PlanetRussell.net – Michael J. Russell – Web 2.0 – Social Media Technologies – Government 2.0 – Security – Healthcare

Crisis Camp DC: What to Expect

Preparedness. Crisis communications. Resilient communities. International development. Humanitarian aid. If you thought the barcamp/unconference movement was all about kibbitzing with geeky peers over the latest Wordpress widgets and open-source software applications, well… you’d be right, actually, but  there’s so much more to talk about when these technologies get put to use in new and novel ways for the greater good, especially when the going gets tough in times of political instability,  natural disasters and more.

I’m looking  forward to participating in both the upcoming CrisisCamp DC event Friday and Saturday, as well as the Ignite presentations event at the World Bank on Friday evening.

When:
Friday, June 12th; Saturday, June 13; and Sunday, June 14th

Where:
The Institute for Politics Democracy & the Internet at George Washington University

New! Photos from Crisis Camp:

Find more photos like this on CrisisCommons

So, what exactly is Crisis Camp?

First, it’s a barcamp or unconference event, similar to the recent, successful Government 2.0, Health and Transparency Camp events, so it’s self-organized by the participants – that’s us.

So, who gets to  present… and about what?

You’ll find out when you get there. As will the presenters and co-presenters themselves. Seriously. We’ve/they’ve got ideas for presentations, but ultimately our fellow conference participants themselves decide what topics are of the greatest interest and benefit. It sounds chaotic but quite the opposite is true, actually. It’s real democracy in action and works surprisingly well.

What’s it about …and who’s it for?:

From the organizers:

CrisisCamp will bring together domain experts, developers, and first responders around improving technology and practice for humanitarian crisis management and disaster relief. Each and every day, people across the world can find themselves in crisis. Whether it be for a day, a month or an area of social distress, we all have a common need to connect with loved ones, access information and offer assistance to others.

CrisisCamp DC is part of a global movement who is bringing together volunteers, academia, non-profits, companies and government officials to share best practices and lessons learned to advocate for further use of technology and telecommunications to assist citizens and communities during crisis.

Founded in March 2009 through an impromptu Tweetup at the Government 2.0 Camp, a small band of idealists and innovators gathered together to discuss the idea of a creating a common community through a mash-up of citizen volunteers, crisis response organizations, international humanitarian relief, non-profits and the private sector (especially the technology and telecommunications sectors). Within minutes, CrisisCamp DC was born to unite communities, seek common ground and innovation in the use of technology and mobility during crisis.
CrisisCamp DC inspired volunteers in the United Kingdom to create CrisisCamp UK. Both CrisisCamps will be held Saturday, June 13 and Sunday, June 14, 2009 and will hold live joint sessions to encourage international cooperation and coordination. In addition, there are volunteers from countries such as Canada and Australia will be participating at CrisisCamp through live video chat.

Potential CrisisCamp DC & CrisisCamp UK sessions include breaking down the bifurcation between international humanitarian relief and domestic crisis response, harnessing mobile platforms for social change, the use of social media to connect with citizens/customers during crisis, open source software development and volunteer technical expertise for crisis response and citizen mobilization, alternative telecommunications access and harnessing the crowd to help citizens in crisis with information and throughout the recovery process.

CrisisCamp DC expects over 250 people from across the country to participate in a 2-day “barcamp” style information sharing event being held at George Washington University. In addition, the World Bank will host CrisisCampers for an Ignite session to kick off CrisisCamp DC on Friday, June 12, 2009. To sign up to present at the Ignite Session (20 presentations in 100 minutes) email crisiscommons@gmail.com.

If you’re coming to Washington DC to participate (attend isn’t really the right word for a barcamp), you can expect a mixture of U.S. Government employees – federal, primarily, as well as state and local – especially ones with interest in using social tools and technologies, as well as some welcome guests from outside the continental U.S. (OCONUS, as they say in the military.)

You can also expect public health professionals with an interest in humanitarian relief, epidemiology and biosecurity, as well as emergency preparedness. Expect folks from NGO’s (Non Governmental Organizations) and academia, as well as consultants and vendors the private sector.

