Technology: Can’t Live With It, Can’t Live Without It.

Technology marches forward continually,, going from the introduction of smartphones and the launch of social media in the early 2000s to self-driving vehicles and augmented reality devices less than 20 years later. Such rapid changes challenge community leaders and emergency preparedness professionals in building truly resilient communities.  

The October edition of the Domestic Preparedness Journal takes a deeper dive into some of these considerations within national preparedness, critical infrastructure, and emerging technologies. Events like the COVID-19 pandemic exposed planning gaps, not because the plans did not exist but because the plans were not familiar, inclusive, or scalable enough to ensure effective action when needed. Issues like food security and basic community needs reached critical levels in some areas. Organizations without specific plans for a pandemic rose to the challenge of addressing these issues and creating programs that will benefit communities long after returning to normal daily activities. 

The 2021 Report Card for America’s Infrastructure gave the U.S.’s aging infrastructure, which communities across the nation rely on for their daily activities, a C-. Critical factors may be overlooked when focusing on one’s own company, agency, or jurisdiction. Hospitals, for example, rely on much more than just the Healthcare and Public Sector. It is essential to understand how that sector influences and is influenced by other critical infrastructure sectors, each of which also has evolving preparedness issues to consider in the decision-making process. 

Concerning technology, there is no doubt that this factor is challenging to keep up with. It often seems complicated to believe that so much has changed in a relatively short period, thinking back to the earliest childhood memory of what technology looked like back then. Plans and processes have changed drastically regarding technology’s impact on information, communication, learning, and other core tasks, and our articles this month address some of those issues.