MCDEM information system

Well, it seems things are moving ahead with the MCDEM Emergency Management Information System (EMIS). Sean Hodges and I (along with a bunch of EM managers and REMAs) attended a MCDEM consultation meeting today to consider sector needs for an emergency information management system.

Although my initial impressions are that it's a fairly ambitious exercise, MCDEM seem to have engaged a more than capable team to see it through. One of the big things for me was that for this to be a successful national system, the CDEM Groups will need to 'buy-in' to make it work. I'm really pleased that MCDEM have had a change of heart about the importance of a system that can be used sector-wide.

Much of today's discussion was around process path and information needs. Being clear about what MCDEM needs to see to make strategic decisions informs what the Groups (and others) need to contribute to the EMIS. As we know, Groups address operational issues at a Local Controller level and strategic issues at the Group Controller level. So, the Group's operational information informs the Group's response strategy. Group strategies inform the National response strategy. We talked about rolling up the information so the next layer up is not overwhelmed by the amount of information potentially available.

The work that we've started with our Group's GIS web portal will continue as it will make any national system more robust. Once we've seen the MCDEM Request for Proposal, we will have a better idea on specifications that need to be considered in the Group project.

All in all, things are moving but don't expect immediate results. I'd estimate we're at least 16 months away from a product.