More to come…

To learn more:

• Follow @CrisisCamp on Twitter
• CrisisCamp Facebook page
• Crisis Camp on Govloop.com
• Crisis Camp general registration (sold out, but sponsorships still available)
• Crisis Camp Ignite (presentation sessions) registration
• Post by Jesse Robbins about Crisis Camp on O’Reilly Radar

Us Now Film Premiere (US, UK & Online Simulcast)

If you’re interested in Government 2.0, Open Government and social media initiatives around the world, I strongly encourage you to take advantage of the opportunity to be a part of the Us Now film premiere and global simul/webcast Tuesday, May 12th.

I first learned about the Us Now film at the recent Government 2.0 Camp  in Washington DC, where it was screened for the first time in the U.S. on March 24th. (Thanks to O’Reilly for its sponsorship.)

Film Director Ivo Gorman as well as Justin Kerr-Stevens and Dominic Campbell of the U.K.-based FutureGov consultancy were on hand at the Washington premiere, as was Dr. Zach Tumin, who will be leading the discussion panel at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government simulcast site, as well.

From the event organizers:

You are invited to join the Government 2.0 PIC, FutureGov and the Leadership for a Networked World Program for the worldwide simulcast launch of “Us Now” – a film project about the power of mass collaboration, government and the internet.

Us Now is a documentary film project about the power of mass collaboration, government and the internet. It tells the stories of online networks that are challenging the existing notion of hierarchy. For the first time, it brings together the foremost thinking sin the field of participatory governance to describe the future of government.

To mark the release of the film free to views via the web, the British Council and FutureGov are hosting a live streamed worldwide launch event at 11:00 AM EDT and 4:00 PM GMT/UK time. Live coverage of both launch events will be accessible at:  watch.usnowfilm.com and live.usnowfilm.com

The Kennedy School of Government, host of one of the launch events, will also feature a panel including:

• Ari Herzog – Principal, Online media strategist and author
• Omar Wasow – co-founder of BlackPlanet.com
• David Stephenson – E-government, Web 2.0, and crisis management strategist and theorist
• Alexander W. Hunziker (auf Deutsch) – Leadership for a Networked World fellow

Moderated by HKS Faculty member, Zach Tumin

More information about the UK event, and the online streaming is available at:  usnowfilm.com

UPDATED: View the full length film below!

About the Film:

In a world in which information is like air, what happens to power?

Us Now is a documentary film project about the power of mass collaboration, government and the Internet.

Us Now tells the stories of online networks that are challenging the existing notion of hierarchy. For the first time, it brings together the foremost thinkers in the field of participative governance to describe the future of government.

All of the material generated during the project will be available to view online and the project will culminate in an hour long documentary to be released publicly in 2009.

Government 2.0 Summit on Blog Talk Radio

Just posted to Blog Talk Radio’s site:

BlogTalkRadio is pleased to bring Government 2.0 to our listeners. The first episode, airing Sunday, March 22 at 5:00 EDT, features Award-Winning GovLoop founder Steve Ressler and Steve Lunceford of GovTwit and BearingPoint. The pair will be in conversation with O’Reilly Media’s Tim O’Reilly.

Adriel Hampton will be hosting, with special guests Sally Lieber, three-term Assemblywoman from Silicon Valley, and Michael Russell [me] on DC’s upcoming Gov 2.0 Camp. As always, an interactive experience is to be expected with Tim O’Reilly answering listener phone calls.

I’m honored to have the opportunity to participate in this podcast summit. More after the show this afternoon… here’s the link to the page. Or, just play directly from the embedded link below:

Update: From the extraordinary mind of Tim O’Reilly: Visualizing Government “2.0″ – A graphical representation of themes and ideas from the podcast:

Transparency Camp 2009: The Videos

We came. We saw. We fought for parking spaces…and bagels.

Ten days after having had the opportunity to participate in Transparency Camp 2009 in Washington DC, videos of this remarkable event are now online.

Here’s the trailer, produced by the Sunlight Foundation, which should give you a taste of the excitement and enthusiasm that accompanied this first-of-its-kind unconference or barcamp that brought together a diverse and remarkable collection of government employees, technologists, policy wonks and just-plain-regular folks —all passionately committed to accountable, open and, yes, transparent government that responds to citizens, and provides open access to its vast stores of data.

