Resiliency When Technology Fails
The Federal Government relies on technology to deliver critical services to citizens and to protect the homeland. Communication, enabled by technology, allows government agencies such as the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to coordinate with local partners when responding to emergency events. But what happens when technology fails? How can operations continue when a cyber security attack compromises communications, or an extreme weather event obliterates IT equipment?
Most government agencies have a Continuity of Operations Plan (COOP) that they activate during emergencies to rapidly return to essential functions as soon as possible. These are an important first step towards preparedness but do not necessarily achieve resilience. Resilience is a quality built from years of deliberate, collective action. When technology fails, it is resilience that allows us to withstand, adapt, and recover quickly from disruptions.
To take effective action towards resiliency, organizations must be prepared to make informed decisions. Decision-making is only as good as the information available. By assessing an emergency quickly and efficiently, organizations can gain critical information necessary for making what may be life-saving decisions. Recently, FEMA updated their National Response Framework (NRF) to include a Community Lifelines Toolkit. Community Lifelines are the most fundamental services in a community that, when stabilized, allow all other aspects of society to function. The seven critical community lifelines, according to FEMA, are safety and security; food, water, and shelter; health and medical; energy; communications; transportation; and hazardous materials. Community Lifelines provide an outcome-based, survivor-centric frame of reference that allow organizations to make better decisions when faced with a disaster. Organizations should adapt the situation report template provided in this toolkit to assess emergencies and make decisions that will reduce harm to life and property, while enabling continuity of operations when possible.
In a total blackout, the Community Lifelines framework allows decision-makers to quickly see the most pressing vulnerabilities and risks to focus on. The organization can then consider options and operational plans to get critical technology back up and running.
By implementing a systematic approach to decision-making in the event of a disaster, organizations enhance their resilience, or ability to quickly recover from disruptions. You should take action in three ways:
Adopt a framework that works for your organization, clarifying roles and expectations in the event of a disaster
Execute an exercise to assess your organization’s disaster readiness and continue to iterate and strengthen plans
Catalyze an approach to resilience that can potentially save lives if technology fails
