Title: William E. Bertrand, Payson Center Tulane University
1William E. Bertrand, Payson Center Tulane
University Co-Director CDMHA
INTERHANDS 2002
2The Center for Disaster Management and
Humanitarian Assistance (CDMHA)
- is a joint program of
- Tulane University
- and the
- University of South Florida
- in partnership with
- United States Southern Command
-
3Mission of CDMHA
- Facilitate civil-military operations and
cooperation by - Development and implementation of education and
training programs in disaster and crisis
management - Applying state-of-the-art communication and
information technologies to support
disaster/crisis managers, technicians and field
personnel - Catalyzing improvements in disaster management
through organizational networking and research
4Training and Education
- Develop computer-based, software products with
the purpose of strengthening regional
institutional capacity in responding to critical
events - Establish certificate, undergraduate and graduate
programs in disaster management and complex human
emergencies through a consortium of universities - Develop residential and distance short courses to
enhance civil-military readiness
5Networking
- Communicate and coordinate regularly with
regional institutions engaged in crisis
mitigation and response - Collaborate and sponsor quality research and
training - Produce appropriate data based documentation for
training and development missions in
collaboration with public and private sector - Participate in relevant conferences and seminars
on information management and civil military
partnerships -
6Moores Law The Principal Force
Driving All Science
Every 18 -24 months the density of the elements
on a micro-processor doubles. The effect of this
is to double the processing power or halve the
cost. As a result of this and other factors
the doubling time of information in the world is
three to five years.
7Implications of Moores Law forDisaster Response
and Mitigation
- Huge input of new data to the response
environment.(World Data total doubling every 3-5
years) - Advances in every scientific discipline are being
driven by information tech.(NSF) - Communication on almost every subject is near
real time therefore its form and structure is
important.
8ResearchThe Cycle of Intelligent Action and
Mission Support
9Case Study of Evolution of a Problem for CDMHA
Based upon experiences with Mitch General Wilhelm
suggests that a priority is to increase private
sector involvement prior to disaster event
and organize same for the future
10Analysis of State Current Research
USF commissions literature review (Dr.
Colmenares) Tulane consults and ultimately
employs former OFDA Asst. Director and expert
(O. Davidson) to review three decades of USAID
and related work in area and to Lead a new
initiative.
11Preliminary Research ResultsReported
Summary paper in development on state of
public-private sector and disaster coordination,
including identification of knowledge gaps,
short and long term strategy and feasibility
study for private sector foundation in support of
USSOUTHCOM activities.
12Develop Needs Based ResearchAgenda
- Two operations research projects
- designed to fill identified gaps.
- Survey of company readiness plans in
- Central America.
- Formation of pilot group from
- business sector to meet during
- IDB meeting in New Orleans and serve
- as a focus group, steering group for
- future action to develop decision support
- software.
13Research Executed and ResultsSynthesized For
USSOUTHCOM and Other DOD Clients
Research is now available and integrated into
Interhands course
14In summary, the CDMHA...
- Leverages communication/information technologies
to strength decision support related to
disasters and environmental security threats - Contributes to evolving standards in readiness
and response through quality research - Fosters trusted partnerships among the disaster
response and humanitarian assistance communities - Strengthens the readiness of civil and military
organizations through traditional and
non-traditional education and training programs