Cyber threats are real, not emerging says Napolitano July 8, 2009
Posted by Angelo in Emergency Preparedness, Watchlist.Tags: Janet Napolitano
add a comment
There’s a hacker who’s part of the Advisory Council of Homeland Security, one of the many interesting steps the former Arizona governor is now taking to make the department more pro-active, more resilient.
These initiatives, discussed in Napolitano’s blog this week give you a sense of where the bigger picture of emergency preparedness and securing critical infrastructure is head
ed.
Last month, Homeland Security announced two key posts, that of the Assistant Secretary for Cybersecurity and Communications, and a Director of the National Cybersecurity Center.
Counter-balancing surveillance, the department is also pursuing collaboration. Its Facebook page, for instance, for DHS Alumni, is also open, to ‘anyone interested in Homeland Security news.’
The other virus we once tracked July 6, 2009
Posted by Angelo in Public Health, Watchlist.Tags: West Nile Virus
1 comment so far
H1N1, the swine flu virus that dominated the news for a few months, has all but dropped off the news, so as if to take its place there’s West Nile virus.
As you may have noticed, Maricopa County just reported a case of a woman having contracted the virus.
A few good pieces of coverage.
- KJZZ did a short segment last week
- Arizona Republic has some good background
- CDC has a good map that breaks down the number of cases in 2008
- Maricopa County has a chart with the breakdown of 2008 infections + deaths
But not many people know that three years ago, Decision Theater participated in an exercise to map the spread of West Nile, working with the Arizona Department of Health. The 3d spatial map that became a visual and statistical analysis tool.
More details here – opens a PDF
Will the WHO rethink pandemic levels? May 22, 2009
Posted by Angelo in Global, Watchlist, pandemic.Tags: H1N1, swine flu, WHO
add a comment
Interesting dilemma about tracking a flu virus, as noted by Margaret Chan, Director-General of the World Health Organization, today about “a subtle, sneaky virus.”
Under some pressure from some of its 193 members, the WHO may be considering a ‘course correction’ in how it announces a pandemic threat level. Here’s what Dr. Chan had to say:
“On the other hand, this gives us a dilemma. Scientists, clinicians, and epidemiologists are capturing abundant signals. But we do not have the scientific knowledge to interpret these signals with certainty. We have clues, many clues, but very few firm conclusions.”
We include the WHO levels’ in our pandemic planning exercises, so this policy shift has interesting bearing on many local and global groups.
Dr. Tim Lant on H1N1 flu May 1, 2009
Posted by Angelo in Education, Emergency Preparedness, Public Health, Watchlist, pandemic.Tags: Flu Wiki, Helath Map, Pater O'Dowd, swine flu, Tim Lant
1 comment so far
Peter O’Dowd interviewed Dr. Tim Lant this morning on the swine flu outbreak. The story on KJZZ, the public radio station here in Phoenix, is part of a series by O’Dowd, doing what radio does best – providing multiple points of view, with timely updates and deep analysis.
The focus today was on tracking the flu. Not the attack rate of the virus, not the threat levels, not the ‘Oh, gosh, this is scary stuff!‘ story angle I have been seeing a lot of.
As we continue to provide more context, based on our experience in pandemic planning exercises, we make the point that we are better prepared as a state than people realize. If you doubt this, check this plan by ADHS that goes back to 2006.
“The state has spent significant amount of time planning and preparing and thinking through what might happen,” said Lant in the segment today. We are need to build models to answer these questions, and we are gathering case data, he said.
Even as we speak, we are tracking H1N1, how information is being disseminated, CDC updates, the public response, even the various avian and regular flu tracking efforts and forums in other parts of the country and the world.
Here are three useful flu tracking sites:
- New York Times - interactive swine flu tracker
- Google.org - Health Map (different from Google’s flu tracker)
- Wikia - FluWiki aggragates information from major federal agencies such as CDC, National Microbiology Lab. As Wiki’s go, it’s a huge collaborative effort, but useful.
