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About BeaconGov
Beacon Systems, Inc. is a consulting firm specializing in providing resources and providing resources and providing resources and administration, management, accounting and financial services for government and commercial entities. Beacon Systems specializes in providing comprehensive Information Technology (IT) Training and Support, Performance Consulting capabilities as well as Collaborative Security Systems that all synthesize into a smoothly integrated operation that will consistently aid in the advancement of your business from one level of production and efficiency to the next level.

GAN-ITP Initiative
Global Alert Network (GAN)
Www.globalalertnetwork.com
An Advisory Alert Integrated Network of Information, Technology, People and Processes (GAN-ITP2 Initiative)

Contact Information
BeaconGov Inc. www.beacongov.com POC: Peter R. Ramsaroop
Peter.ramsaroop@beacongov.com

4335 Piedras Drive West Suite 104 San Antonio, Texas 78228 Tel: 210-843-2454

Is the Threat Real? .and he that will not apply new remedies must expect new evils; time is the greatest innovator. - The Essays by Sir Francis Bacon, 1601

Summary
The world has changed since September 11, 2001. After the September 11 2001 attack on the United States, and subsequent anthrax events, officials nation-wide and around the world began clamoring for the need for a better data infrastructure so they could centrally review information spanning general data, healthcare and other information related to bio-surveillance and early warning capabilities. Although there are many federal alert systems in the United States, each tailored and unique to different sectors of our society such as defense, transportation, agriculture, and weather for example, information critical to responding adequately to this disaster was not readily available or integrated. Personnel of TEAMBI Solutions Inc. were involved in this vital area of work prior to these events through their Global Alert Network suite of capabilities development initiative, their extensive experience in Department of Defense (DoD) Readiness and Contingency/Disaster Preparedness Planning, as well as their extensive experience providing Y2K Disaster and Contingency Planning, and Situation Awareness Center development and management support and work with DoD and Veterans Affairs; and represent a historic benchmark for a small business to have the experience, the knowledge, and the initiative required in these critical times, to seek to assist our nation in developing this vital capability needed by the United States and other nations to better prepare for potential future disasters and contingencies. Building a successful infrastructure that fully integrates all the primary sources of critical information, technology, people and processes is urgently needed. The information technology infrastructure to integrate all the sources of emergency and disaster preparedness information on a daily basis and for predictive planning currently does not exist.1 Building a multi-sector integrated system that will serve as a national framework for Federal, State, and local governments, private industry and the public is critical to the global preparedness against acts of terrorism and other contingencies or disaster situations. Such integration must rely on qualitative assessment, not quantitative calculation. Many agencies are involved in protecting the population from acts of terrorism and responding to contingencies or disaster situations such as law enforcement agencies, intelligence agencies, diplomatic agencies, the military, news agencies, and public health agencies; just to name a few. Recently the Homeland Defense Office introduced a coding system in order to standardize responses from various agencies. Although the coding system is a major start, in the people and processes parts of responding to a contingency or disaster, the technological infrastructure integration of vital and time sensitive information is severely lacking. The integration of information, technology, people, and processes must include modules of prevention and preparedness, detection, response (both early and sustained), and recovery as shown in Figure 1. Integration of Threat Information with GAN will follow the factors as outlined by the Homeland Defense Office: 1. To what degree is the threat information credible? 2. To what degree is the threat information corroborated? 3. To what degree is the threat specific and/or imminent? 4. How grave are the potential consequences of the threat? GAN is intended to provide a comprehensive and effective means to integrate information, technology, people and process regarding the risk of terrorist acts. It is intended to create a common open architecture, vocabulary, context and structure about threats, acts, product recalls to name a few by providing an various level access to agencies while providing the public with comprehensive information via the GANTV channel.
1 Report to the President: Transforming Health Care Through Information Technology, Presidents Information Technology Advisory Committee, February 2001
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Figure 1: Source: Science and Technology Policy Institute, RAND

The integration of data for the different constituencies such as government agencies, response organizations, healthcare facilities and the general public during a major event is critical to the success of these phases. The press coverage of the recent anthrax attacks proved that integration of basic surveillance, communication and research was lacking.

