The Soderberg Center is part of Jeness Hall. The link above takes you to a map of the campus that shows the location. For more detailed information about visiting the UM campus and parking go to http://www.go.umaine.edu/visit.html.

(This event will be broadcast over the Grid and will also be available via streaming video -- a link will be provided here on the day of the event.)

The events of a year ago have placed a renewed emphasis on interoperability. As the following excerpt from America Still Unprepared - America Still in Danger," a report
prepared under the auspices of the Council on Foreign Relations (released October 24, 2002) states:

"In virtually every major city and county in the United States, no interoperable communications system exists to support police, fire departments, and county, state, regional, and federal response personnel during a major emergency. Radio frequencies are not available to support the post-incident communication demands that will be placed on them, and most cities have no redundant systems to use as backups. Portable radios will not work in high-rise buildings unless the buildings are equipped with repeater systems. Most U.S. cities have separate command-and-control functions for their police and fire departments, and little to no coordination exists between the two organizations. Furthermore, with few exceptions, first-responder commanders do not have access to secure radios, telephones, or video-conferencing capabilities that can support communications with county, state, and federal emergency preparedness officials or National Guard leaders."

On July 3, 2002, Governor Jeb Bush today that Florida received the first of nine portable interoperable communications systems that will improve the coordination of emergency responders in the event of a disaster or crisis situation. The nine Emergency Deployable, Interoperable Communications System (EDICS) field packages will be assigned to the State Division of Emergency Management, Florida Department of Law Enforcement, and the seven Regional Domestic Security Task Forces. Funding for the communications equipment is a small part of a $9-million dollar, U.S. Department of Justice, Domestic Security grant that provides for emergency response equipment.

What is driving unified command models? How can incident managers execute multi-layered emergency response and consequence management plans? When the quick surge in resources and manpower happens, what will hold it together and keep it on track? In small rural towns where mutual aid is a long established practice, what needs to happen to take this to the next level? These are just some of the questions that need to be asked, while the answer is not interoperability alone. However, interoperability is a vital ingredient in a successful game plan. During this virtual symposium, top experts will explore ways in which interoperability can be achieved, what tools might work, what programs are in motion, and where we are heading.

1:00 PM George Markowsky, chair of the UMaine Computer Science Department will open this session.

Moderator Peter J. Brown, is a Maine-based freelance writer who specializes in satellite communications. He is serving on a voluntary basis as a satellite technology and communications advisor to the multi-agency team which is creating and implementing the homeland security strategic plan for the state of Maine. Mr. Brown will give a quick overview of the subject to be addressed, the speakers and their topics. He will then introduce the first speaker.

1:10 John P. Caruso is the chief of the executive agent (EA) for Theater Joint Tactical Networks Action Office (EA-TJTN) at the US Army Communications-Electronics Command (CECOM) at Fort Monmouth, New Jersey. Mr. Caruso currently chairs two DoD forums including the Theater Joint Tactical Network Configuration Control Board (TJTN-CCB) which coordinate unified-command, military-service, and Defense-agency programs for joint interoperability assurance purposes. He also directs the conduct of an annual joint networked-communications exercise of considerable size designed to experiment with and assess various notional concepts, interfacing schemes, untried network arrangements, new technologies, emerging systems, and operational approaches in hybrid joint networks, simulating deployed joint communications operations while focusing on joint networked-system interoperability.

Mr. Caruso will discuss what went on during the 2002 Joint Users Interoperable Communications Exercise or JUICE, and what is on tap for next year. JUICE is an annual exercise designed to resolve interoperability issues throughout the DoD's tactical networked-communications community. The exercise is focused on developing near-term practical solutions to interoperability shortfalls in tactical networked communications. Exercise alignment with Joint Forces Command (JFCOM) has broadened to include Joint Task Force Civil Support (JTF-CS) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) planning activities, as well as their operational requirements. This exposure has advanced the DoD's capability to support Homeland Security planning processes and execution requirements.  

