[CAP] [emergency] Re: NOAA Undermining International Standards?

[Elysa Jones]

In addition to the OAT report, HazCollect will be used or not by the 
local emergency management community.  If it provides a capability 
that they find useful, they will use it, otherwise they wont.  The 
concern I have heard from local EMAs is that they are concerned that 
warning messages could go out over NWR without them knowing about 
it.  Except for that - if the instruction field is missing and there 
is no way to provide a protective action to the community with the 
warning, there is a good chance they wont use it anyway.  In addition 
to the OAT report, maybe the IAEM community will insist that the 
instruction be used in order for a change to happen to 
HazCollect.  With the local EMAs I have talked with about this, they 
have a good method of communicating and authenticating warnings to 
their local NWS for distribution - NWR, EAS and otherwise.  Many are 
planning to use CAP.  Most I have talked with seem leery of 
HazCollect but completely trust their local NWS.  Elysa

At 04:47 PM 6/2/2006, Lee Tincher wrote:
>I whole-heartedly agree :-)
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Rex Brooks [mailto:rexb at starbourne.com]
>Sent: Friday, June 02, 2006 5:39 PM
>To: Art Botterell; Herbert White
>Cc: Emergency Mgt XML TC; cap-list at lists.incident.com
>Subject: [emergency] Re: [CAP] NOAA Undermining International Standards?
>
>Since I my personal experience doesn't validate the predictable
>effects, although that may in fact be the practical outcome, I can't
>be part of the we that doesn't "stand for NOAA ..." especially since
>I am willing to extend the benefit of the doubt based on what Herb
>said on the record.
>
>I don't think it serves our purposes to dig our heels in on what is,
>after all, an optional feature at this point. However, showing a
>willingness to bring the press in if intentions don't match results
>is certainly an option I would keep handy.
>
>Also, it sounded to me like a negative OAT report in regard to
>non-implementation of "instructions" was certainly in order, also for
>the record.
>
>Regards,
>Rex
>
>
>At 10:07 AM -0700 6/2/06, Art Botterell wrote:
> >Friends -
> >
> >Apparently I've failed to sensitize NOAA to the impact of their
> >choices beyond their own organizational and national borders.  Much
> >more is as stake here than just "visibility."
> >
> >On Jun 2, 2006, at 6/2/06 7:33 AM, Herbert White wrote:
> >>The planned HazCollect Initial Operating Capability (IOC) is just
> >>the first step in the process.  NOAA's intent is to fully support
> >>the CAP "Instruction" element.
> >
> >The problem is that these terms... "operational acceptance test" and
> >"initial operating capacity"... mean precisely what they say.  The
> >"OAT" isn't just some mid-point correction in an ongoing development
> >process.  It marks the acceptance of an operational product.  It is,
> >for all intents and purposes, a functional nationwide rollout of an
> >"operating capacity" that even Herb admits is incomplete.
> >
> >For most of a year now I've been asking Herb and others to specify
> >when those flaws would be fixed, if not prior to the initial
> >rollout.  He's been unable to do so, and rightly so, because there's
> >no guarantee he'll ever get the funds to make changes once an
> >"initial operating capacity" is accepted.  (I think we all know that
> >there's nothing as permanent in government as a "temporary"
> >structure.)  So... with all respect to Herb personally... I think we
> >need to recognize that such general statements of intent are
> >well-meaning but ultimately empty, and to focus on what's actually
> >about to be deployed.
> >
> >What will be some of the predictable effects if HazCollect is
> >deployed and accepted in its current form?
> >
> >1) Existing and developing providers of warning and emergency
> >information systems will be shut out of the system for lack of an
> >open interface in the foreseeable future.
> >
> >2) Emergency managers will be pressured to install the DMIS toolkit
> >on their already cluttered desktops as the only way to get access to
> >NWS warning assets.
> >
> >3) The market for non-NWS warning systems and products will be
> >chilled, since nobody with a full CAP implementation will be able to
> >guarantee compatibility with HazCollect.
> >
> >4) Many system developers in the U.S. and abroad will feel pressure
> >to "dumb down" their CAP implementations to match the HazCollect
> >model rather than try to support both.
> >
> >5) Ironically, other system developers (as we've seen in this
> >discussion) will take NOAA's intransigence and go-it-alone approach
> >as a reason not to bother implementing standards at all.
> >
> >6) Ultimately, the credibility of the standards process will be
> >eroded by the example of a huge U.S. federal agency overriding the
> >standard for their own internal convenience.
> >
> >Let's be clear here... it would be entirely possible for NOAA to
> >accommodate its internal back-compatibility issues internally,
> >without projecting them out to the user interface.  And both NOAA
> >and Battelle have had plenty of time to make the necessary changes,
> >during a development schedule that's already slipped numerous
> >deadlines and waived a number of original specifications.
> >
> >The only reason these problems persist is that NOAA and Battelle
> >have chosen not to fix them.  We must not stand for NOAA putting a
> >flawed HazCollect "initial operating capacity" online until they are.
> >
> >- Art
> >
> >
> >
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>
>--
>Rex Brooks
>President, CEO
>Starbourne Communications Design
>GeoAddress: 1361-A Addison
>Berkeley, CA 94702
>Tel: 510-849-2309
>
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