Swine Flu map April 27, 2009
Posted by Angelo in Watchlist, pandemic.Tags: pandemic, swine flu
add a comment
This map, from the Associated Press shows where cases have been identified.
Also, this someone has started a Google Doc with incident updates.
As we track the swine flu, here are some good sources April 26, 2009
Posted by Angelo in Arizona State University, Emergency Preparedness, Watchlist, pandemic.Tags: CDC, DHS, pandemic, swine flu, WHO
add a comment
At Decision Theater, we have been tracking the outbreak of swine flu since Friday.
Having conducted pandemic flu emergency planning exercises in 2008 and 2009, we know how short-term decisions, often made under pressure need to maximize long-term goals. Having the right information is critical.
As we have learned from these exercises, timely information lets us be more proactive in our decision-making. This morning, as we expected based on the progress of the outbreak, Secretary Janet Napolitano declared a public health emergency in the US.
Here are some useful sources of information to turn to as we continue to track this crisis.
- CDC – Swine Flu Update
- Center for Disease Control Investigation update from the Centers for Disease Control
- US Department of Homeland Security ‘Preparedness, Response & Recovery’ Plan (Sept 2006)
- Communication Guidelines during a pandemic from the World Health Organization
Green infrastructure sandbox gets crowded, fast March 19, 2009
Posted by decisionlab1 in Design, Economy, Energy & Climate, Watchlist.add a comment
It’s interesting to see how fast Green Infrastructure has moved in to be front and center in the national agenda. A Wikipedia entry for it is still considered ’start class’ –meaning it is ‘an article that is developing, but which is quite incomplete and, most notably, lacks adequate reliable sources.’
Of the 787.2 billion Economic Stimulus package, $71 billion is targeted at energy and environmental initiatives; $20 billion is for green tax incentives. Which explains the surge of interest in these areas:
- The EPA has listed a ‘catalog of training opportunities‘
- IBM is getting into the infrastructure sandbox, intending to offer services to include water, traffic and power grids even health care and finance.
- NPR reported that every $1 billion the federal government commits to roads, bridges etc helps to support some 35,000 jobs.
- NOAA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is holding a 3-day course in June to teach students how to apply GIS tools, methodologies, and analyses using a Green Infrastructure’ approach
- AT&T is partnering with SmartSync, to provide smart metering
- The Department of Energy’s web site has a section devoted to Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy. It lists financial opportunities for business, industry, and universities, inventors, states and tribes…
Whether you call it green infrastructure or clean tech there is plenty of design and planning at stake. Before any solar, hydo-thermal or transportation system is put into place, cities and counties need expertise to plan and manage these projects. We’ve got plenty of it here at ASU and the Decision Theater.
Amazing coincidence, or great minds think alike? February 23, 2009
Posted by Angelo in Media, Watchlist.add a comment
I just noticed that one of our posts was being linked to from the New York Times — not unusual as far as blogs go.
However, floating at the top of the blog for the NYT was a light bulb icon. It’s called the Green Inc. blog. It focuses on a wide range of sustainability topics too, seen through the wide-angled lenses of great journalists such as Tom Zeller, Kate Galbraith and James Canter. Like us, providing insight into university-led and Arizona-based topics such as energy from algae, sustainable cities and climate, they cover bio fuels and smart buildings, too. Honestly, we’re flattered!
ASU president gets ’smart grid’ February 12, 2009
Posted by Angelo in Arizona State University, Energy & Climate, People, Watchlist.Tags: Michael Crow
add a comment
Despite the downturn, Arizona State University president Michael Crow realizes that bigger economic agenda items cannot wait. ASU, and certainly Arizona cannot stop pushing the sustainability envelope.
The plan that Crow is advancing -a network of research centers focused on Clean Technology — is the ‘recipe’ for the US economic revival that Thomas Friedman recommends. It involves creating the intellectual muscle for the so-called Energy Internet.
