Lessons Learned: What We Learned in 2012

Lessons Learned:
What Cisco TacOps has learned in the last year.

Rakesh Bharania Tiago Silva
Network Consulting Engineer Tactical Operations Coordinator
rbharani@cisco.com DIRTeam Global Program Manager
tiagosilva@cisco.com

Twitter: @CiscoTACOPS
www.cisco.com/go/tacops

WGET ICT Humanitarian Forum 11-12 April 2013 - Kista, Sweden

Agenda

• About the TacOps/DIRT Program
• Lessons learned
Waldo Canyon Fire

Hurricane Sandy

• Q&A


About the Cisco TacOps / DIRT Program…


Who is Cisco Tactical Operations?
• A specialized Cisco team that monitors major
incidents world wide and coordinates emergency
communications response

• Supporting governments, relief agencies, mission-
critical customers.

• Team provides most of the support under the CSR
(Corporate Social Responsibility) program.

• TacOps personnel have a variety of skills:
technical, operational, first responder, military and
logistics.

• Consulting, designing and promoting innovative
technology solutions for disaster response and
other hardship situations.


TacOps Mission, Priority and Coverage

Mission
Provide emergency communications solutions (Voice, Data and
Video) during the acute phase of emergencies.

Priority
First responders, critical infrastructure, continuity of government
Coverage

Global - 24/7


What is the DIRT Program
• TacOps led employee-volunteer teams that augment the
TacOps team in crisis situations. Each team is normally
led by a TacOps Ops Coordinator.

• Trained to operate in adverse conditions and on the
Emergency Response Vehicles (US Only) and
Emergency Communication Kits (ECKs).

• Certified and exercise regularly under specific incident
frameworks (e.g. NIMS/ICS in the U.S.)

• Teams are provided with 24/7 support in terms of
logistics, intelligence, etc.

• Cisco will activate the DIRT Program when needed.

The Cisco DIRT Program:
Faster deployment - Better cultural approach
US West Coast Team – Vehicles and kits
US+Canada
US East Coast Team – Vehicles and kits

Greater China - Kits
India – in progress
APJCI
Disaster Australia - potential new location
Incident
Response
Teams UK and Ireland - Kits
EMEAR Dubai – potential new team location

LATAM
Brazil– Kits


A Scalable Response Platform

Emergency Response Vehicles

Large scale network services core

Respond locally, communicate
globally!
Emergency Communications Kits (ECK)

Rapidly deployable communications
capability


Tactical Operations Deployments
Disaster Incident Responses Planned Exercises
• 2005 – Hurricane Katrina (LA) • 2010 – Golden Guardian (CA) *
• 2007 – Harris Fire (San Diego, CA) * • 2010 – Operation Hotel California (CA) *
• 2008 – Evans Road Fire (NC) * • 2010 – Bay Area Urban Shield (CA) *
• 2008 – Cedar Rapids Floods (IA) * • 2011 – Bayex (CA) *
• 2008 – Hurricane Gustav (LA) * • 2011 – Boston Urban Shield (MD) *
• 2008 – Hurricane Ike (TX) * • 2011 – DMI Vehicle Rally (CA) *
• 2009 – Morgan Hill Fiber Cut (CA) * • 2011 – Fairfax County Vehicle Rally (VA) *
• 2010 – Earthquake (Haiti) • 2011 – Pacific Endeavor (Singapore)
• 2010 – Plane Crash (Palo Alto, CA) * • 2011 – Bay Area Urban Shield (CA) *
• 2010 – Four Mile Canyon Fire (CO) • 2012 – Quake on the Blue Ridge (NC) *
• 2010 – Operation Verdict (Oakland, CA) * • 2012 – Fairfax County Vehicle Rally (VA) *
• 2010 – Earthquake (Christchurch, NZ) • 2012 – Pacific Endeavor (Singapore)
• 2010 – Gas Pipeline Explosion (San Bruno, CA) * • 2012 – DMI Vehicle Rally (CA) *
• 2011 – Flooding (Queensland, AU)
• 2011 – Tornados (Raleigh, NC) * * = NERV Deployed
• 2011 – Tornados (AL) *
• 2011 – Tornado (Joplin, MO)
• 2011 – Tornado (Goderich, ON)
• 2011 – Flooding (Brazil)
• 2011 – Earthquake and Tsunami (Japan)
• 2012 – Famine (Horn of Africa)
• 2012 – Waldo Canyon Fire (CO) *
• 2012 – Hurricane Sandy (NY, NJ) *


Our 2012 technology responses…


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 ($)


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


Hurricane Sandy

• October 22-31 (US Landfall
October 29) 2012

• 285 fatalities

• $75+ Billion USD in damage
(2nd costliest Atlantic hurricane)


The Technology Response

• Numerous emergency
technology deployments:
• Government
• VOAD and NGO
• Private Sector

• 20 million tweets between
27 Oct – 1 Nov about Sandy.


Cisco Technology Response

• TacOps deployment to NY, NJ.

• Fifteen customer engagements throughout
region. Public safety, transit, government,
NGO/VOADs and others.

• Extensive use of satellite and terrestrial
mobile data networks to restore connectivity.


So what did we learn from these incidents?

Seven things.


1. Deploy wired networks early

• “Wired when you can, WiFi when you must”

• 2.4 / 5.8 GHz congestion

• Older buildings attenuate signals

• Be prepared to deploy wired networks
early in the response!


2. Consider Ka-band VSAT deployments

• Increasing use of Ka-band VSAT

• Better service pricing, performance

• Hardware is cheaper too


3. Use 4G LTE / WiMax if you can.

• LTE is significantly deployed in the United States

• We tested both WiMax and LTE data communications
in NYC

• In several instances, this allowed us to move away
from VSAT.

• Consider the use of terrestrial mobile data where
appropriate.

• (your back may thank you!)


4. Digital video matters (more)

• Vendors have been talking for a while about how
video would “change everything”

• But the use cases have often been pretty thin.

• Our experiences at Breezy Point indicate we
may be getting to the point where video
provides useful disaster support.


5. It’s a BYODD (Bring Your Own Device to the Disaster) world

• Three phases of tech deployment (predicted) ->
HQ, Field, Public

• Actual rollout -> HQ, Public (BYOD), Field

• This is applicable for developed populations only
(for now)

• Be alert for underserved communities,
those with less access to tech.

• This is increasingly a trend in developing countries
too.


6. Technology lives (or dies) based on sustainability

• Sustainability = the ability to maintain and support
a solution throughout the duration of the incident.

• If you bring in advanced technology and skilled
techs, who will support it when the techs go home?

• You may want to deploy less sophisticated, but
more sustainable tech, or manage staffing accordingly.


7. You can’t coordinate if you’re not on the ground.

• If you are deploying a tech project in a crisis, the
coordinator for that project should be on the
ground.

• We saw a number of “remotely managed”
tech projects having difficulty because
the principal coordinators had poor situational
awareness.

• In short: ground truth matters!


Where do we go from here?

• ICT in disaster and humanitarian relief must
be deployed early in the event.

• Emergency ICT teams need to be equipped
to establish technology infrastructure, and then
scale to sustain.

• Technology is getting cheaper (new economics)
and the “consumerisation” of tech enables new
methods (new applications)

• It’s all about the “5 Rights” of emergency comms:
Right Information, Right Time, Right Format,
Right Device, Right Person


Connect With Us: Web. Email. Social Media.

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

 Email: tacops-info@cisco.com

 Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/cisco.tacops

 Twitter: @CiscoTACOPS


Thank You.


Lessons Learned: What We Learned in 2012

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