"To coordinate a hurricane response, emergency managers have to rely on locally-drafted evacuation plans and guidelines provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). After the chaotic and poorly planned evacuations carried out during the 2005 hurricane season, new planning procedures were introduced. FEMA also now uses a computer model to estimate how long it will take to clear a city based on its
population, although this model can't advise on when and how best to
evacuate it."
"A researcher at MIT is now testing software that combines an unprecedented amount of data to help emergency managers make faster, more informed decisions. "
"The software is also flexible, allowing emergency managers to input
their city's demographics and geography. And it adopts a novel
approach, categorizing a city's population into different demographics,
such as the elderly, tourists, hospital patients, and families with
children, for separate evacuation. In addition, says Metzger, the model
considers details of available evacuation routes. For example, as there
is only one highway that leads out of Key West, FL, emergency managers
would need to phase out evacuations to avoid congestion. This allows
the software to provide more finely tuned recommendations, he says. The
software can even advise emergency managers when to start bringing in
supplies, where to set up shelter locations, and when to call in the
National Guard."
MIT Technology Review
'Disruptive Civil Technologies"
A reader pointed me to this National Intelligence Council analysis
"To support the development of the National Intelligence Council's Global Trends 2025, SRI Consulting Business Intelligence (SRIC-BI) was asked to identify six potentially disruptive civil or dual use technologies that could emerge in the coming fifteen years"
Biogerontechnology
Energy Storage Materials
Biofuels and Bio-Based Chemicals
Clean Coal Technologies
Service Robotics
The Internet of Things."
September 26, 2008 in Industry Commentary | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)