You can watch the rest of the videos, featuring Craig Newmark, Tim O’Reilly, Micah Sifry and many more big-brained, big-hearted folks here.

More to come…

Can There Ever be “Too Many Notes?”

Is social media a wild-and-wooly (yet ultimately self-governing) marketplace of ideas? Or, can there ever be “too much” discussion of anything…including social media itself?

A proliferation of recent articles, blog posts and other communications seem to advance the idea that “There’s too much talk about ______ ,” wherein ______ is the particular technology, brand, personality or pop culture obsession du jour the individual opining personally finds most annoying.

While there’s no doubt that such statements frequently reflect a well-founded concern about reflexive groupthink, they’re also inherently problematical. Why? Because the quality and quantity of the content people create may speak volumes about them as individuals and perhaps society, but has nothing to do with social media itself. Is this blindingly obvious, or is there a greater insight to be gained here?

Marshall McCluhan’s gone. May he rest in peace. Now, the message is the medium, not the other way around. Blogs, Twitter streams, wiki entries, Facebook pages and FriendFeeds are simply a speculum vitae, a mirror of life that reflects what millions of people, in millions of places, are thinking about at any given point in time. No more, no less.

A Shopping Spree in the Marketplace of Ideas

In the ancient world, the Agora was the public marketplace in which all manner of goods and services were exchanged, and social contracts made. In the landmark 1990’s work, The Cluetrain Manifesto, a radical, new idea emerged: Markets are Conversations.

So, if conversations between free people are the new marketplaces — the agora of ideas, if you will, then –by definition– there can never be “too much” or “too little” discussion of Barack Obama, Britney Spears, theoretical physics, standard poodles, noodle kugel or anything else.

Rather, there’s exactly as much as the conversational marketplace wants there to be, regardless of whether you, I, or any other individual is interested in any given topic at any given point in time.

That’s the very nature of public discourse in a free society. Right now, there are millions of online conversations going on, ranging from the inspired to the inane, the generic to the stupefyingly specific, and all stops in between.

So, pick one. Or several. You’ll find the conversations that are right for you. You pays your money (or not, in most cases) and you takes your choice.

That’s the beauty of the human interaction that’s enabled by social media tools and technologies.

Conversations Just Want to be Free

So, can there ever be “too much” discussion of anything, then? The answer lies in the classic confrontation scene between the Emperor Joseph II and Mozart in the film and stageplay Amadeus

If conversations are the social “music” of free peoples, then, no, there can never be “too many notes.” There are as “just as many as are required.”

Besides, if someone’s going to just “cut a few” notes, the question then arises: Who’s going to do the cutting…and just which ones did you have in mind?

AFCEA Global Intelligence Update: 1/19/09

About this post: Below is my edited summary of John McCreary’s immensely informative and valuable, unclassified NightWatch Global Intelligence Update. NightWatch is published by AFCEA, the Armed Forces Communications & Electronics Assn., of which I am a member. Past editions of NightWatch are archived here in their entirety on AFCEA’s site.

Summary: A relatively light security news night, prior to the U.S. presidential inauguraton Tuesday. More on the Israel-Gaza truce with an analysis of tactics used, along with new developments in Chad.

Highlights, by Country

North Korea (DPRK):

News services have reported no new developments related to the North’s change in readiness condition and threats against South Korea. The South Korean forces are on alert and that is likely to deter the North Koreans. The South Korean Navy is ready for a grudge match against the North off the west coast and has far superior capabilities.

Israel:

Separately, Israel and Hamas have announced temporary truces. The Israelis announced they have begun a gradual withdrawal of ground forces, but remain ready to resume the fighting. Political contests in Israel and in Gaza will replace battlefield reporting for a while.

AFCEA NightWatch Analyst McCreary supports the Strategypage.com account of the fighting.

• The Israelis were better prepared than Hamas expected.
• Hamas was caught by surprise.
• Tactics that it borrowed from Lebanese Hezbollah failed because the Hamas fighters were poorly trained, less disciplined and less dedicated.
• Most of the estimated 20,000 Hamas fighters, some of whom were Iranian trained, ran away rather than fight the Israelis.
• Israel appears to have damaged Hamas physically and psychologically.

