The Human Net

"Coming together is a beginning, staying together is progress, and working together is success." - Henry Ford

Good morning and Happy 4th of July, Happy Birthday America! I am up early this morning enjoying the sunshine streaming through the window of my home office, reflecting on the freedoms we have and spending a few hours finishing up this blog post. What a great day to write about the Human Net.

The Human Net. At a technology conference, this is a concept that will cause some to frown while others will stop what they are doing, look up from their mobile devices and pay attention. It is a concept that shifts collaboration and information sharing from the world of technology to the human dimension. Over the past 20 years, while supporting the Intelligence Community (IC) and Department of Defense (DOD), I had the opportunity to put this concept in to action - many times in chat spaces with hundreds if not thousands of people. I can confidently tell you, the Human Net works in ways you would never imagine, until you experience it. I will be bold and share with you that I have seen it save lives, keep people and equipment out of harms way and get an entire community "left of bang." 

I am a believer and as a result, I look for opportunities to point out the limits of technology (though I am a huge fan of enabling tech), especially when it comes to the mistaken belief that shared situational awareness (SA) and situational understanding (SU) can be provided by a machine. SA and SU were constant references at last weeks Wildfire Tech Week in Boise which I recapped here. That's what this post is all about.

What is it?

The Human Net is focused on connecting people. People with diverse talents and backgrounds who share common objectives/interests when working an unfolding crisis (incident) that involves fast moving, rapidly changing, high-flow information where lives/equipment/structures could be in harms way. These people use a team of teams approach to quickly swarm on information, make sense of it, recommend/apply the appropriate triage/solution and move quicker than the unfolding crisis/incident. It is supported with crowd-sourcing techniques/tactics along with collaboration tradecraft and best practices - which are trained.

The Human Net In Action
John G., Sandia National Laboratories

The Human Net functions in an online collaborative space that at a minimum:

• Is guided by a trained facilitator who is experienced in the collaboration tradecraft, best practices and behavior 
• Uses a secure, reliable, state-of-the-art collaboration technology
• Runs on a variety of operating systems (OS), browsers and apps
• Runs on hardware that includes desktop platforms, tablets and smart phones
• Is easy to use, easy to navigate, easy to configure
• Includes public and private persistent chat rooms that can be organized by topic
• Includes direct messaging (aka private or whisper messages)
• Includes integrated file sharing

So what? As an Incident Commander (IC) what would the Human Net get me?

1. Serves as a force multiplier - especially when resources may be limited
2. Enhances, accelerates decision-making - the speed of need
3. Provides rapid sharing of emerging information to an entire team not just a few - information that can be discussed, aligned, corrected (if required) and updated quickly, efficiently
4. Minimizes or eliminates the "too late" model for information
5. Reduces the misinformation that naturally occurs when relaying information verbally whether on a radio, over the phone or in person
6. Focuses attention on what we know, don't know and think - especially when the flow of information is overwhelming
7. Brings diversity and different perspectives to the sense-making
8. Increases discovery of new or updated information
9. Matches expertise to information, faster
10. Moves a team from "noticing to knowing" - something machines cannot do today

What if....
The Human Net concept was trained, equipped, exercised and when ready, integrated into an Incident Command System (ICS) and Incident Command Post (ICP) during a type-1, 2 or 3 incident?

What if...
The Human Net was facilitated online by a trained Collaboration Facilitator identified in the ICS structure, embedded in the ICP and included a diverse set of people representing:

• Command and General Staff
• Statewide Emergency Operations Center
• Regional Emergency Operations Centers
• National Guard Units
• Federal units
• And others as required

Consider this scenario: 

You and your team are the first alarm and have been dispatched to a brush fire reported to Cal Fire by an individual (first observer) with a field crew working in the area. You are the first unit on scene. It is 7am, October, wind is at 45 mph, relative humidity is 10 and temperature is 87 degrees. You see approximately six acres burning, moving rapidly into medium brush, up a hill towards structures. You immediately radio in a request for resources and evacuations followed by an initial statement that "the fire has the potential to be a major, complex incident, still working on gaining access to the fire."

Given that scenario, why wouldn't the IC and everyone else want the Human Net surging and in the fight?

