On Mon, May 5, 2008 at 1:19 PM, Ben Barrett <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> As for #4, my concern is that you're spending energy to map resources > which are NOT likely to be present during the future event-ocalypse -- > where will those users be getting their power and uplink from?? > They/we (ie, almost all of us!) are the ones who need true backup > networking. In this context, there is a very interesting FOSS (LGPL) disaster management system called Sahana that has been successfully deployed in response to a number of major disasters now. <http://www.sahana.lk>. I'm describing it at least year-old old memory here, so please don't rely on my description as anything but enticement for you to do your own assessment. But taking a quick peek at the overview page, I see that several plug-ins have been added since I last visited the site. < http://www.sahana.lk/overview>. I'll clip the major capabilities here: 1. Missing Person Registry - Helping to reduce trauma by effectively finding missing persons 2. Organization Registry - Coordinating and balancing the distribution of relief organizations in the affected areas and connecting relief groups allowing them to operate as one 3. Request Management System - Registering and Tracking all incoming requests for support and relief up to fulfillment and helping donors connect to relief requirements 4. Camp Registry - Tracking the location and numbers of victims in the various camps and temporary shelters set up all around the affected area 5. Volunteer Management - Coordinate the contact info, skills, assignments and availability of volunteers and responders 6. Inventory Management - Tracking the location, quantities, expiry of supplies stored for utilization in a disaster 7. Situation Awareness - Providing a GIS overview of the situation at hand for the benefit of the decision makers Sahana is primarily designed for deployment from inside a truly major disaster area working out rather than from outside the disaster working in, although it's also designed to transition to the outside as communication channels are created. And it can be deployed by volunteers. The data synchronization and consolidation capabilities are vitally important. It's a cross-platform web app that can be deployed from the Web or via mesh networks within a disaster zone, designed for operation from a low-power laptop, with good tools for data synching and consolidation as new nodes join the network or via hand-carried data. There is also a Windows-only (so far) portable version that can run from a USB stick. The server interacts with users both with traditional web browsers and with PDA browsers. Once a node establishes an internet connection, then the data can easily be migrated to outside the disaster zone, e.g., to an external disaster management center that consolidates all data. Sahana is the most appealing set of tools I've run across for ad hoc volunteer networking within a disaster zone. The major downside is that it doesn't mesh very well with widely deployed disaster response software in the U.S., which is mostly (all?) proprietary and largely aimed toward working in from outside the disaster zone. The U.S. infrastructure also tends to be very heavily-oriented toward official use, rather than being designed to mobilize and consolidate efforts of volunteers within a disaster zone. There is a global capability to move satellites to provide internet connections needed within a disaster zone, but it can take up to 24 hours to reposition them. And the first 24 hours encompasses the time where the most lives can be saved in most disaster scenarios. The most obvious source of electrical power for such networking in most U.S. areas, particularly the urban areas, is: [i] laptops and mobile devices with remaining battery life; [ii] recharging batteries from vehicles and their batteries. There's been some discussion in California of legislation to require that all laptop and mobile device power transformer/cables sold in the state be capable of transforming/converting 110 volts AC as well as 12 volts DC via automotive cigarette lighters. The reasoning: are you in a disaster zone and need to power or recharge your laptop or mobile device? You can smash the nearest car's window and plug in because you can't even buy an AC-only power supply anymore. But generally speaking, I think there's still huge room for improvement both in Sahana and in emergency communications in general for ad hoc volunteer mobilization and coordination from within a disaster zone. Most disaster preparedness plans I've looked at are very skimpy at best when it comes to the potential role of volunteers not already part of the given organization or institutionalized disaster response organizations. But if there's one lesson that should have been learned from major disasters like Hurricane Katrina and the 2004 South Asian Tsunami, it's that existing emergency responders within a disaster zone can be near-totally overwhelmed by the scale of a disaster. In such situations, able-bodied neighbors are overwhelmingly the major first responders. I think disaster planning in the U.S. needs to recognize that fact and do a far better job of getting resources in place for ad hoc disaster response volunteers. This isn't intended to denigrate radio communications or other disaster response tools in any way. I'm just addressing the wireless computer networking issue in isolation. Best regards, Marbux
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