Israel fought as if it were a war, which it was, and imposed damage in that context. That means the Israelis declined to fight according to terms set by the UN or Hamas propaganda. The result is that 13 Israeli soldiers died, four from friendly fire, and more than 1,300 Arabs died.

The effects are likely to be temporary, depending on whether Israel and its friend can prevent resupply of Hamas. Moreover, Hamas leaders remain determined to destroy Israel. Rocket attacks will continue, but Israel might have found a formula for administering behavioral modification techniques to the Palestinians in Gaza again and again, until they conclude Hamas is not their best choice for local leaders. Hamas leaders failed the Palestinians. The Israelis won this round.

Chad:

Leaders from Chad’s eight main rebel groups have signed an agreement to join together in an alliance called the Union of Resistance Forces, Agence France-Presse reported today, citing rebel leader Ali Gueddei. General Mahamat Nouri, leader of one of the eight groups, said the alliance is a “big step” toward the goal of toppling Chadian President Idriss Deby’s government. Expect another series of raids against capital city N’Djamena.

AFCEA Global Intelligence Update: 1/17 – 1/18/09

About this post: Below is my edited summary of John McCreary’s immensely informative and valuable, unclassified NightWatch Global Intelligence Update. NightWatch is published by AFCEA, the Armed Forces Communications & Electronics Assn., of which I am a member. Past editions of NightWatch are archived here in their entirety on AFCEA’s site.

Summary: Continued verbal bellicosity by North Korea and the latest on the Israel-Gaza conflict lead the weekend report for Saturday-Sunday.

Highlights, by Country

North Korea (DPRK):

An unsigned statement by a uniformed spokesman for the General Staff today raised political tension between North and South Korea. This is the second bellicose statement by the DPRK in two days. On Friday, the North insisted that it will boost its nuclear deterrent and maintain its nuclear weapons as long as it remains under a nuclear threat.

NightWatch has studied today’s statement in detail. It carries a credible threat of incidents at sea off the west coast, but omits many of the usual terms of threat.

