The Speed of Need...

"The Challenge: Keeping up with events and opportunities at the speed of need"

John G., Sandia National Labs

Incident Commander and Liaison Officer Tent
Decker Fire Incident Command Post

This past Tuesday I had the opportunity to visit the Decker Fire Incident Command Post (ICP) located at the Chaffee County Fairgrounds in Salida, Colorado. Our team included representatives from the federal side of the wildfire mission. What a great experience to meet a few of the men and women in the fight against this wildfire which is being worked by a Type-1 Incident Management Team (IMT).  You could feel the passion and commitment for what they were doing. I am grateful for their service.

Additionally, thank you to everyone who supported us at the ICP on our visit. Your warm hospitality and willingness to let us observe operations, attend briefings, answer what must have seemed like a bazillion questions and have meaningful dialog was simply outstanding. Special thanks to Vickie, Shawna, Flint and Brenda - you guys are awesome - thank you!

One of the conversations we had involved a concept for connecting positions within the ICP with geographically separated organizations in a real-time chat environment. In effect, connecting different people in different organizations, roles, and locations into a single online force.

For example, what if personnel from the:
- National Interagency Coordination Center (NICC)
- Rocky Mountain Geographical Area Coordination Center (RM/GACC)
- Colorado State Emergency Operations Center (SEOC)
- Subject matter experts on __________ (fill in the blank)

...(just to name a few) could connect online in chat with personnel from the ICP using one of the government-sponsored tools described here to collaborate on the latest information, new requirements, etc. and maintain real-time situational awareness/understanding for the fire?

So, two more questions that I believe are applicable to this discussion:
- How does the Incident Commander and their team respond to change while maintaining mission focus and productivity?
- How can sudden opportunities be spotted and addressed rapidly with minimal surprise and disruption?

My experience has shown that operations in a complex, information-rich environment takes a team...and a "team of teams approach."

Is this an expensive, super-involved next step for wildland fire operations? Absolutely not. Implementing this online collaboration concept and coupling it with the right coaching, mentoring and training is low-cost and... it comes with a huge return on the investment.

Given the cost of operations for a wildland fire, it seems the time is right for investing in this concept using today's technology to create a collaborative, online "team of teams."

The HumanNet
John G., Sandia National Laboratories

I am ready to help get this concept off the ground for your team - let's talk.

Humbly,
Collabman