SIGN UP FOR YOUR COMPLIMENTARY SUBSCRIPTION TODAY! The TISP e-Newsletter is published bi-monthly that features a letter from Albert V. Romano, Chair of the TISP Board and includes the latest infrastructure security and resilience information: Director News, Government news and notifications, Upcoming TISP events conferences, Industry announcements, Member updates, Director News and Activities and achievements Please send any relevant news items for publication to Bill Anderson, wanderson@tisp.org Please click here to join our e-mailing list Important Message: Your privacy is important to us. We will not provide your contact information to the public. This is strictly used to keep you informed of the latest information on TISP activities that may be of interest to you.
| Resilience Today "A national resource for a more resilient tomorrow." |
| QUOTE OF THE MONTH "When we started TISP on 9/20/2001 the founding members wanted to do our part to overcome terrorism and other man-made threats to our nation's infrastructure. Looking back almost ten years, I'm so pleased with TISP's continued relevancy and multi-hazard focus. Over this period we should be grateful to strong individual leadership and steadfast sponsorship, first by USACE and ASCE and now by SAME. The key value in TISP has been and remains "Partnership". As we celebrate TISP's tenth anniversary, let us commit to helping each other build resilient infrastructure that will serve our nation well for many decades to come." -Dwight Beranek, P.E. Found Chair The Infrastructure Security Partnership |
THANK YOU TO OUR 2011 SPONSORS! 
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| Dear TISP Colleagues, The anticipation is building for what will be another exciting and busy spring season for TISP as we thaw out from a very cold winter and into the warm temperatures. From the outset of this year, TISP members and partners have been working diligently to further our goals and objectives of building a more resilient nation. These particular efforts included: - The Regional & Infrastructure Disaster Resilience Task Force (as directed by the Critical Infrastructure Resilience Committee (CIRC)), has held several meetings and workshops with a wide range of professionals for the development of the Critical Infrastructure Resilience Guide (CIRG) and the update to the widely used Regional Disaster Resilience Guide (RDRG). As a result, significant progress continues to be made towards the updating of the RDRG, with the intent on having the revised guide released by year's end.
- TISP's State & Local Security & Emergency Management Agencies Committee (SEMAC) leaders began working on identifying critical issues facing local and regional agencies, with the intent on addressing some of these issues at the upcoming committee meeting, tentatively scheduled in June 2011.
- TISP's 3rd Federal Agency Workshop on Infrastructure and Regional Resilience was held onFebruary 11, 2011. This important event was hosted by the Army Navy Club in Washington DC, with the assistance and support from our colleagues at the Society of American Military Engineers (SAME). Over thirty government agency representatives along with several representatives from the Administration, Private Sector, Academia, State and Local agencies, as well as other Professional Organizations attended the event. Several of the agencies in attendance (DHS, USACE, EPA, HHS, NOAA, etc.) provided an overview of their major resilience focused programs, initiatives and priorities as well as a discussion of areas of potential collaboration. In addition, attendees shared ideas for incorporating concepts of resilience into existing public safety, homeland defense and security, public health, economic development, and environmental sustainability programs. Another vital focus of the session was fostering and sustaining cross-sector dialogue for resilience and creating/strengthening public-private partnerships. Due to the success and interest in this workshop, TISP will be hosting a follow-up session, which will be conducted later this calendar year.
- With Bill Anderson's and Stacy Cardillo's leadership, the newly formed Communications and Networking Partnerships Committee (CNPC) was constituted earlier this month. The CNPC will focus on expanding the knowledge base of critical infrastructure resilience by cultivating information-sharing among the various partner associations, agencies, companies, and organizations that are supporting the homeland security mission. The CNPC will be responsible for managing the marketing and communications outreach components of TISP, as well as promoting industry events to existing and prospective members. The CNPC will also serve as an in-house resource to all TISP members for promotingevent and other key information to all readers.
