The near-real-time collection, processing and distribution of all-source information on the global, national, regional and local level will provide for better informed decision making and cost effective mitigation, preparation, response and recovery throughout all levels of the disaster management community for all types of disasters.

The traditional hierarchical structure of the disaster management community will be transformed and empowered by the development of a virtual disaster information network, able to address all hazards and incorporating all-source access, high reliability and security.   This US Disaster Information Network (US-DIN) will enable improved disaster management operations by providing a capability for the local disaster manager, incident commander and first responder to operate more effectively.  The limited resources of local disaster managers and incident commanders will be augmented by linking, in a virtual working environment, skilled experts and all-source information resources from anywhere in the country or world with incident-specific local disaster response and recovery operations.

The WDC has been working on a variety of projects to implement the US-DIN all-source / all-hazard concept and address Homeland Security issues.

Project HOME FRONT is a Western Disaster Center initiative to leverage the unparalled capabilities of the high tech industrial base, Federal research centers, universities and the unique defense and intelligence technology resources resident in Silicon Valley to address Home Land Defense and to jump start the development of an all-source/all-hazard US Disaster Information Network.

The Public Health Operations Network (PHONet) is an innovative applied research initiative to demonstrate how collaborative technologies that have been developed and proven in the U.S. Defense and Intelligence Communities can be applied in the civil sector to enhance the effectiveness of health officers, epidemiologists and public health nurses enabling them to better mitigate, prepare for, respond to and recover from natural, environmental, technological and man-made disasters.  To find out more about the PHONet initiative, click here ...