Incident Management Software Interoperability Challenges and Solutions: White Paper

Transcription

1 Incident Management Sftware Interperability Challenges and Slutins: White Paper Kristen Lvejy, PhD Buffal Cmputer Graphics, Inc Bayview Rad Blasdell, NY

2 Cntents Intrductin... 3 System t System... 4 Mini-Case Study: Interperability Simulatin... 4 Mapping... 5 Mini-Case Study: Gtham Shield... 7 Authenticatin... 8 Cnclusin

3 Intrductin The hurricane heading twards yur cmmunity des nt care abut state lines r internatinal brders. Wild fires will nt cntain themselves within yur jurisdictinal bundaries. Yu will face disasters where yur team s ability t respnd will nt just depend n their skill and training, but als n their ability t crdinate with yur neighbring cmmunities. If the tls yu use during a respnse cannt wrk tgether, then hw can yur teams? Interperability is the key t large scale multi-jurisdictinal respnses. This paper will review sme f the challenges BCG custmers have faced with bth external and internal interperability challenges and hw DLAN was able t meet these challenges. Specifically the paper will g ver system t system, mapping, mass cmmunicatin, and authenticatin r security challenges. 3

4 System t System When multiple jurisdictins need t wrk tgether during a respnse, multiple incident management systems als need t wrk tgether. All DLAN systems are interperable with each ther, allwing ticket and data fields t be directly sent frm system t system. DLAN can exchange infrmatin with any ther system that utilizes cmmn industry standard prtcls fr cmmunicatin and infrmatin exchange such as CAP, EDXL, and IPAWS. DLAN als has a built-in XML data transfrm engine that allws BCG t d custm integratins and message interperability quickly and with less expense than many ther slutins can ffer. Fr a State level custmer BCG created a custm integratin with a cmpetitr s prduct. The State utilized DLAN, but wanted t als be able t cmmunicate with ne f their FEMA Regins, which utilized a different sftware prduct. BCG was able t create a custm API t allw DLAN data t be mapped directly t the ther systems frms and vice versa. This allwed the State t cllabrate with the Regin during respnse effrts withut needing t duplicate data entries r access multiple systems. Once the custmizatin was built, it became available t all DLAN custmers s they culd als benefit frm it. Althugh sme may believe that charging additinal fees t allw utside stakehlders t access and share data makes gd business sense, it des nt imprve emergency respnse times r make it easy fr multiple stakehlders t cllabrate with each ther during large respnse effrts. BCG s DLAN sftware includes multiple methds t integrate with different slutins, even ur cmpetitrs slutins, fr free. When a custm integratin methd is needed, BCG has the expertise necessary t create affrdable slutins, which in mst cases can then be utilized by ther DLAN custmers as part f the cre prduct. Mini-Case Study: Reginal Lgistics Prgram EDXL-RM Interperability Simulatin BCG shwcased its ability t cmmunicate with ther systems during the EDXL-RM Interperability Simulatin spnsred by the Reginal Lgistics Prgram (New Yrk, New Jersey, Cnnecticut, and Pennsylvania) and hsted by the New Yrk City Office f Emergency Management. The demnstratin shwcased hw DLAN culd cmmunicate with E-Team TM, the sftware develped by NC4 and utilized by New Jersey and sme NY Cunties. The demnstratin used DLAN s standard EDXL-RM interperability channel t send messages between the tw systems. 4

5 Mapping When is a lng list f mapping resurces available t the incident management cmmunity, hwever reviewing multiple maps is nt nly time cnsuming, but als des nt present respnders with the full perating picture. Being able t view all f the infrmatin available in ne place nt nly saves time, but culd als save lives. DLAN's GIS Premium mdule supprts the display f data frm mst cmmn GIS frmats ut-f-the-bx, withut the need t pay fr access t third-party GIS platfrms. It can als display internal infrmatin such as pen tasks and assets. External data can cme frm public/freely available surces r private surces. Any publically available surce using the listed interperability methds can be integrated int the slutin fr free. Many public service agencies prvide their data in ne f the included frmats. Belw is a list f data surces that can be shwn as layers in DLAN withut any additinal cst: NWS: Quantitative Precipitatin Frecast (QPF) Expected precipitatin ttals River Gauges (Observed and Frecasted) Current Temperature Wind Speed Trpical Weather GIS DATA SOURCES EXTERNAL SOURCES Alha Plume CAD data via r custm API CSV ESRI ArcGIS services ESRI Online services Excel KML MASAS Shape Files Text Files DLAN SOURCES Asset Tracking Phnebk Premium Rute Analysis Streaming Vide Ticket Manager Weather FEMA: Shelter Data Recvery Centers Disaster Declaratins Pwer Authrities: Real time utage data Mst privately available surces can be integrated fr just the cst f the service with n additinal fees frm BCG. Fr example, if yur rganizatin has access t Aeris Weather data, GIS Premium can include layers fr High Reslutin Radar (current and future), Strm Cells, and Lightning Strike Density. Many 5