This week, TISP and the Disaster Recovery Institute (DRI) International Co-hosted the "Convergence in Recovery Symposium, held at the New York Stock Exchange on March 22nd, 2011. The symposium focused on the congressionally mandated and DHS led "Voluntary Private Sector Preparedness And Certification Program, known as PS-Prep™." I had the pleasure of participating at this event where there was a great turnout. Representatives from 26 Public and Private Organizations from various locations participated in the symposium. Messrs, Jim Caverly, Director of DHS' Partnership and Outreach Division, and Marcus Pollock, Operations Officers with DHS' FEMA, provided excellent briefings on the PS Program, focusing on its stated goals, objectives, processes, and limitations. They emphasized the fact that the program is and will remain voluntary and that they will encourage private sector organizations that choose to become Accredited or Certified under the program to do so based on their business case and interests. During this session, representatives shared their concerns, asked questions and provided input and suggestions for consideration by DHS for the implementation of the PS-Program. The interactions and discussions were very insightful and covered a range of topics. Some of the key areas and recommendations for follow up were recorded for future action. Both TISP and DRI will develop a "white paper" as one of the follow up actions from this session. I encourage those of you who attended and others that may have an interest in participating in the development of the paper to contact Mr. Bill Anderson, at wanderson@tisp.org. The Second Annual West Point Critical Infrastructure Symposium will be held on April 29 & 30, 2011 at the Renaissance Newark Airport Hotel in New Jersey and is hosted by TISP and SAME. This Symposium will focus on the integration of resilient infrastructure policies, practices, and education including presentations and roundtable discussions from college students (undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral), as well as faculty conducting research on critical infrastructure protection and resilience. As we approach our ten year anniversary, I am excited and grateful for the support and collaboration of TISP members, partners and colleagues. I also want to extend a warm welcome to two new elected members to the TISP Board of Directors, Mr. Dennis Schrader, P.E. and Dr. Jerry Brashear, PhD. Both Dennis and Jerry are distinguished professionals who bring outstanding credentials and many years of professional experience in resilience and homeland security. I look forward to their continued engagement and contributions, along with our distinguished members of the TISP Board. I look forward to seeing you at our upcoming events and encourage you all to continue to be engaged in TISP. Regards, Albert V. Romano TISP Chair |
| DIRECTOR'S NEWS The earthquakes in Japan will not be remembered for the shaking of the ground. The subsequent damage caused by the Tsunami swashing through the communities along the shore line and damaging the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant resulting in Japan having to address three major disasters; this will be taught to our children and grand children. The earthquake did not cause as much damage as seen in Christchurch, New Zealand quake. Our hearts and prayers go out to the ones that are affected by both of the quakes. One of the immediate lessons learned from these disasters is Japan's years of dedicated infrastructure investments were wish. When examining the damaged across their nation, the earthquake destroyed or disrupted older structures not meeting current building codes and standards around the Tokyo region. Though the newer structures are still standing strong and were able to support daily operations. In the United States, engineers, architects, investors, builders, utility providers, insurance companies, among others have been arguing for greater investments in our transportation, power, water and wastewater, public health and safety infrastructure to ensure their resilience at the time of disaster when needed most. Recently, Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) and Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchinson (R-TX) proposed the establishment of the American Infrastructure Financing Authority, another variation on the National Infrastructure Investment Bank proposed for many years. Due to the recent economic turns and the public perception that the Federal Government spends too much, the legislation to establish such a Bank to prioritize infrastructure investments on economic development, essential need, and support of community and regional resilience is expected to fail in both the House and Senate. Recently Brian Kamoie, Senior Director, Preparedness Policy, White House National Security Staff, discussed the impact of President Barak Obama signing a new Presidential Policy Directive (PPD) on National Preparedness. The Directive outlines the President's vision for strengthening the security and resilience of the United States through systematic preparation for threats to the security of the Nation, including acts of terrorism, pandemics, significant accidents, and catastrophic natural disasters. The Directive follows a comprehensive review of national preparedness policy and replaces Homeland Security Presidential Directive 8 (HSPD-8, 2003) and HSPD-8 Annex I (2007). The Directive calls for the development of a National Preparedness System to guide activities that will enable the Nation to achieve its preparedness goals and New Normal. Implementation plan of the System should include a comprehensive outline for designing and building resilient infrastructure that capable of withstanding impacts of multiple hazards. Congress and the White House should conduct joint discussions to marry together the policy for national preparedness with the private and public sector infrastructure investment models proposed on the Hill over the last few years. By doing so, National commitment would be renewed to ensure the capabilities and reliance upon our infrastructure that has not been non-existent since the authorization of the National Interstate Highway System in 1956. Upcoming April & May Events The 2011 Second Annual West Point Critical Infrastructure Symposium: There is still time to register for this very important event - developing the professionals need in the future. TISP and the U.S. Military Academy developed a collaborative partnership for hosting the 2011 West Point Critical Infrastructure Symposium (WPCIS), which will be held April 29-30, 2011, at the Renaissance Newark Airport Hotel. Its purpose is to educate and develop undergraduate and graduate-level students in the fields of critical infrastructure protection and resilience (CIP/R), improve the relevance of CIP/R research by allowing doctorial candidates conducting research to interact with professionals implementing solutions, and promote an understanding of infrastructure and the operational art. WPCIS will be working with TISP for the first time this year. Register for this event here. Sponsor this event here. Regional and Infrastructure Disaster Resilience Task Force: The next meeting of the Regional and Infrastructure Disaster Resilience (RIDR) Task Force is May 5, 2011. The purpose of the meeting is to finalize the 2011 edition of the Regional Disaster Resilience Guide, a "living document" expanded and updatedto reflect our increasing understanding and lessons learned about resilience and its requirements. The meeting is also intended for the Task Force to map out an online resource and directory for implementing elements of the RDR Guide. During the meeting, a third action needs to be taken, which includes the Task Force initiating a new project to produce a much-needed companion handbook that focuses on how to navigate the principles and frameworks for preparedness, response and recovery to develop resilient infrastructure focusing at the asset level. Creating Infrastructure Resilience (CIR) Handbook, together with the RDR Guide, will provide a valuable, integrated and holistic approach that will assist stakeholder organizations from the grassroots to national level. If you are interested in joining the RIDR Task Force, please send your request to Bill Anderson, Director of TISP, at wanderson@tisp.org. Annual Infrastructure and Reg |
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