by Samuel Bendett

Homeland Security News Wire - January 24, 2012

New Orleans, La., Jan. 17, 2012 -- FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate, guest speaker for the International Disaster Conference and Expo, emphasizes the Federal Government's initial response to a disaster is to get people to safety, transport the injured and assist in the reestablishment of infrastructure. Restoration of infrastructure is critical and involves getting private sector entities up and running so gas stations, food establishments, hotels and other essential private businesses are operable. This allows volunteers, non government organizations and emergency responders to effectively help the affected community in response and recovery operations. FEMA/Ralph Simcox

Speaking at the International Disaster Conference and Exposition, Craig Fugate, the head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), urged emergency planners to take a broader view of disaster response and include the private sector.

First, there is great value in a systems approach as a heuristic for understanding interlocked social-ecological-technological processes, and in analysis across multiple scales. Yet we need to move beyond both systems as portrayed in resilience thinking, and the focus on actors in work on vulnerability, to analyse networks and relationships, as well as to attend to the diverse framings, narratives, imaginations and discourses that different actors bring to bear.

For More:

http://resilienturbanism.tumblr.com/post/7573475902/reframing-resilience

There are many definitions of resilience from simple deterministic views of resilience anchored in Newtonian mechanics to far more dynamic views of resilience from a systems perspective, including insights from quantum mechanics and the sciences of complexity.  One baseline perspective of resilience sees it in terms of the viability of socio-ecological systems as the foundation for sustainability.  For those that are ready to look beyond resilience as the ability to return to the "normal state" before a disaster, take a look at:

http://www.resalliance.org/

What does it take to become a smart city?  Why are mesh cities important to sustainability?

For more information:

<http://www.meshcities.com/>

submitted by Chris Carnevale