Executive Steering Committee

Effective disaster preparation, response, and recovery requires a coordinated, pre-planned effort that combines private and public resources. In the past, public sector agencies have planned and led these efforts. Private entities have focused on their own continuity needs. The prevailing wisdom is that effective community resilience requires these activities to be coordinated in partnership.

On March 21-22, 2011, the states and urban areas from around the Mid-Atlantic and North East Regions held the 2011 Regional Urban Areas Security Initiative & Planning Workshop to help coordinate planning and projects between government and private sector owner/operators within several industry sectors to address what is fundamental to successful catastrophic planning, fusion centers/information sharing, and critical infrastructure protection - the people, the plans, and the projects. 

At the 2011 Regional Urban Areas Security Initiative & Planning Workshop, facilitated discussions were held among UASI representatives from Philadelphia, New York City, Northern New Jersey and National Capital Region, and security/business continuity experts from the food, finance, telecomm and energy sectors.  The issues are complex, the stakeholders are many, and progress has been slow.  The goal of the workshop was to introduce AHC’s "integrated planning and coordinated investment" approach designed to integrate the private sector owners/operators into the planning and project development efforts within states, UASIs and federal partners.

At this workshop, government and private sector representatives discussed several regional initiatives (see below) and explored ways to integrate their planning efforts, identify gaps and opportunities to develop new projects and joint planning efforts.

Private Sector Information Sharing / Fusion Center Project – The AHC is working with the Commonwealth of Virginia to fund an individual with skills in both law enforcement and federal fusion center guidelines to support Virginia's fusion center. The individual, who was screened and selected by the fusion center director, will work with a private sector working group (comprised initially of representatives from power and telecommunications sectors) to share information, operationalize federal guidelines, and develop recommendations to improve the information sharing process. The vision is to create an information sharing process model that can be expanded to include more sectors, more fusion centers and can be sustained via public and private resources.

The Delaware River Infrastructure Protection (DRIPP)  - DRIPP is a multi-year, $10+ million, maritime domain awareness project within Coast Guard Sector "Delaware Bay." The project provides motion and intrusion detection, with real-time alert capabilities, as both a preventative and protective measure.  The project will provide situational awareness for government first responders and private sector owned critical infrastructure owner/operators.  The DRIPP project connects short-range and long-range cameras, video analytics, and other sensors via "networked connections" to the U.S. Coast Guard and the New Jersey fusion center.  Full build-out will include sites in Pennsylvania and Delaware as well as technical enhancements such as radar.  NJ, PA, and DE plan to integrate more private sector operators (affected directly or in-directly by enhanced security within this strategically significant commercial port) into the planning process to design specific measures and share information on business continuity and corporate security needs.

The Delaware Valley Intelligence Center (DVIC) - The DVIC is a regional fusion center located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. This $30 million, five-year project is the first of its kind, representing funding from federal, state, and local government. The DVIC will collect information in an "all hazards" approach and provide it to private sector partners as well as law enforcement, emergency management, and homeland security officials throughout New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania and Maryland.  The DVIC will support efforts in the areas of maritime ports, supply chains, critical infrastructure protection, and law enforcement. In the future, the states plan to involve the private sector community in the planning, designing, and sustainment of long-term information products to support their corporate security, business continuity, and planning efforts.

The UICDS (Universal Incident Command Decision System) Pilot Project – UICDS is a federally funded project focused on information sharing among existing applications. Developed by DHS’ Office of Science & Technology, UICDS is designed to link applications in emergency operations centers (EOCs), fusion centers, control centers, etc. and to share specific information as decided by the owners of the information. The UICDS project focuses on state EOCs in the AHC footprint of states but can also include private sector operators, other states and the federal government.

RCPT GIS Data Inventory Project - This project, sponsored by the New York/New Jersey Regional Catastrophic Planning Team, will begin to inventory and assess gaps in "GIS spatial data" available at the federal, state and local levels that would be used to support catastrophic disaster response in the New York City metropolitan region. Working with 30 counties and four states, this project will identify gaps and produce requirements in order to fund future projects to facilitate GIS data sharing between government and private sector organizations.

What was Taught:

• How current or planned UASI initiatives can improve the operational readiness for our region
• How current or planned private sector initiatives can enhance resiliency; support business recovery operations; and integrate into community/state response and recovery operations
• New opportunities for joint projects
• How coordinated planning between state/local government and private sector operators can help you in your industry
• Recommendations to solve major issues facing coordinated planning
• Successful methods and outcome(s) of coordinated planning
• The role associations play in catastrophic planning in your industry
• Suggestions for other programs/initiatives you may not have heard about
• What Situational Awareness tools the UASIs, states and Owner/Operators are using

• Opportunity to network with other evacuation/emergency management professionals
• Time for Q&A with speakers
• Breakfast and lunch provided for networking and sponsorship opportunities
• Complimentary networking reception provided

• Learn more about the All Hazards Consortium & its leadership
• Learn more about vendors’ tools and services
• Gain insight into best practices

• Regional report will outline issues, recommendations and opportunities
• Research / business development

State Catastrophic Planners – VA, WV, DC, MD, DE, PA, NJ, NY
State/Local Dept of Transportation: VA, WV, DE, DC, MD, PA, NJ, NYC
Regional UASIs  - New York / New Jersey, Philadelphia, Washington DC, Hampton Roads
FEMA Regions 2 & 3
FEMA Office of National Capital Region Coordination
FEMA Headquarters
FEMA National FRAC Working Group
FEMA Private Sector Office
FEMA R2 & R3 Regional Emergency Communications Coordination Working Group
DHS Science & Technology
DHS Office of Infrastructure Protection
DHS Office of Emergency Communications
US Department of Transportation
Federal Highway Administration

The 2011 Regional Urban Areas Security Initiative & Planning Workshop is an excellent opportunity to showcase your projects, initiatives, studies, products and services to a highly targeted, senior-level audience. Sponsorship packages and exhibit space are available on a limited basis. For details and pricing contact Tom Moran at (443) 718-9109 or by email.

Download sponsor package here

Registration fees are:

• State/Local Government Employees: $150 per person
• Non-profit Organizations, Academia and Federal Government: $350 per person
• Private Sector & Government Contractors: $500per person(AHC member discounts apply) *

Payment can be made via credit card, check, or PayPal.

• This event is closed to the media
• All attendees will need to produce appropriate identification. Name badges will be issued and checked on site at all times
• Dress is business or business casual
• Onsite registration will be provided
• Review our Workshop FAQ Here.

The reception and workshop will be held at the Renaissance Newark Airport Hotel at 1000 Spring Street, Elizabeth, NJ 07201-2113. Phone (908) 436-4600. Parking is available for $5/day or $14/overnight. The hotel is holding a block of sleeping rooms at the rate of $117 for AHC Workshop attendees. To make a reservation, call (800) 228-9290 prior to March 13 and ask for the All Hazards Consortium room block. For more information, send an email to info@ahcusa.org