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January 31, 2006
Post-Disaster Communications - Discussion continues @ Spring 2006 VON:
“Post-Disaster Communications” is a topic and issue that has resonated with me for a long time, in fact for over 25 years. Amateur Radio operators from around the world historically have been amongst the first to help provide communication services after a natural disaster. The ARRL’s annual “Field Day” event that takes place over a weekend in each June helps prepare hams for such service.
Because of my interest in Post-Disaster Communications, I filled my E911 Phase III petition in September, 2001. Back at Fall 2005 VON I suggested that as a community we can learn from the Ham radio community and we should look to work together and bring forward “Internet Field Day” as an annual activity that would bring together members of the Internet Community who wish to become better skilled at Post-Disaster Communications together with a community of people who have a history of being active in the space, the worldwide ham radio community.
After exchanging encouraging emails with ARRL CEO Dave Sumner prior to Fall 2005 VON, back in December, I met with Dave and he agreed to chair a special session at Spring 2006 VON: VoIP, Wi-Fi and Amateur Radio: An Opportunity for Synergy in Disaster Response. This session will be taking place on Wednesday, March 15th..
Back at Fall 2005 VON I lost track of how many times people (including myself) referenced the City of New Orleans and the fact that a Vonage phone was used by President Bush to communicate with the Mayor of New Orleans during Katrina. As a follow up, we reached out to the Mayor’s office and I’m happy to announce that Greg Meffert, CTO, The City of New Orleans will also be speaking at Spring 2006 VON. His talk takes place on Thursday, March 16th and he will be sharing his Katrina experiences first hand and I’m sure will also be talking about the challenges he faces in the rebuilding of the City of New Orleans.
As the first Chief Technology Officer (CTO) in the history of the City of New Orleans, Mr. Meffert’s responsibilities include improving technology, reviewing department business practices and ridding inefficiencies within the departments of the City of New Orleans. Mr. Meffert manages 1000+ personnel in various departments including Management Information Systems, Mayor’s Office of Technology, Safety and Permits, City Planning Commission, Taxis and Ground Transportation. Additionally, Mr. Meffert works closely with the Historic Landmark Commission; Architectural Review Board; and several other demolition, transportation and zoning related boards.
As an industry, there is still a lot we can do in both the technology and public policy fronts to be better prepared when the next natural disaster hits. My goal at bringing this topic and these people to Spring 2006 VON is to help make a difference. I’m confident that we can and that we will.
Tags: voip von, ARRL, Katrina, Ham Radio, New Orleans
(c) 2006 Jeff Pulver. All Rights Reserved.
(This blog posting is copyright protected by Jeff Pulver. Portions of this blog posting may be quoted or abstracted if attributed.)
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Posted by jeff on January 31, 2006 07:25 AM | Permalink
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Comments
You should have the test in a city with BPL. The Google sponsored BPL is set to not interfere with the ham bands, but all other HF commuinication will be interfered with. Other BPL systems do not discriminate, they interfere will all medium (beyond line of sight) and long range communication.
The ARRL has offered their findings to other groups but so far, no one is interested. :-(
Geoff.
Posted by: Geoff Mendelson at January 31, 2006 01:16 PM
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Posted by: John Stones at January 31, 2006 12:25 PM