What am I missing? What are the risks? I would love to see your thoughts. Please, speak truth...

Preview of Coming Attractions: Up Next - a discussion on this assertion: The challenge of vast and fast information is that more data does not reduce situation complexity and ambiguity - and a story on how the Human Net made a difference in an evacuation.

Appreciate your time, enjoy your holiday.

Humbly,
Collabman

Super Tool?

"A super tool?" 

A question from a fire community representative at Industry Week in Boise who had experienced large, complex wildland fires. His response was crystal...

He pointed to and then tapped his head...

Good morning from Colorado. I wanted to take this post to share my thoughts on the 2019 Forest Service Wildfire Technology Industry Week in Boise, Idaho which was held 25-27 June at the Best Western Vista Inn - Airport. I was fortunate to attend and share a presentation on Making the Knowledge Leap (more on that in later posts) despite the registration being closed by the time I came onboard with Stellar Solutions. However, Bob R., U.S. Department of Agriculture, was gracious enough to respond to my inquiry and not only provided a slot to attend but a briefing opportunity on Wednesday morning as well. Thank you sir for the response. Also, since this was my first Forest Service Industry Week, kudos to Brian C. and David B., Intterra Group leadership, for making me feel at home - well done gentlemen.

Let's get to it. What was the focus for the industry week? Here is a quick overview. Looking for the full announcement, click here.

Overview:

The John D. Dingell, Jr. Conservation, Management, and Recreation Act (S. 47) provided direction to modernize wildland firefighting technology. Included in the law is a provision to develop a tracking system to remotely locate the positions of fire resources assigned to Federal type 1 wildland fire incident management teams (Sec 1114 (d) (1) et seq.).

Interagency Staff are interested in participating with industry representatives to assess systems that would meet the intent of the legislation. Responses should be focused on solutions for tracking fire resources and displaying the data. The current government solution for displaying fire information is the Enterprise Geospatial Portal (EGP) https://famit.nwcg.gov/applications/EGP . Response topics must include one or multiple items for:

• Fire resource tracking hardware
• Fire resource tracking display software 
• Integration with EGP for fire resource tracking data, or next generation EGP solutions 

The information exchange will be used in developing follow up demonstration projects and procurement actions. Additional information and context can be referenced in the applicable sections of S. 47 - John D. Dingell, Jr. Conservation, Management, and Recreation Act.

Objectives

• Develop a common operating picture between industry and the wildland fire organization
• Communicate the needs of end users across a wide variety of use cases
• Ensure new/emerging technology solutions are value added and are being designed with interoperability standards
• Gain an understanding of the status of firefighter tracking technology

There were 45+ vendors and ~100 attendees. Passionate, caring, and committed to providing smart solutions t- that's how I would characterize the attendee. Rather than list all the vendors involved, the agenda for the three days is located here. Take some time and visit their websites. Take a peek at what these industry partners have developed to address these fire fighting challenges. Additionally, Ms. Shawna Legarza, National Director of Fire and Aviation Management for the U.S. Forest Service, who has earned more than 25 years of wildland fire management experience, was a key note speaker for the first day. The team that framed the week on Tuesday made it crystal clear that the conference was focused on gathering information and getting a look at the current technology available or under development to answer the objectives listed above.

The week was filled with public and private presentations focused on tracking resources, information displays and communications architecture for ensuring firefighters working in austere, remote areas. Many of the tracking display technologies discussed were packed with features and capabilities. As expected, most are designed for mobile users carrying a smart phone and tablet. The communications devices/technologies, designed to operate in austere, remote locations were also eye watering. A number focused on establishing a mobile ad hoc network (MANET), also known as wireless ad hoc network or ad hoc wireless network, is a continuously self-configuring, infrastructure-less network of mobile devices connected wirelessly. Some companies took the approach, you bring whatever technology and we will integrate it for you.

Additionally, manned and unmanned airborne assets with visible and infrared sensors (and their communications architecture) were a huge topic of discussion throughout the week. In a previous career I had the opportunity to work with similar platforms, the visualization tools and supporting collaboration environments so I was interested to see how these assets were being used to enhance the fire fighting teams. Clearly, they are a game changer for boots on the ground and it appears to be the same for this community.