VIEW OR DOWNLOAD JOHN CARUSO'S SLIDES (528 KB)

NO VIDEO YET

1:30 Gene Davenport serves as telecommunications manager for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Mobile Emergency Response Support (MERS) in Denton, Texas. Mr. Davenport will discuss interoperability with the federal government during disasters, Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD), or terrorist Incidents. He will focus on FEMA's deployment of the MERS comprehensive telecommunications support system, and its links to the local incident command via Civil Support Team, Crisis Management Center (FBI), Consequence Management Center (FEMA) and Joint Forces Command - Civil Support (JTF-CS) (DOD). 

VIEW OR DOWNLOAD GENE DAVENPORT'S SLIDES (130 KB)

NO VIDEO YET

1:50 John W. Loonsk, M.D. works at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta where he is Associate Director for Informatics and Director at the Information Resources Management Office, the CDC's central information technology organization. He received his medical training at the State University of New York at Buffalo after graduating from the Johns Hopkins University. At the State University of New York at Buffalo, he implemented the first mandatory course in the US in medical informatics for medical students. At the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, he oversaw the development of an electronic learning and decision support environment which included the electronic resources of the Health Sciences library, the medical school curriculum and the Internet. Since joining the CDC in 1999, he has become instrumental in the planning and development of the National Electronic Disease Surveillance System (NEDSS). In 2000, he was named CDC Associate Director of Informatics and assumed responsibility for the CDC's , the Information Resources Management Office.

Dr. Loonsk will focus on the Public Health Information Network (PHIN) which will connect the diverse groups participating in public health using standards-based collaboration, communications and alerting capabilities. PHIN is a live, secure, Internet-based network for exchanging comparable critical health information between all levels of public health (local, state and federal) and other critical information systems (clinical care, laboratories, first responders, etc.). Improved data analysis and visualization including automated algorithms for event detection will aid in more timely public health decision-making.

NO SLIDES

NO VIDEO YET

2:10 Ross Merlin, Telecommunications and Information Resources Manager at the U.S. Public Health Service Office of Emergency Preparedness, will discuss interoperability from the standpoint of his group's emergency response plans.

NO SLIDES

NO VIDEO YET

2:30 Brief Intermission

2:40 Robert E. Lee, Jr. has more than thirty years experience in public safety, and he currently serves as the Public Safety Wireless Network (PSWN) Program Manager for the Department of Justice. A Supervisory Special Agent with the FBI, Mr. Lee has been with PSWN since June, 2001. He has served as an instructor both at the FBI National Academy at Quantico, Virginia, and at the International Law Enforcement Academy in Budapest, Hungary. He presently serves on the Law Enforcement Liaison Council of the American Society of Industrial Security (ASIS) and the Communications and Technology Committee of the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP).

Mr. Lee will provide an overview of the PSWN Program, the program's view of interoperability, success stories, and current assistance projects. Lee will outline a series of steps that government officials can take to enhance interoperability. In existence since 1996, PSWN is a joint program of the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of the Treasury which promotes interoperable communications solutions for Public Safety at all levels of government.  

VIEW OR DOWNLOAD ROBER E. LEE'S SLIDES (156 KB)

NO VIDEO YET

3:00 Michael Skurla is the Chief of Combatant Command Integration and Interoperability Initiatives, Combatant Command Interoperability Program Office (CIPO), US Army Communications Electronics Command (CECOM). His duties include developing and assisting in the execution of technical objectives that advance the Combatant Command's Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Electronic Warfare and Sensors (C4IEW&S) capabilities and to ensure that all Service C4ISR systems provide fully integrated / interoperable command and control capabilities to the joint forces. Previously, he was assigned to the Army's Program Executive Office Command, Control, and Communications Systems (PEO C3S), and he has provided system and software engineering support on network management systems, tactical radio systems and Special Operation Forces programs.

Michael Skurla will provide an overview on the National Emergency Support Center that is being proposed as a foundation element in DoD's efforts to build an integrated military strategy to support our national Homeland Security effort. A key element of this national strategy is the ability to leverage and make available to the civilian disaster response community the large and largely untapped (from a technology transfer perspective) military technology baseline together with the Department of Defense material acquisition, training and support infrastructure to provide effective, high quality, affordable, interoperable equipment, training, and sustainment support to civil First Responders. One goal is to address known critical shortfalls in equipment and technology assets, information fusion, and communication architectures at all First Responder levels - local, multi-state, and national. 

VIEW OR DOWNLOAD MICHAEL SKURLA'S SLIDES (1.1 MB)