In Case Of Emergency, Read Blog

David Stephenson, a leading thinker in how technology can be used for emergencies and transparent government in general, has an article in Federal Computer Week, “Future Oil Spills Could Be Averted By Regulation 3.0 Apps.”
In the piece, Stephenson, the principal of Stephenson Strategies, argues that “the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico highlights the [...]

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Since the Times Square bombing attempt, I have been writing about the role of the citizen in homeland security and in particular the use (and potential) of “See Something, Say Something”-type campaigns. In the aftermath of the New York incident and the ‘Christmas Day bomber’ Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab – both foiled with the help of average [...]

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There’s a nice — and well deserved — profile of government/emergency social media innovator Brian Humphrey, “A Gov 2.o Pioneer,” by Michelle V. Rafter in the blog, Prime Time. Humphrey (photo left) is a veteran Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) public information officer who has made the LAFD a leader in the use of governmental [...]

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The Safe America Foundation will again be holding its “9/11 Drill Down For Safety” campaign on September 11th. The Foundation is hoping to more than double the 400,000 people from 127 cities/drill sites in 27 states who participated in last year’s inaugural effort.
The campaign will include a special focus on the importance of the use of [...]

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Last week, the Kennedy School of Government’s Arnold Bogis gave me a copy of a terrific pamphlet, “We All Have A Role: Working With Your Community to Prepare For Natural and Man-Made Disasters.” It was published by the Commission On The Prevention Of Weapons Of Mass Destruction Proliferation And Terrorism when I was in the hospital, and [...]

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On the subject of the role of games in disaster preparedness and response, an article, “Masters of Disaster” from the most recent Wharton Magazine, describes the computer simulation, Quake. It was designed by Howard Kunreuther and Robert Meyer of the Philadelphia school’s Risk Management and Decision Processes Center, to test ideas about how humans perceive risk. Amazingly, everyone [...]

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I have written several posts about ways citizens could be involved the Gulf Oil Spill cleanup. In an article on PRNewsOnline.com, David All, recommends drawing upon the popularity of games on social networking sites to recruit volunteers:
“…imagine a game — call it “Coastal Cleanup” — that connects people online for a good cause in their local [...]

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I wanted to bring your attention to a new Facebook page started by a Citizen Corps volunteer primarily for other Citizen Corps volunteers (and anyone interested in the topic of public preparedness).
The Citizen Corps Volunteer page was created by Andrew Levy, a friend of this blog, who authors his own Neighbors Helping Neighbors blog. The page [...]

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As I write this Friday morning, there is some hope that a containment cap has been placed over the well pipe to stop the gushing oil. But I wanted to post an interesting article in the BBC News, “Can Ordinary People Think Of A Way To Stop The Oil,” because it covers both the BP [...]

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In his end of the show commentary on MSNBC’s “Hardball” Thursday night, Chris Matthews asked President Obama to: “put out an offer to the people of America – not just to the youth, but to anyone who can participate. Create a modern Civilian Conservation Corps, and deploy it in all the states of the Gulf. [...]

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