What were my top 3 walkaways from this tech modernization week? See what you think and please, push back if I missed something:

1. As with any technology conference I have attended, it is easy to get lost in the thinking "if we only had this or that new tech gadget we could improve our situational awareness and speed of decision-making." Please hear me out. I am a big advocate of this emerging, enabling technology. A big fan. However, as I learned from John G., Research Scientist, Sandia National Laboratories and someone who has observed, documented and studied the Human Net - "information is important but insufficient for shared situational awareness which is in minds not machines." 
2. The communications needed to accomplish the tracking of people and hardware in austere, remote areas is critical. As a vendor shared at this conference, "all of these tech solutions for tracking assets depend on good comms"; I would offer that whatever the solution is it needs to be scaleable, robust, reliable, interoperable.
3. Keeping the visualization displays and the software easy to configure, easy to use is important to the folks using them - especially those in the field and downrange from the Incident Command Post (ICP).

Wisdom Hierarchy
John G., Sandia National Laboratories

I would love to hear from you. Let's talk. Use the comment section and add your thoughts. We definitely haven't arrived on all of this so your thoughts and views are important to me. To those who attended this conference, keep pushing the edge - this is really important work.

Preview of Coming Attractions: Up next, what is this Human Net system and as someone interested in emergency management operations or other disciplines where human-to-human connection is critical - why should you care?

Stay tuned....

Humbly, 

Collabman

Chasing Dreams

“If you chase anything in life chase the things that get you excited about living. Chase the things that give you hope, happiness and a glimpse of a better life. Chase the things that make you want to be a better person. Chase the things that inspire you to think, create and live joyfully. Chase the things that reinforce in your soul that you can make a difference. Chase the things that make you want to transform your heart from selfish to selfless. When you chase that kind of storm you are chasing rainbows.” - Shannon L. Alder

Hello world - it has been almost 11 years since my last blog post, when I signed off following my youngest son's combat deployment to Iraq with the 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment (2SCR). That blogging experience connected our family with so many others with soldiers from the 2SCR struggling to make it through each day, worried about hearing that dreaded knock on the door, wondering what tomorrow would bring, praying for this combat tour to be over. That positive, encouraging experience brought me back today but for a completely different reason and during a different season of life. 

So much has changed. I don't even know where to begin. I recently retired from a fabulous community where I spent 43 years serving this great country. I was blessed by great people, great missions, great locations and so many life experiences - most that will never be told. 

Now this next adventure. A special thank you to Mike L. and the leadership team at Stellar Solutions, Inc. for being a forward-leaning, world-class, innovative company that challenges us to chase our dreams - and for providing this opportunity. Words are simply inadequate. So thank you are the only words I have at this time #grateful. 

What an unbelievable opportunity with a company that has a time-tested and storied role in creating, building, teaching, and operating in the world of online collaboration and information sharing. Why now? Many of us, to include Jolt, Jonesy, MD, Killchain, and JG have wondered - what if we had an opportunity to bring the collaboration tradecraft, best practices and principles we developed, refined and used during real-world operations - to the emergency management arena especially those teams fighting wildland fires or conducting time-sensitive operations within Fusion Centers like an Emergency Operations Center (EOC)? Would this be value-added? Can this collaboration tradecraft be trained, integrated and applied for these teams and make a difference in how they accomplish their jobs? We think so and it is time to find out. 

Before I wrap-up this first blog, a tip of the hat to my collaboration teammates Barry, Lisa Aminah and Phil - all with Stellar Solutions. I appreciate you, your talents and commitment to furthering this work. Your words of encouragement, creative ideas and never-ending support has been outstanding. Thank you and hold fast. Let's chase this dream together and leave nothing to chance.

Preview of coming attractions: Next up, a recap of the 2019 Forest Service Wildfire Technology Modernization Industry Week in Boise, Idaho 24-27 June 2019. What an outstanding conference plus I had the opportunity to provide a presentation on the Human Net and why it is important to "Make the Knowledge Leap" and move beyond the flood of information.

Stay tuned....

Humbly,

Collabman