How the government can turbocharge private-sector innovation — Tech News and Analysis

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With the election behind us, one of the major issues the administration will need to tackle is how to encourage entrepreneurs to innovate and bring the country back to its position of leadership in the global economy. To spark innovation, it is time for government and business to work together in new ways, embracing President Obama’s commitment to open government. Historically, the public and private sectors have had different priorities. The private sector’s profit-centric focus favors businesses that play it safe and shy away from spending on costly infrastructure or risky R&D. The public sector, on the other hand, serves the interests of taxpayers, eschewing commercial interests and taking on public works projects, building infrastructure, and, most relevant to this discussion, funding research and development.

Occasionally the federal government invests in the private sector, with unpredictable results, such as the recent case with Solyndra. However, when the federal government and business approach one another as complementary forces – rather than as producer and consumer – there’s the opportunity for real innovation to flourish and for history to be made.

A history of public-private cooperation

Let’s rewind to the early 20th century: The National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), NASA’s predecessor, operated a handful of wind tunnels at the Ames Research Center and Langley Aeronautical Laboratory primarily for use in testing aircraft developed during the World Wars. But if NACA had not also allowed The Boeing Company to make use of its research and test facilities, it would have almost certainly delayed the introduction of the first commercial airliner, the Boeing 247, by over a decade.

To a certain degree that same need for public support of private enterprise still exists today. For instance, were it not for NASA’s financial commitment to SpaceX, we would not be on the...

via How the government can turbocharge private-sector innovation — Tech News and Analysis.

Silicon Valley Demonstrates Community Approach to Communications

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This is a great article regarding Carnegie Mellon's efforts to improve community resilience through technology.  What do you think of it?

As devastating disasters like Hurricane Sandy have shown, traditional telecommunications infrastructure is highly vulnerable.

But a new project out of Carnegie Mellon Silicon Valley may have a solution that uses smartphones.

At the university's annual Disaster Management Initiative Workshop, "Making Smart Communities Resilient," Bob Iannucci and students demonstrated the new Survivable Social Networks (SSN) project.

The goal is to create a standalone Wi-Fi "bubble" to allow members of a community and emergency personnel to communicate within a local network. For wider communication, such as between two towns, individual "bubbles" could be networked through a satellite...

Disaster Management-Faculty & Staff News - Carnegie Mellon University.

Market Driven Technology Innovation in Emergency Management

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I recently attended a great demo by a new emergency management technology called Veoci.  This has great potential.  I even sent this along to my friend who works emergency management at a major airline. But as I look at the market for technical solutions and compare it against the problems of emergency management (and business continuity), which is increasingly cost-conscious, I realize there is a great divide between what is out there and what is needed such as feature mix, usability and scalability.  This post focuses on the innovative entrepreneur who wants to help the "disaster" solutions market go beyond its current technical limitations, provide a great service to its customers, and realize success.

Features and Specialization.  Any successful entrepreneur will tell you that product specialization is a key element of growth strategy and innovation.  After all, it is very hard to pinpoint precise problems and actually develop innovative solutions, even more so when the solution tries to do everything.  The more a company can continually test and improve, the more likely it is to solve customer problems beyond expectations.   But the problem is, where should companies specialize and how should they approach it?  This requires integrated innovation.

Usability, Scalability and The Fallacy of the "One" Solution.  In the past, many providers, especially at the enterprise level, have included feature rich solutions at the expense of usability and scalability.   In fact, emergency management is so dynamic and interdependent that one solution is simply not practical.  As a result, this model has proven tiresome, costly, and ineffective for our most important needs...collaboration, coordination, and management.  Additionally, and most importantly, it is not reflective of what is really needed, integrated innovation.

Integrated Innovation

So what exactly do I mean by Integrated Innovation?  I am defining this as the ability of companies to innovate through specialization, but better serve customers through integration.  Understanding this concept is most important to getting better market-driven solutions.  Here is what it entails:

  1. Focus on a niche - Select a very particular problem that you want to solve.  This is includes management and coordination, resource management, financial management, mass communications, and health and medical, etc.  Look at the many Emergency Support Functions to identify functional areas and explore them from tactical through strategic priorities and users.   Be the best at one really important thing.
  2. Build with integration in mind - If I only focus on one thing, what is the value-add?  Integration. Period.  Building your system with enough flexibility that customers can easily connect other systems that compliment your  product will enable customers to build a cost-effective and efficient ecosystem customized to their needs.  Should this integration be in the form of APIs, standards, a marketplace, user provisioning, or single sign-on?  The jury is still out, but the market will help drive this decision.  Just be prepared and begin forming technical alliances among other solutions so your customers don't feel like they are getting proprietary solutions that require customization after customization.  Start with similar size solutions to yours and look at how Facebook, Google, LinkedIn and other social media solutions have built with integration in mind.  If fact, there is a now a secondary market of social media management and analytic tools (another market for emergency management)?
  3. Growth - Growth ties all this together.  In fact, that is why companies start in the first place.  They want to grow to a point where they have significant market share to realize profits and investor value.  But how should this occur?  It is highly unlikely that with a market full of solution providers, many will sustain themselves in the long-term.   The market is only so big.  However, that should not prevent anyone from developing a solution they believe in.  Solution providers should understand ALL their exit strategies and still feel successful whether they are bought-out or merged with another solution.   Either way, you have contributed meaningful innovation to the market, something that is sorely needed.

