Hastily Formed Networks (HFN) at the Waldo Canyon Fire

Hastily Formed Networks: Tech Lessons from the Waldo Canyon Fire

Rakesh Bharania Network Consulting Engineer

Cisco Tactical Operations E-mail: [email protected] Twitter: densaer

http://www.cisco.com/go/tacops

© 2010 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Cisco Public ICT Trends 2011 2

Agenda – HFNs at the Waldo Canyon Fire

!  Introducing Cisco Tactical Operations

! Understanding the Tech Challenge

!  Introducing Hastily Formed Networks

! Hastily Formed Networks at Waldo Canyon Fire

! The New Reality Going Forward

3 3 © 2010 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Cisco Public ICT Trends 2011 3

Introducing Cisco Tactical Operations


Cisco TacOps Provides Crisis Support

! Cisco Tactical Operations (TacOps) is a dedicated crisis response team that establishes emergency networks after a disaster.

! TacOps personnel skills include technical, operational, first responder, military and logistics

! Promotes innovative technology solutions for disaster response and other hardship situations.

! Emergency response funded by Cisco Corporate Philanthropy.


Cisco Learned Lessons from Hurricane Katrina

!  Initially: TacOps supported “extreme risk” incidents ! Expanded mission: To have a scalable, coordinated,

response to disasters (2005) … because: ! Hurricane Katrina - what Cisco did:

Cisco sent hundreds of volunteers and tons of equipment to Gulf region.

We were successful, but…

! Hurricane Katrina - lessons learned: There were many willing engineers but few

trained for the environment. Less effective due to the Cisco-wide uncoordinated

response

! No standardized Cisco mobile platform for disaster response.


Today: All-hazards Response, Anywhere.

!  Waldo Canyon Fire, CO !  Famine, Horn of Africa !  Tornadoes, AL, NC, MO !  Earthquake/Tsunami, Japan !  Earthquakes, Christchurch NZ !  Flooding, Brazil !  Flooding, Queensland Australia !  Fourmile Canyon Fire, Boulder CO

!  Pipeline Explosion, San Bruno CA !  Plane Crash, Palo Alto CA !  Earthquake, Port-Au-Prince Haiti !  Fiber-Optic Cut, SF Bay Area CA !  Flooding, Cedar Rapids IA !  Evans Road Fire, NC !  Harris Fire, San Diego CA !  Hurricanes Katrina, Gustav, Ike


United States Relationships

Office of Emergency Services


International Relationships


We Deploy: Vehicles, Kits, Equipment, Expertise

!  Network Emergency Response Vehicle (NERV) NIMS Type II Mobile Communications Center.

Large scale network services core

“Respond locally, communicate globally”

!  Mobile Communicator Vehicle (MC2) NIMS Type IV (with satellite, VoIP) MCC

Medium scale network services core

!  Emergency Communications Kit (ECK) Rapidly deployable communications capability


We Have Trained Responders !  Disaster Incident Response Team (DIRT) program:

USA, UK/Ireland, China, Brazil. ~200 engineers

!  Takes Cisco engineers, trains them for disaster response.

!  NIMS certified, hands on, VOD training

!  DIRT members deploy with NERVs/ECKs


Giving Back As a Core Value !  Corporate Social Responsibility

• Supporting the community creates goodwill. • We don’t just give money, but go into the field with a trained team to provide augmentation of resources

• Threefold approach: cash, product, people. • Attract the best new employees: they care about what their employer does, not just getting a paycheck

!  We are accountable: Cisco annual Corporate Social Responsibility Reports http://csr.cisco.com

!  It’s not just good for the community – it’s good for Cisco


Understanding the Tech Challenge


All Crisis Responders Share The Same Problem. Public Safety

13 13

In complex disasters with multiple response organizations … How to deliver the right information in the right format to the right person at the right time?

Defense

National, State & Local Government

Healthcare

Critical Infrastructure

Transportation

NGOs/VOADs/ International Orgs


The Need For Technology In Disaster Is Increasing

! Radio, phone Radio & integrated Data ! Single device Any device (BYOD) ! Voice only Voice, Video, Data ! Closed teams Open collaboration ! Command Centric In the field, social media ! Fixed Locations Deployable anywhere

Goal: Mission workflow and productivity benefits that save lives and speed recovery.

Evolution in People, Process and Technologies to support Disaster and Humanitarian relief


The Whole Community: Nobody Does it Alone.

…We know that non-governmental organizations - like faith-based and non-profit groups - and private sector entities possess knowledge, assets and services that government simply cannot provide. An effective disaster response involves tapping into all of these resources.

…Through engaging the "Whole Community," we maximize our limited funding and leverage the capabilities of our partners, who play a critical role in the process.”

Craig Fugate, FEMA Administrator House Committee on Homeland Security, Subcommittee on Emergency Preparedness, 2012


Introducing Hastily Formed Networks


Typical ICT Challenges in Disaster. Information and Computing Technologies (ICT) are Needed but Overwhelmed

!  Lack of power

! Degraded telephony infrastructure

! Degraded Push-to-Talk Radio, Lack of interoperability

! Oversubscribed services

!  Limited Internet access

! Few IT resources

!  Lack of trained staff


Solution: Hastily Formed Networks (HFNs) Instant Emergency Networks

! HFNs are portable, IP-based networks that are deployed in emergencies when normal communications has been disabled or destroyed.

! Enable on-scene and remote responders to share situational awareness, coordinate operations, establish command and control.

! Communicate within the affected area as well as to the outside world.


