Government Technology - July 2008 - (Page 40)

Meeting the Information Demand Could your organization’s Web presence quickly scale to meet increased demand if the site became a needed resource for the public during an emergency? Yes, absolutely One area in which organizations often overestimate their abilities to continue serving the public during a disaster is through their Web site, said Eric Holdeman, principal with ICF International’s Emergency Management and Homeland Security Practice. “If you look at any incident that has happened — any individual organization, agency or government or private sector — they don’t anticipate the level of interest that’s going to be on that and the demand placed on it. They don’t need some surge capacity, they need to be able to ratchet way, way, way, way up,” he said. “People everywhere can Google your organization, and they do.” For instance, he said after the Virginia Tech shootings, people immediately went to the school Web site for information such as the school’s exact location and how many students attend. “It’s not just news agencies,” he said, “but average citizens who want to know more information.” 12% 48% 13% Yes, to a reasonable extent It could handle a small increase in trafﬁc No, it can barely handle current trafﬁc levels 2% Don’t know 26% he was working for the Washington State Emergency Management Division. “It happened on a holiday,” Holdeman said. “I called the director and said, ‘Hey, they just had an earthquake in California. We need to get into work and figure out what we want to ask the Legislature for because they’re in session.’ And sure enough, that afternoon they were calling and saying, ‘What is it we should be doing?’” Holdeman said the agency requested a 24-hour duty officer and a new emergency operations center [EOC], and received the 24-hour duty officer. “It wasn’t until the next big disaster in the state that we got funding for a new EOC.” NASCIO’s Leatherby said part of the reason his organization produces informa- managers are willing to expend creating those relationships. “It sounds simple, but it’s really hard gaining and maintaining relationships across the board within and between governments. Then with the public-private sector, it just adds a whole new dimension.” Getting resources for those planning efforts also isn’t easy, he said. “We compete against all these other daily needs for something that might happen at some point in the future.” Making the Financial Case Judging by the survey results, disaster recovery planning in local governments is harder hit by the current budget crunch — only 12 percent of local government respondents said continuity of government projects are being maintained at previous funding levels. By contrast, nearly 30 percent of state government respondents said their continuity of government projects are maintained at the same level or exceed previous funding levels. Holdeman said funding for disaster recovery and continuity is a difficult case to make, but planners should watch for opportunities. “Be prepared for the windows of opportunity — even if it’s not an opportunity you want — where disaster impacts or comes close to impacting your jurisdiction,” said Holdeman. “If it is a televised event, those types of things call people to action, and for a short period of time you have constituencies asking their elected officials, ‘What about us?’” For example, he pointed to a situation when a major earthquake hit California and JULY_08 tion on continuity of government and disaster recovery planning is to help decision-makers understand the need for this type of planning. “If all the IT functions for the state go down, they’re going to be feeling the pinch from their constituents when people aren’t receiving their welfare checks, when they’re not able to access services and things like that,” he said. “I think you kind of have to scare the decision-makers, especially in light of all the budget problems you’re having, into realizing that this is an essential line item,” Leatherby continued. “It’s not just a luxury.” How have budget constraints impacted your organization’s continuity of government (COG) planning? Percentage of state government respondents Percentage of local government respondents Total percentage of respondents A freeze has been placed on all spending COG projects are receiving less funding than in the past COG remains a priority, and budget constraints haven’t had an impact COG projects are receiving more funding than in the past Don’t know 7% 27% 22% 7% 37% 9% 49% 12% 0% 30% 8% 38% 17% 3% 35% 40 http://www.govtech.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Government Technology - July 2008

Government Technology - July 2008 Point of View The Last Mile Big Picture On the Scene Four Questions for ... Generation 2.0 at Work Dangerous Convenience Tainted Justice? Are You Ready? E-Discovery Basics Smart Docs Advanced Math Online Video Blues Spectrum Personal Computing Products signal:noise

Government Technology - July 2008

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.