1. Timing of the statement: In the last week, the North offered to send a top diplomat to the US inauguration. Two days that was rejected, it issued the strong statement about retaining nuclear weapons directed at the US. The next day, today, it escalated with a threatening statement against the Republic of Korea (ROK). The sequence betrays pique over the diplomatic snub. The quick publication of bellicose statements against the US and its proxy signify the North had these in preparation in the event of rejection. That implies it had a separate set of statements ready had the US accepted what the North considered a generous gesture of conciliation.
   • NightWatch readers were advised to expect the North to react strongly to the snub. The statements have attached important positions of the US and the ROK. Diplomacy has been reset to the starting point.
   • The other aspect of timing is the North has tried to set itself at the top of the new US administration’s agenda for weeks. Readers will recall the last minute blitz to make some kind of breakthrough in the Six Party venue a few weeks back. The offer to send a top diplomat was part of that initiative, but the Israeli caper in Gaza knocked the North off the front page.
   • They tried gestures of conciliation, now they are trying hard line tactics. These are not policy differences just different tactics for getting the attention of the US administration. It is important to the North Korean leaders’ self image that they show they can force the US to pay attention to them. And they can.
2. Authority of the statement: The North has a stair case hierarchy of statements from signed commentaries to statement by the top party or government organizations. Unsigned statements on behalf of high level organizations are in the upper middle. They are not the highest level. A statement by a clearly identified Vice Marshal of the Korean Peoples Army – such as Minister Vice Marshal Kim Il-chol – on behalf of the Ministry of the Peoples Armed Forces is the highest statement from the military by the military hierarchy.
   • The last statement issued by a Vice Marshal on behalf of the Ministry was issued in 1988 before the Seoul Olympics and threatened to start a second Korean War. But even that is not the most authoritative military statement. A statement by a Vice chairman of the National Defense Commission, such as by Vice Minister Cho Myong-rok or Vice Marshal Kim Yong-chun, would vastly more authoritative.
3. Comments on themes: Over half the statement is a recitation of the wrongs the North claims it has suffered from the hardline government of ROK President Li and from the US. The litany of wrongs is a recap of various military announcements by Allied forces during the past year. In typical reversal style, the litany of wrongs by the South forces the North to make a change of some kinds. This is vintage communist cant. They always present themselves as patient and as never having a choice, but to respond at the end of their patience. Their self image requires they appear to be the reasonable party acting prudently.
   • After the recitation of wrongs, the statement conforms to the normal structure of such statements by narrowing the issue. The issue is the 60 year old dispute over the seaward extension of the Military Demarcation Line (MDL) down the middle of the Demilitarized Zone on the peninsula. The North has argued for years over a more southward extension of the MDL and does so in today’s statement. The UN forces have used a UN drawn line called the Northern Limit Line (NLL) as the sea boundary of the west coast.
   • The essential difference is that some South Korean occupied islands would lie within North Korean claimed territorial waters under the North’s proposal. Using the NLL as the boundary, they are within South Korean waters. The NLL, however, restricts the North’s use of Haeju port and adjacent coastal regions. The dispute flares every summer during blue crab fishing season.
   • The statement complains about routine South Korean intrusions into North Korean seas. The South denied any such intrusions today, but routine operations below the NLL would put South Korean ships inside some areas claimed by North Korea, using the MDL. In other words, there is no specific action apparent in public domain reporting to justify the North’s statement, other than pique over being snubbed.
4. Significant omissions: The statement carries no threat against the ROK held off shore islands. It carries no time when all of this will take place. Even the adoption of the all out confrontation posture coincides with the winter training cycle. The North has often adopted “postures” to raise tension, even though that is entirely its business. The really threatening statements require action by the South without which the North has no choice but to retaliate, and the verbs are all present tense. These are mainly future tense without a time term, measured in weeks or days, for example, or pegged to some future event. Except for a change in posture, the North has embraced no commitment to do anything in any time frame.
   • The statement also lacks the usual blood and guts tone of the really belligerent statements that increase tension across the Peninsular. This focuses primarily on the disputed area off the west coast.
5. The threat: If South Korean ships and craft enter the sea area north of the extended Military Demarcation Line, they should expect to receive North Korean gunfire without warning. There is no language indicating the North intends to start a war. This is not a new threat, but it is more pointed and explicit. Taken together, the three actions suggest the North will try to contrive an incident to prove their point and to get the US’ attention during inauguration week apparently.
   • Thus, a general increase in readiness signals intent for specific action. For example, during the 1976 tree cutting incident in the Joint Security Area at Panmunjom, UN Command forces were raised to full combat readiness, before the UN Command team entered the security area and cut the offending tree to the ground. The adoption of the increased readiness posture was the unambiguous indicator that the UN Command intended to take action in the context of that crisis, i.e., the tree cutting.
   • The same practices are true of North Korea. They are contriving a crisis and showing by their behavior that they have decided to do some limited violence if the opportunity arises in the area of dispute they have selected. Their intention is not general war, but, as is typical for them, they are prepared for escalation.
   • The diplomatic snub last week appears to underlie this quick change in tone and the succession of statements. Today’s announcement puts the North under self-imposed pressure to prove it means what it says. Any time Tuesday would be a good time for it to make its point.

South Korea:

The military called a border alert today after North Korea issued its statement, according to Yonhap and Agence France-Presse. The ROK Joint Chiefs of Staff ordered intensified guards from the army, navy and air force and increased reconnaissance flights by spy planes, a Joint Chiefs spokesman said. South Korean President Lee Myung Bak was briefed on Pyongyang’s statement at an emergency meeting.

Israel:

Today Israeli Prime Minister Olmert called [for] a unilateral cease-fire to begin on 18 January, international media reported. The goals of Israel’s Operation Cast Lead “were met in their entirety, and even beyond,” Olmert said, adding that Hamas’ capabilities had been seriously damaged. His announcement came after Israel’s National Security Cabinet voted in favor of the cease-fire.

Mr. McCreary summarizes the Israeli exit strategy, as he sees it: Declare victory and depart. He opines: Readers should have confidence that the tunnels in the southern access corridor to the Gaza Strip will have continued attention in the coming weeks.

AFCEA Global Intelligence Update: 1/15/09

About this post: The post below is my edited summary of John McCreary’s immensely informative and valuable, unclassified NightWatch Global Intelligence Update. NightWatch is published nightly by AFCEA, the Armed Forces Communications & Electronics Assn. of which I am a member. Past editions of NightWatch are archived here in their entirety on AFCEA’s site.