Naval Postgrad. School / Cisco HFN Model

Social/Cultural HUMAN / COGNITIVE

APPLICATION

SPECIALIZED - Collaboration - Sit Awareness - Cmd/Control - Fusion

NETWORK

PHYSICAL

Organizational Political Economic

VIDEO/IMAGERY - VTC - GIS - Layered Maps

VOICE - Push-to-talk - Cellular - VoIP - Sat Phone/PSTN

TEXT - email - chat - SMS

WIRED - DSL - Cable - Other ISP WAN

WIRELESS LOCAL

- WiFi - PAN - MAN

WIRELESS LONG HAUL

- WiMAX - Microwave - IP over HF

SAT BROADBAND

- VSAT - BGAN

POWER - Fossil Fuel - Renewable

HUMAN NEEDS - Shelter - Water - Fuel - Food

PHYSICAL SECURITY

- Force Protection - Access Authorization

NET OP CENTER - Network Sec -Cmd/Control - Leadership


HFNs: What They Are

! Portable: mobile, rolling kit, easily moved with few personnel

! Rapidly deployable: pre-configured, set up with minimal training

!  Interim: Once pre-event communications is restored typically decommissioned.

! Based on: WiFi/VSAT/WiMAX/etc.


HFNs: What They Are NOT ! A replacement for pre-emergency infrastructure.

! Designed for large numbers of users

! High bandwidth (if on VSAT). High latency, etc. needs to be considered.


The First Deployed HFN: Hurricane Katrina


More Recently: 2010 Haiti Quake

USNS COMFORT

Airport

VSAT/BGAN Satellite WiMAX Point-to-Point WiFi Mesh

NPS HFN TEAM HAITI NETWORK

WiFi Access Point 24


The Waldo Canyon Fire


The Waldo Canyon Fire !  June 23 – July 10 2012

!  2 Fatalities / 6 Injured

!  18,247 acres burned

!  32,000 evacuated

!  346 homes destroyed ($352 M damage)

!  The most destructive fire in Colorado history ($)


The Response !  Type I IMT (Harvey’s GB IMT)

!  1,286 Personnel Assigned

!  76 Engine Companies

!  11 Dozers

!  8 Helicopters

!  4 MAFFS C-130 ANG Tankers

!  Firefighters came from 34 States


Cisco Technology Response !  El Paso County, CO request for “advanced

communications support” from Cisco.

!  Cisco Tactical Operations response based from San Jose, CA and Raleigh, NC

!  Communications requirements: 1.  Wireless networks for the Type I IMT 2.  IP Telephony support at ICP

3.  Support El Paso County Disaster Recovery Center IP Telephony


Wireless Network Deployment !  Priority One: Support the IMT staff with

wireless access in an unreliable environment.

!  Cellphones were disabled in the area – how to get data?

!  The answer was a “mesh” wireless network that would support both mission-critical and “courtesy” open Internet access.

!  Security policy applied on infrastructure to deconflict traffic. (BYOD)


Advanced Mesh Wireless Network

!  Secured Network: Supporting ~100 IMT/Unified command Staff

!  Unsecured (open) network: Supporting ~500 firefighters and support staff.


Mesh Wireless: Waldo Canyon Fire, 2012


Multipoint TelePresence: Waldo Canyon Fire, 2012


Cisco ECK For VoIP: Waldo Canyon Fire, 2012


So what? Why do we need data in an emergency? !  Example: Social Media.

!  #waldocanyonfire – 100k messages between June 25 and July 10.

!  25,000 unique users

!  What about email?

!  Or GIS?

!  WebEOC?

!  Twitter: #smem – where the discussion is at. The Twitter Desk at the El Paso County EOC


Official Agencies on Twitter, Waldo Canyon Fire


But…

!  If you don’t have access to data communications in your emergency, you have access to none of this content.


Challenges !  Spectrum Management. There were at least 40 APs at that

facility, all conflicting for 14 802.11 2.4Ghz Channels!

!  Lack of awareness by on scene COML/COMT staff as to non-LMR spectrum management challenges.

!  “The ICS-205 Problem”

!  Infrastructure security – aka what happens when trucks drive over your fiber optic link?


The New Reality


The Future (As We Know It) ! Networks just as critical as radio

! Collaboration in communities of interest via multiple modes:

Video, VoIP, IM, chat, incident mgmt apps, GIS

!  IP as “Interoperability Protocol” / all-hazards

! Technology infrastructure for day-to-day ops, not just “100-year flood”

! Next-generation disaster-management apps Community-based “fusion” applications for crisis management & information dissemination

Everyone has a phone that can post to Twitter, flickr, Facebook in seconds.

! Technology is easy … politics is (still!) hard.


Now What? Your Next Move.

! Response agencies should consider ICT as a primary service in disaster as essential as food, water, shelter and medical care

! Agencies must plan for future investment in ICT. Partner with your IT departments!

! Governments, NGOs and other humanitarian agencies should continue work to establish working partnerships with private sector resources

! Agencies need to test and train with technology regularly to ensure personnel are practiced and able to use it effectively


Connect With Us: Web. Email. Social Media.

! On Cisco.com: http://www.cisco.com/go/tacops/

! Email: [email protected] ! Facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/cisco.tacops ! Twitter: @SJ_NERV @RTP_NERV


Thank You!

Hastily Formed Networks (HFN) at the Waldo Canyon Fire

Technology

Transcript of Hastily Formed Networks (HFN) at the Waldo Canyon Fire