Disaster management initiative's 2nd annual workshop

The annual California MCC Rally has a strong tradition of bringing together formal emergency responders; the DMI will build upon MCC Rally’s community of first responders by inviting DMI’s community of researchers, volunteers and industry partners to collaborate on research experiments and demonstrations around emergency communications technology. Some 20 emergency communications vehicles from a wide cross sector including government agencies, non-profits, volunteers, and private corporations will convene.

In addition to emergency communications vehicles, workshops, exercises, experiments, classes and demonstrations are being planned encompassing disaster data collection and management, communications interoperability, incident command, domestic and international multiple agency responses by public safety and volunteer/NGO resources, as well as technology specific presentations by vendors and sponsoring agencies. The event will feature new 4G LTE and WiMAX networks, solar-powered communications systems, novel monitoring technology, amateur radios, and a host of research and vendor presentations. The event will have a reception with keynote speeches, and two days of workshops, brainstorming sessions, classes, and experiments and demonstrations pushing the boundaries of hardware standards, communication techniques, and training.

Resources and information spanning a variety of available and upcoming technologies and their suitability to diverse civilian, NGO and government needs will be available, and exercised in planned events. The interaction of technology consumers and providers in focused discussions, exercises, and informal exchanges closes gaps in expectations and service delivery to ensure the right information reaches those who need it, when they need it.