• Global food-trade network vulnerable to fast spread of contaminants

    As the world’s population climbs past seven billion, the sustainable production and distribution of food is balanced against the need to ensure its chemical and microbiological safety; this is not easy: a rigorous analysis of the international food-trade network shows the network’s vulnerability to the fast spread of contaminants as well as the correlation between known food poisoning outbreaks and the centrality of countries on the network

  • CAST Lighting’s LED Perimeter Light wins industry innovation award

    The task of illuminating long perimeter fences has always been problematic; installing tall pole-mounted luminaires to flood fence regions with light is expensive in material and labor and wastes energy, since most of the illumination falls outside the perimeter region; typical metal halide pole-mounted lamps would require nearly 4,000 watts to light 500 feet of fence; CAST Lighting’s LED Perimeter Light uses just seven watts per luminaire, thus illuminating 500 feet of fence with less than 150 watts of power, saving 96 percent on energy costs; the new LED Perimeter Light captured the industry coveted innovation award at LightFair International 2012

  • AT&T receives DHS disaster preparedness certification

    AT&T said Friday that it is the first company in the United States to earn DHS certification for disaster preparedness; AT&T’s certification is the first under the DHS Voluntary Private Sector Preparedness Program, designed to enable private sector organizations to enhance their capabilities for planning, responding to, and recovering from natural disasters and other threats

  • Deadly Italy earthquakes result in $6 billion economic loss

    Two earthquakes and subsequent aftershocks struck northern Italy within a 9-day period, killing twenty-five people, injuring more than 400 others and causing extensive damage to the cultural heritage throughout the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy, in addition to businesses and personal property; prolonged periods of rain affected China throughout the month of May, with at least 143,000 homes damaged or destroyed

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  • Bolstering SMBs’ disaster preparedness

    Small and medium business (SMB) in the United States are not ready for natural or man-made disasters, and for the consequences of such disasters; this is worrisome, because for a small business a disaster can be potentially devastating; being prepared can sometimes mean the difference between surviving and sinking

  • ISO offers new standard for business continuity management

    Incidents take many forms ranging from large scale natural disasters and acts of terror to technology-related accidents and environmental incidents; the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has published an international standard addressing business continuity management to contribute making organizations in both public and private sectors more resilient

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  • Mentoring small business in disaster resiliency

    In January 2012, FEMA announced a new campaign Small Business is Big, aimed to increase outreach and educational opportunities to small businesses in the emergency management arena; a new private-industry program, the Business Emergency Management Mentorship, is directly inspired by this FEMA campaign and is an effort to help small businesses often lacking the resources to be better prepared for all-hazards disasters

  • EF Johnson named to DHS TacCom supplier group

    TacCom is a multiple award Indefinite-Delivery, Indefinite-Quantity (IDIQ) contract established in 2012 to help DHS purchase a full array of tactical communications products, infrastructure, and services for mission critical, public safety communications; the total funds spent on equipment through this contract may not exceed $3 billion, inclusive of options

  • Alabama on the 9-1-1 forefront -- again

    The first 9-1-1 call in the United States was placed in Alabama more than forty years ago; now, Alabama is on the 9-1-1 cutting edge again by replacing its TDM call routing  with a IP-based and Next Generation 9-1-1 (NG9-1-1) solution; the new system supports voice as well as text, images, video and other IP-based requests for emergency services

  • Insuring against Olympic cancelation

    Starting on 27 July, the 2012 Olympic Games in London will see more than 10,000 athletes from nearly 200 different nations compete in 302 disciplines; nine million spectators are expected at the competition venues, while between three and four billion people will follow the spectacle on television; if the Games were called off as a result of terrorist act or another disaster, Munich Re would provide cover of around 350 million euros through several policies

  • Veterans of Israel’s secretive Unit 8200 head many successful high-tech start-ups

    Unit 8200 is Israel’s equivalent of the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) or GCHQ in Britain; what sets the unit apart from its SIGINT counterparts in the United States and Europe is that it does almost all its research and development in-house; this means that, aside from interpreters and analysts, the unit is home to a huge cadre of engineers, technicians, and programmers; one result is that veterans of Unit 8200 have founded many of Israel’s successful high-tech start-ups

  • EU-U.S. security agreement allows cheaper, faster air cargo operations

    The European Commission and the U.S. Transport Security Administration (TSA) have declared that they mutually recognize their respective air cargo security regimes from 1 June 2012 on; this recognition, following extensive negotiation, will eliminate duplication of security controls and the need to implement different regimes depending on the destination of air cargo

  • Safety profiles protect people, pets, and emergency responders

    Sixty-three percent of all U.S. households have a pet, the highest level in two decades; there are 78.2 million dog and 86.4 million cat owners, with more than half stating they would leap into action for an injured pet; registering pets in the owner’s safety profile would allow for safer, and more successful, rescue by first responders during emergencies

  • Rescue dogs from across U.S. to participate in certification exercise

    Rescue dogs and their handler teams must be re-certified every three years; the certification includes command control, agility tests, barking alert skills, and willingness to overcome fears of tunnels and wobbly surfaces under the guidance of the handler

  • SIA June meeting to address security-related legislation, regulations, procurement policies

    The Security Industry Association’s annual event, to be held in Washington, D.C. on 19-20 June, offers participants insights about legislation, regulations, procurement policies, and other information which attendees may use not only to address problems they face, but, the SIA notes, also to anticipate, and prepare for, future changes in government policies, regulatory climate, and the private sector trends