[LINK] Community Warning Systems, APCO Conference, 3 March 2009

stephen at melbpc.org.au stephen at melbpc.org.au
Wed Feb 25 06:02:10 AEDT 2009


Good one, Tom .. may i suggest that any early warning system MUST be
local, reliable and timely. Having our CFA Captains/Cop/Air-Spotters
issue specific, LOCAL warnings would be useful and good .. listening
to ABC radio for ten minutes only to hear them tell all we residents
of a dozen towns to be on the look-out for smoke is useless. One may
as well be outside doing just that.  ABC emergency radio is good for
ONE emergency, in one place, but useless with major fires. Local pls!


> Next Tuesday I will talking on "Community Warning Systems - Balancing 
> Technology and Reliability" at the Association of Public-Safety 
> Communications Officials Australia 2009 Conference in Sydney. The 
> conference topics have been changed at short notice to address some 
> early lessons learnt from the recent and ongoing Victorian bushfires. 
> I was asked today to speak. So my presentation has been prepared in 
> the last three hours. Comments, corrections and suggested additions 
> are welcome: 
<http://www.tomw.net.au/technology/it/community_warning_systems/>.
> 
> ---
> "The Internet and web have a useful role in emergency communications, 
> provided the use is planned. However, VOIP communications and the 
> Government's National Broadband Network will make Australia more 
> vulnerable, unless the system is built to a higher standard. The an 
> ad-hoc arrangement of state based telephone-based emergency warning 
> systems is no substitute for a nationally coordinated system. Digital 
> technologies such as Cell Broadcast provide a better alternative. 
> Emergency officials need to listen to what the ICT professionals tell 
> them is possible and not just try and build digital versions of old 
> analog and teletype systems. Both professions need to take the public 
> into their confidence and treat the community as partners, not as 
> victims. Current warning formats, such as used by Tsunami Warning 
> Centers, do not make good use of Internet technology and there is the 
> potential for Social Networking to be used for emergencies."
> 
>      Summary from "Community Warning Systems - Balancing Technology 
> and Reliability", Tom Worthington, For the APCO Australasia Annual 
> Conference, Australian Technology Park, Sydney, 10am, 3 March 2009
> ---
> 
> 
> Tom Worthington FACS HLM tom.worthington at tomw.net.au Ph: 0419 496150
> Director, Tomw Communications Pty Ltd            ABN: 17 088 714 309
> PO Box 13, Belconnen ACT 2617                      
http://www.tomw.net.au/
> Adjunct Senior Lecturer, Australian National University 
>

Cheers,
Stephen



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