This post is my message to all solution providers and has a few more implications.  Help change outdated the procurement cycle and help drive innovation through your approach to development and growth.  The end result will be meaningful solutions that make your customers happy, not just "satisfied" with a solution that has too many features, is hard to train on, and does not reflect the emerging collaborative and interdependent landscape.  And regardless of your approach, user-centered design and frequent user testing should be a part of your solution.  Consider design thinking and agile development in your approach.

The U.S. Emergency Management System Is Not Perfect, but It Works - Room for Debate - NYTimes.com

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The is a great article from a leading disaster researcher about the privatization of emergency management.  via The U.S. Emergency Management System Is Not Perfect, but It Works - Room for Debate - NYTimes.com. Here is the full text:

Questions regarding the privatization of the Federal Emergency Management Agency or the assignment of its functions to states must be addressed within the context of the agency's responsibilities and how it functions in relation to state and local government capabilities.

Most people think of FEMA as a disaster response agency, but that is only partly true. FEMA has many responsibilities both during disasters and at other times. These responsibilities include assisting states, local governments, tribal governments and U.S. territories in the preparation of disaster mitigation plans aimed at taking long-term steps to reduce losses from future disasters, pursuant to the Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000; providing funding and guidance so that communities can make sound decisions regarding their mitigation options; and managing the National Flood Insurance Program, which was set up specifically because of a market failure in the private insurance industry for flood coverage.

If private companies fail us during disasters, what recourse would the public have? Private corporations are responsible to their shareholders, not the general public.

These and other functions, including the provision of disaster assistance, are carried out through an extensive web of public-private partnerships and contracting agreements. Private entities like Booz Allen Hamilton and Michael Baker, Jr., Inc. work closely with FEMA in areas like preparedness planning and flood hazard mapping, and many disaster-related services are provided through contracts with private-sector service providers. Both the National Response Framework, our current federal plan for managing disaster events, and FEMA’s “whole community” approach to disaster loss reduction, explicitly acknowledge that the private and nonprofit sectors are integral players in emergency management activities. So our current approach to disaster management is one that is based on the concept of public-private partnerships, not on a government monopoly over disaster management tasks.

Those who would argue for a privatized emergency management system must address a series of questions. Under a profit-motivated private sector system, what would prevent private entities from “cherry-picking” easy emergency management activities while shunning more difficult tasks, like preparing huge, highly diverse cities with large vulnerable populations? What private-sector entities would offer assistance to bankrupt, but still vulnerable, communities, like many California jurisdictions, or communities caught in the vise of the fiscal downturn? Would services be more abundant in communities that are willing and able to pay for them? What would prevent companies from overpromising results and gaming the system, as they have in offering infeasible solutions in the war on terror while racking up large profits?

A cornerstone of our democratic system is that responsibility for governance rests with elected and appointed officials at all levels of government. That system gives us the ability to “throw the rascals out.” If private companies fail us during disasters, what recourse would the public have? Private corporations are responsible to their shareholders, not the general public, which should give us pause in thinking about the privatization of essential life-safety and disaster relief activities.

Regarding the devolution of emergency management activities to states, researchers have long pointed out that states, as well as local communities, vary significantly in their emergency management capabilities — a pattern known as the “leaders and laggers” phenomenon. Frankly, while strong programs do exist nationwide, many states and cities lack the expertise and capacity to manage disasters effectively; think here of the state of Louisiana and the city of New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina.

Federal guidance, technical assistance and incentives aim at addressing these disparities. How would the public feel about having an uneven patchwork of state policies, practices and capabilities? Under state control and with all the financial pressures experienced by states, would we see a “race to the bottom” in disaster loss reduction programs? Disasters do not respect state borders, as shown by Hurricane Sandy and numerous other disasters. Many federally initiated policy directives and programs seek to protect the public against nationwide threats like pandemic influenza and intentional acts of bioterrorism. Would state-by-state pandemic planning be preferable? How would that work out in practice?

The bottom line is that the U.S. currently has an emergency management system that is second to none in the world. It is by no means perfect, and it needs to continually evolve in response to new threats and disaster experiences. But it is clearly not in need of a radical overhaul.

7 Ways to Help Victims of Superstorm Sandy Online

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Mashable has posted 7 Ways to Help Victims of Superstorm Sandy Online.  It is a great resource for anyone interested in helping out.

  • The Red Cross: If you would like to give to the Red Cross, which has opened more than 190 shelters along the East Coast and has hundreds of disaster relief workers on standby, you can donateonline, by calling 1-800-RED-CROSS, or by texting the word REDCROSS to 90999 to give $10. The Red Cross is also seeking blood and platelet donations. To learn more, visitRedCrossBlood.org.
  • The Salvation Army: You can donate $10 to the Salvation Army by texting “STORM” to 80888. If you are already volunteer-certified, you can sign up to help out with disaster relief.
  • AmeriCares: You can donate to AmeriCares’ relief fund to help the organization, which is distributing supplies to 130 clinics in the 13 states affected by Sandy.
  • World Vision: Despite flooding at its Bronx, N.Y. warehouse, World Vision is organizing relief efforts. You can text “GIVEUSA” to 777444 to make a $10 donation, or donate online to help.
  • Operation USA: If you would like your donations to go to efforts abroad, Operation USA is helping victims in Haiti and Cuba, who were also deeply affected by the storm. In addition to donating online, you can text “AID” to 50555 to give $10.
  • International Medical Corps: Another option for donating abroad is the International Medical Corp, who are coordinating efforts in Haiti.
  • New York Blood Center: You can donate blood, which will be used to help injured people, as well as hospital blood banks affected by the storm.