Highlights, by country:

Japan

1. Prime Minister Taro Aso will authorize a plan within the month for a destroyer to head to the waters off the coast of Somalia, to fight piracy.
2. Its official mission will be defending Japanese ships, with the destroyer’s use of force to be limited to self-defense and emergency evacuations.

Source: Nikkei business daily

North Korea

1. Report: DPRK/North Korean leader Kim Chong-il has designated his third son, Kim Jong-un, as his successor and delivered a directive on the nomination to the Workers’ Party leadership
2. Kim Jong-un is in his mid-20s, was educated in Switzerland and is thought to be the favorite of the three sons, although the least experienced. Jong-un has no position in the Party or the government.
3. The most important constituency is the senior officers of the DPRK armed forces. Kim Jong-un has no history of ties with the military establishment. His father has to ensure military loyalty to the dynastic succession before he dies.

Source: Yonhap news agency(ROK/South Korea)

India

1. The Hindu published comments by the General Officer Commanding in Chief, Northern Command, Lieutenant General P.C. Bhardwaij: “About 600 to 800 militants are active in Jammu and Kashmir as per the assessment of various security agencies,” but are said to be under severe pressure due to the elimination of their top cadres.
2. Bhardwaij claimed 335 militants have been killed in joint operations during the last year.
3. Chief of Army Staff General Deepak Kapoor said the Indian Army’s “patience [with neighboring Pakistan] is being tested” after the Mumbai attacks.
4. In diplomacy today, India dropped its demand that Pakistan turn over all individuals involved in the 26 November Mumbai attacks
5. External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said India would accept a “fair trial” in Pakistan of anybody involved in the attack. Trial must be “transparent and demonstrated,” he said.
6. What it may mean: Today’s statements are important for several reasons. Bhardwaij provided the most recent estimate of Kashmiri terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir State and confirmed that the camps on the Pakistan side of the Line of Control remain active, despite promises to fight terror. He and General Kapoor are now leading the public charge that explicitly blames Pakistan for India’s security problems. That frees the Prime Minister and the External Affairs Minister to appear more flexible.

Israel

1. At least 20 rockets were fired into southern Israel from the Gaza Strip early today, as cease-fire discussions were occurring in Cairo, according to the Jerusalem Post.
2. USA Today, The Media Line and al Jazeera, among other services, reported that the ceasefire agreement under discussion is likely to include a provision for a commitment of US technology to Egypt and Israel to help close down the hundreds of tunnels used to supply arms to Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Venezuela

1. The National Assembly approved President Chavez’s proposal for abolishing presidential term limits, paving the way for a national referendum that’s set for 15 February. Chavez persists.

It’s 2009: Welcome to the Wiki White House

Craigslist Meets the West Wing

The New Americas Foundation sponsored a groundbreaking, live streaming webcast today on the potential uses of Internet-based social media tools and technologies in the incoming administration, in the executive branch, as well as by other U.S. federal government agencies.

What are the opportunities for transparency and accountability? The risks? Who benefits, and how?

From the NAF website:

Technology evangelists believe that Barack Obama has the potential to fundamentally alter communication between the presidency and the people. Wikis in the White House? Online public comments on legislation? A real-time two-way conversation between citizens and their elected officials?

For better or worse, however, nothing is as easy as it might seem. Federal regulations, First Amendment issues, and just plain common sense are going to slow — and potentially stagnate — technological innovation in Washington.

The New America Foundation and Wired Magazine will host a discussion of what can, should, and must change when the Obama administration takes the reins.

The event was co-sponsored by New America Foundation, Wired Magazine, and Google. View the archived video below:

Featured Speakers:

Craig Newmark
Founder, Craigslist

Ellen Miller
Executive Director, Sunlight Foundation

Sascha Meinrath
Research Director, Wireless Future Program, New America Foundation

Mindy Finn
Director of E-Strategy, Mitt Romney for President

Moderator
Nicholas Thompson
Fellow, New America Foundation; Senior Editor, Wired Magazine

Life After 2.0: User-Generated Government & More