Background
As historic examples, issues surrounding the Gulf War Illness, "Improved Medical Tracking Systems For Members 2 3 Deployed Overseas In Contingency or Combat Operations " and, "Joint Medical Surveillance" , directed routine medical surveillance of all Military Service members during active Federal service; especially during military deployments. Emerging and increased asymmetric threats combined with the lack of adequate means to medically identify, analyze, and track significant exposures, adversely impact our entire population. In the July 2000 United States Government General Accounting Office report on Combating Terrorism it remained clear that Force Protection for American servicemen is deficient. This problem can now be expanded to include the lack of th protection for the general public. During the events of September 11 and the following Anthrax attacks, it became even clearer that the Nation was not well prepared for required support utilizing biosurveillance, and early warning and mitigation technologies. In addition, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has stated that the U.S. national civilian vulnerability to the deliberate use of biological and chemical agents has been highlighted by recognition of substantial biological weapons development programs and arsenals in foreign countries, attempts to acquire or possess biological agents by militants, and high-profile terrorist attacks. These problems were further reinforced by a special report on CNN on March 25, 2002 by the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Secretary of Defense addressing their discovery and destruction of Anthrax production labs and facilities in Afghanistan; clearly identifying a biological weapons development program with an intent for deliberate terrorist use. Evaluation of this vulnerability has focused on the role public health will have detecting and managing the probable covert biological terrorist incident with the realization that the U.S. local, state, and federal infrastructure is already strained as a result of other important public health problems. In partnership with representatives for local and state health departments,
2 Public Law 105-85 amendment of Title 10, SECTION 765 3 DoD Directive 6490.2

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other federal agencies, and medical and public health professional associations, the CDC has developed a strategic plan to address the deliberate dissemination of biological or chemical agents. The plan contains recommendations to reduce U.S. vulnerability to biological and chemical terrorism --- preparedness planning, detection and surveillance, laboratory analysis, emergency response, and communication systems. Training and research are integral components for achieving these recommendations. Success of the plan hinges on strengthening the relationships between medical and public health professionals and on building new partnerships with emergency management, the military, and law enforcement professionals. The Department of Justice White Paper on critical infrastructure discussed that the military and the economy are also increasingly reliant upon certain critical infrastructure and upon cyber-based information systems. Critical infrastructures are those physical and cyber-based systems essential to the minimum operations of the economy and government. They include, but are not limited to, telecommunications, energy, banking and finance, transportation, water systems and emergency services, both government and private. Many of the nations critical infrastructures have historically been physically and logically separate systems that had little interdependence. As a result of advances in information technology and the necessity of improved efficiency, however, these infrastructures have become increasingly automated and interlinked. These same advances have created new vulnerabilities to equipment failures, human error, weather and other natural causes, and physical and cyber attacks. Addressing these vulnerabilities will necessarily require flexible, evolutionary approaches that span both the public and private sectors, and protect both domestic and international security. Because of our military strength, future enemies, whether nations, groups or individuals, may seek to harm us in non-traditional ways including attacks within the United States. Our economy is increasingly reliant upon interdependent and cyber-supported infrastructures and non-traditional attacks on our infrastructure and information systems may be capable of significantly harming both our military power and our economy. It has long been the policy of the United States to assure the continuity and viability of critical infrastructures. President Bush intends that the United States will take all necessary measures to swiftly eliminate any significant vulnerability to both physical and cyber attacks on our critical infrastructures, including especially our cyber systems. Lessons learned from Agent Orange and the Persian Gulf Illness, and then during the September 11, 2001 events, demonstrated a need for many requirements for consolidation of information and have now become paramount to early warning and mitigation responses. The requirement has demonstrated an inability to fully appreciate the risks under which Americans serve and fight. Without this appreciation, risk mitigation and avoidance cannot be thoughtfully accomplished. Avoidance and mitigation of risk becomes crucial in the face of the threat of Weapons of Mass Destruction, specifically biological and chemical weapons. Among the lessons learned from Agent Orange and the Persian Gulf Illness is the need to better collect, record and analyze exposure of American forces to chemical agents, biological agents, occupational and environmental hazards, and Toxic Industrial Materials (TIMs) electronically so that military commanders and other decision makers can better understand the potential risks our troops are exposed to in the service of their country. Understanding Chemical Biological Warfare (CBW) and TIM risks are paramount so that commanders and decision makers can take prompt action to reduce or eliminate the medical threat to our military forces, or to the general population in the event of a civilian biological or chemical situation or disaster.
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4 Biological and Chemical Terrorism: Strategic Plan for Preparedness and Response April 2000 5 The Clinton Administrations Policy on Critical Infrastructure under Presidential Decision Directive 63 (PDD 63) Department of Justice White Paper, May 1998

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Although the nation and our military have at least as high, if not a higher threat from covert Biological and/or Chemical attack both at home and abroad, few proactive mitigation programs (short of the Anthrax vaccination programs) have occurred or been sanctioned by the majority of the senior leadership within the Department of the Defense or the Federal Government to date.

