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There is now a CONTENT FREEZE for Mercury while we switch to a new platform. It began on Friday, March 10 at 6pm and will end on Wednesday, March 15 at noon. No new content can be created during this time, but all material in the system as of the beginning of the freeze will be migrated to the new platform, including users and groups. Functionally the new site is identical to the old one. webteam@gatech.edu
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Atlanta | Posted: April 28, 2003
Experts from federal, state and local governments plus the private sector will meet at the Georgia Institute of Technology beginning Wednesday to examine communication and technology problems facing the nation’s homeland security officials.
The Georgia Information Sharing and Integration Forum begins 10:30AM Oct. 16 with an introduction by Georgia Tech President Wayne Clough. Steve Cooper, special assistant to President George Bush and senior director for information integration at the White House, then will discuss challenges faced by the proposed Office of Homeland Security.
The event runs through 3:30PM Oct. 17 and is sponsored by the White House and by Georgia Tech’s Center for Emergency Response Technology, Instruction and Policy (CERTIP). All meetings will be held in the auditorium of the Institute of Paper Science and Technology Engineering Center, 575 14th St.
During the two-day event, organizers intend to help members of the nation’s first-response community identify what they need and what’s available to them in the way of information-technology networks that might help prevent future terrorist attacks or minimize loss of life and property in the event of an attack or other disaster.
Forum participants also will examine lessons learned and best practices developed during previous emergency response situations; identify reusable initiatives and solutions that could bolster the nation’s homeland security initiatives; and develop a plan for creating prototype, emergency-response systems on a regional basis.
“Panel moderators will facilitate discussions among all participants to the end of identifying reusable initiatives and solutions that can be incorporated into a regional model,” said CERTIP Director Tom Bevan. “In addition to the panel presentations, representatives from the Dallas Emergency Response Network will describe this network’s operation for possible application to a Georgia regional-pilot project.”
Attendees of the Georgia Information Sharing and Integration Forum primarily will be officials from CERTIP’s partners in the Southeast who specialize in information technology issues. These specialists represent agencies such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Marine Corps Systems Command, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Hartsfield International Airport and the Georgia Emergency Management Agency, among others.
Bevan founded CERTIP in 1999 to examine and apply emerging technologies that might counter the threat of chemical and biological warfare agents and aid the nation’s first-response community in its efforts to protect lives and property. The center’s partners include more than 35 regional and national government and private organizations.
For more information, contact Tom Bevan, director of Georgia Tech’s Center for Emergency Response Technology, Instruction and Policy, (404) 375-6845 or tom.bevan@gtri.gatech.edu .
Also contact Leigh Fitzpatrick McCook, senior research associate for the Georgia Tech Research Institute, (404) 894-7898 or leigh.mccook@gtri.gatech.edu.