6 GIS departments als hst their data in ne f these frmats, allwing rganizatins t view their internal GIS infrmatin within DLAN. DLAN is nt just a set f disjinted dashbards, but a fully unified slutin. DLAN has the ability t verlay its wn internal data alngside external data. Infrmatin frm multiple areas f the DLAN system can be easily displayed as layers in GIS Premium. This includes but is nt limited t incident data, tickets, assets, phnebk data, streaming vide surces, and rute analysis infrmatin. Fr example, while mnitring a trpical weather system an agency might want t verlay the fllwing surces n their GIS Premium: Fld plain data CIKR (Critical Infrastructure) Schls / Daycare Centers / hspitals Current vs. frecasted river / stream heights Rainfall prjectins Trpical system advisry data (path, strength, wind field) Lping Radar Shelter Infrmatin Pwer Outage Infrmatin Agencies Cntacts Staged / Available Assets Current Requests / Offers / Reprts Once the data is in the system, DLAN s GIS Premium tls allw users t markup the map, buffer n a given feature r area and share that data with ther systems, such as Ggle Earth. Fr example, a user can select a real-time pwer utage and buffer t see which hspitals, schls, and special needs patients are affected and then exprt that data int a KML r CSV file t share with ther systems. 6

7 DLAN allws users t view all f these surces, in ne place. The ability t access GIS data frm publically available, internal rganizatinal, private, and DLAN specific surces allws DLAN t fuse tgether all f this infrmatin and display it n a single platfrm. All f the infrmatin is updated in real-time, allwing staff t fcus n their missin critical tasks instead f n reviewing multiple surces r entering infrmatin int multiple systems. With DLAN yur team always has the mst up-t-date infrmatin, all in ne unified platfrm. Mini-Case Study: Gtham Shield BCG recently supprted multiple custmers during the multi-day multi-agency FEMA led Operatin Gtham Shield / Ardent Sentry exercise. During this exercise the New Yrk State Divisin f Military and Naval Affairs (DMNA) was able t successfully utilize ne f DLAN s newest features, the ArcGIS Sync Tl, which was created fr this exercise and is nw available t all DLAN custmers with GIS Premium. DLAN's ArcGIS Sync tl allws users t take any Ticket Manager r Watch Cmmand reprt and instantly cnvert it t a feature layer service n ArcGIS nline. This means that tickets tracking shelters, damages, dnatins, resurces, rad clsures, and ther wrk items can be sent t ArcGIS nline in real-time as they change in DLAN. Any infrmatin included n that reprt (including any gegraphic data frm addresses, crdinates, pints, lines, and plygns) can then be instantly shared n ArcGIS nline as layers in Public Dashbards, third party Cmmn Operatinal Picture (COP) viewers, and ther types f systems. 7

8 Authenticatin When the big ne hits, the last thing respnders shuld be wrried abut is their incident management sftware passwrd. DLAN makes it easy by prviding bth easy passwrd recvery and integrating with external authenticatin systems t bth simplify and shrten the lgin prcess. As an example, BCG recently set up a unique authenticatin system fr the City f Trnt. The City has users frm multiple units within their infrastructure, each f which has their wn LDAP directry, and many maintained by different IT grups. The City wanted DLAN t supprt authenticatin queries frm any f their LDAP surces. T accmplish this DLAN uses the directry fr the Authenticatin phase. Authrizatin and Auditing phases f AAA are cntrlled by the applicatin. Users can lgin frm any f the subdmains, with their wn credentials, and DLAN is able t prcess the request. Authenticatin Prviders Lcal Accunts LDAP Directries including Active Directry Native Active Directry Federatin Services (ADFS) supprt SAML Federatins Shibbleth Federatins DLAN prvides fr multiple layers f security and access cntrl OAuth Services thrughut every level f the system. The permissins structure in DLAN is tiered and can be cnfigured t have granular security permissin, brad security permissins, r any range in between. DLAN accmplishes this flexible and intuitive security structure by implementing administratr defined security grups which are separate frm user accunts and rles. These security grups are cmpsed f several individual security permissins. Fr the City f Trnt case, each subdmain can have its wn default security settings within DLAN. Valid users can be specified in LDAP grups r rganizatinal units (OU). DLAN user accunts can be presynced based n an OU r grup, r created n demand when the user lgs in. Pre-synced accunts can have their DLAN permissins tweaked befre the user lgs in, n demand using the default security prfile assciated with the particular LDAP cnnectin. LDAP users can be individually disabled within DLAN, allwing smene wh has LDAP permissin t access the system t be remved frm DLAN withut changing the LDAP side. Passwrd management and recvery fr LDAP users is handled thrugh Trnt s existing infrastructure, nt DLAN. This case study illustrates hw DLAN can be integrated int current security prcesses t simplify the end user experience, while maintaining a secure envirnment. 8

9 Cnclusin Interperability cannt be an afterthught when it cmes t incident management slutins. When every secnd cunts yu need t be able quickly share infrmatin with bth external partners and internal systems. BCG is nt just a sftware vendr, it is an engineering firm with decades f experience in custm engineering prjects. Unlike many slutins in the market, DLAN is interperable by design; it fllws NIEM and NIST guidelines with cmmn prtcls and standards fr meaningful infrmatin exchange available ut-f-the-bx withut requiring external servers r third party plug-ins. Interperability is built thrughut DLAN including GIS mapping frmat supprt, cmmunicatin prtcls supprt, imprt/exprt capabilities, data frmat supprt, brwser supprt, and mbile device supprt. BCG wrks with ur custmers t create slutins that meet all f their interperability and integratin needs because we knw that when lives are n the line, blaming the ther cmpany s system is nt an ptin. We wrk t be emergency management partners with ur custmers, and as yur partner we will d everything we can t get all the infrmatin yu need frm any available surce int ne unified system fr imprved situatinal awareness. Buffal Cmputer Graphics, Inc Bayview Rad, Blasdell, NY