Benefits of the GAN-ITP Initiative

Global
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Global Alert Network (GAN) can function as the secure information integrator and disseminator of information between Local, State, Federal and International Agencies, and function as an Advisory System to the general public as required in support of PD3 and other Federal mandates working closely with the DoD and other local, tate, and Federal Agencies such as Public Health Departments, FEMA, the CDC, etc. GAN can deploy worldwide to support various operations through a GAN channel on television and WEB based services. By design, National agencies and/or the DoD could utilize GAN capabilities that can be tailored and deployed to meet a full spectrum of requirements. The GAN will support the mission, helping to ensure an optimum level of wellness and force protection for the supported population. A state-of-the-art technology information and communication infrastructure is core to the success of a major response or preparedness for a terrorist related incident, or other contingencies. Integration of the three basic elements of Bio-Terrorism: terrorist, biological agent and a living target.

Health
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GAN tools will comprise an integration of a federation of systems that include systems to collect signs and symptoms during patient visits, transfer data to analysis centers, perform real-time epidemiological studies aimed at early warning, invoke the command and control system and emergency response systems should an attack be suspected, and then support first responders as they execute. With new, state-of-the-art secure VPN and encryption technologies available, one area that could and should also be addressed in the GAN is the ability to coordinate through an information portal that would support secure information services to integrate communications throughout the military command and control system, and still also provide and flow information to the general public both for information dissemination and support to an area of potential attack or disaster. GAN will be able to deliver the capability to record and/or review clinical information as an example. In addition, through integration of outside products, it can provide critical Battle Management and Command and Control data to higher echelons of control through a reach back capability designed to support sustained quality medical support for national surveillance. The GAN, through its capability partners will improve the documentation of delivered healthcare and response to health threats and/or biological/chemical events that place our forces or the general population at risk. In addition, GAN will provide the capability to capture comprehensive information on health risks - including environmental risks - facing Americans and the DoD deployed forces.

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GAN will support "reachback capability" flowing through various communications networks and providing key medical, occupational and environmental surveillance information to the centralized locations and other medical authorities. Through these capabilities GAN will integrate patient evaluation, epidemiological analysis, and medical command and control across the full spectrum of agencies such as Coalition Forces, Government Agencies and civilian medical treatment facilities. The GAN reachback capability could integrate patient evaluation, epidemiological analysis, occupational and environmental monitoring, and medical command and control across the full spectrum of military medical operations and civil support actions. GAN is designed to have the ability to record and/or review clinical information captured from the individual patient encounters that may have indicators of a potential chemical or biological related problem or event that needs to be brought to the attention of local agencies or higher level decision makers. That information could then shared or "rolled-up" for automated analysis. This analysis would need to occur within a time frame that allows for early identification and mitigation of the risk. GAN will improve the documentation of the healthcare delivered and ability of agencies to respond to threats and/or BW/CW events that place our forces at risk. The by-products are a better continuity of patient care, improved surveillance of the health and the direct reduction of illness and death through risk avoidance in the event of attack or endemic event. GAN with a sub channel for health and its subsidiary health alerts site/Health Alert Network, www.healthalertnetwork.com) would serve as the portal for health information and health alert warnings in several ways. As clinical data is gathered in various medical applications and aggregated from across targeted regions, real-time analysis could be performed on a rolling, 24-hour basis. Symptom arrays are mapped to a backdrop of symptom patterns of possible bio-warfare agents. An alert would be generated when the spatial or temporal pattern of the data indicate suspected activity and the alert is sent through the secure Global Alert Network. The network then supports the dissemination of the details that caused the alert and invokes various centers of excellence for closer review of the information that led to the alert. Through the Global Alert Network services, experts who could be located nationally or internationally would begin to collaborate and initiate initial courses of actions to either confirm or refute the possibility of an attack or incident. If an attack or incident were confirmed, the Global Alert Network secure services notification system could then alert the local, state, and national authorities concerning the situation and allow for real-time collaboration in a secure fashion. Adjunct analysis from experts would then support or modify the pre-determined courses of actions. Likewise, the information would be shared with command and control authorities in a watchboard fashion along with other information to allow the command and control authorities to have a consolidated operational picture from which to make decisions about the appropriate tactical response for risk mitigation and avoidance. Operationally, the Global Alert Network would serve to exploit and integrate information from different data domains and networks that are usually not shared in a way that definitively enhances information dominance and helps maintain an environment that mitigates the overall effect of a covert attack.

General Public
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GAN would serve as an Advisory portal for officials to release information to the general public and target information needed to the populace of an area where a natural disaster or terrorist related incident has occurred. Through its messaging services, the Global Alert Network could send alerts to those located in the impacted area. Evacuation policies, bio-hazard precautions, reporting center requirements, etc., would all be established by command and control authorities and then posted to the Global Alert Network to support public information distribution; interacting with, and utilizing other, existing local, state and federal alert systems that may be in existence for that area.
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The Global Alert Network Channel (GANTV and www.GlobalAlertNetwork.com - Internet) could become the nations primary site for natural disasters, accident related disasters, or terrorist related disaster and emergency response information related to a vast array of services associated with general population information dissemination. Integration of information with the Homeland Defense Threat System defining protective measures and action at graduated Threat Conditions. GAN can assist authorities and decision makers with managing public reaction to threats and disasters through provision of emergency preparedness information and training to the public; as well as providing general response information to the public in the event of a threat or an actual emergency.

Nuclear/Biological/Chemical
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GAN will maintain information on technological and medical capabilities required to meet present requirements, and to help counter future threats. Integrate medical management of Chemical, Biological and Radiological/nuclear casualties to enhance survivability, and expedite return to normal operations. GAN could provide officials with information on biological defense vaccines supplies inventory (Vaccines, Antibody, Drugs, Diagnostic Technologies) GAN could provide training materials for management of chemical, biological and radiological casualties. Information on pre and post exposure countermeasures could be disseminated via the GAN.

Environment and Transportation

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Integrate GAN with current weather alert systems. Geographic Information related to incidents or disasters would be shown on GAN. Monitoring data for biological agents would be coordinated through the GAN. Provide transportation updates, and collect transportation related information. Monitoring, redirecting, or constraining transportation systems.

Agriculture
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U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) notices could be posted on the GAN. Recalls of Food Products could be posted on the GAN for official and public information. Recalls of other Products could be posted on the GAN for official and public information.
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Government
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GAN can act as the integrator of local, state, and federal government emergency and disaster systems. Public and private agencies of all disciplines participating in the GAN will be able to integrate and share information and ideas to allow agencies to re-engineer current information discovery, analysis and distribution processes; to properly plan, and develop new, centralized policies; and to provide the proper information to train their people for natural disasters, accident related, or terrorist related incidents. Government and Commercial agencies can work together to define the information requirements, and knowledge management processes necessary to develop the technology needed for a full cock-pit view of vital information for decision-makers. Integrate Federal, State and Local Emergency Preparedness information and systems, to include such things as the Homeland Security Advisory System providing Homeland Security general information, Threat Conditions, and response measures such as those addressed in the March 11, 2002 Homeland Security Presidential Directive-3 white paper published by the Office of the Press Secretary. Focus on integration of information and knowledge management to present a cock-pit (consolidated) view of vital information to decision makers at all levels of government as applicable.

Security
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Security concerns for public and private sector agencies, as well as the public can be disseminated via the GAN. Contact information for organizations able to provide information and physical security risk assessments and testing, as well as security planning and training will be made available. Various levels of information security for access and distribution of information to different organization could be built into the GAN technology for secure information sharing and consultation.

Technology Infrastructure
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Architecture of the GAN is in design amongst a GAN Consortium of public and private sector agencies, and is being presented for consideration for implementation to such agencies as the Homeland Defense Office, the Department of Defense, and other related Federal, State, and Local agencies.

March 11, 2002 Homeland Security Presidential Directive-3 Whitepaper, Office of the Press Secretary, March 12, 2002

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The GAN establishes an infrastructure that captures and integrates critical information, and then aggregates it for the purpose of analysis. The system can reveal abnormal occurrences of symptoms or other results within Specific populations at risk. Should levels reach a proportion that warrants an alert and is consistent with a BW/CW event then the data flow would change while simultaneously notifying command and control authorities. Altered data flows share the data with experts distant from the engagement for their evaluation and evaluation and the development risk mitigation/avoidance options; and combine medical data with data from other domains to begin to establish a more comprehensive picture of the area of interest. The combined data is shared on the GAN infrastructure, which gives command and control authorities a clearer picture of the event and allows for distribution to the public as needed.

Conclusion
The GAN development and integration of pertinent, required information, technology, people and processes of various agencies has begun. The scope of this project is vast and will require many stakeholders buy-in as many of these communities normally operate independently of one another. The foundation of such an initiative of 2 Information, Technology, People and Processes (GAN-ITP ) is needed in order to develop an infrastructure that enables the collection, analysis, and dissemination of critical information in real time to prevent or mitigate the effects of a major contingency.

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