DAY ONE: COMMAND COMPETENCIES

Day one of the conference will take an academic look at what makes a good commander and what type of management is needed in emergency situations, including the psychology of command and control.

Keynote:

Interoperability: the vital link

Keynote speaker: Detective Chief Superintendent Michael Hallowes, Head of Strategic Operations, National Policing Improvement Agency (NPIA)

Michael Hallowes
Detective Chief Superintendent
Head of Strategic Operations
Interoperability, Olympic Coordination & Protective Services
National Policing Improvement Agency

Session one: Defining Critical Command: People, Processes and Technology*

This session will take an academic/philosophical look at what is command? What is control? What are the important characteristics of the person in charge – are they a commander, a controller, or a co-ordinator/facilitator? The session will consider different approaches to management and leadership and their application to emergency situations. It will address how civil contingencies and disaster situations differ from ‘normal’ conditions and how the management of emergencies may therefore need to differ from day-to-day processes and procedures.

Speaker presentations will put forward the different models of leadership that might be suitable for a Gold Commander, and then discuss the merits and pitfalls of each one. What should/does make the ideal Gold Commander?
Session two: The psychology of command and control

This session will look at the unique psychological factors that come into play during civil contingencies and disaster situations. What pressures does this put on those involved that they may not be used to, or experienced in coping with? How does this affect the ability of those involved to respond to and manage the situation and what implications does this have for command and control? This session will also look at the effects on the public as well as the responders.

Session three: Transportable solutions in command and control

What can lessons identified from one type of crisis teach us about the management of another? This session will look in particular at the lessons learned from humanitarian aid and reconstruction projects in developing countries and will ask: Are we utilising experience gained in such situations to build capacity for responding to future emergencies? Do we have sufficient mechanisms for knowledge capture to ensure that experience gained is not lost?

Session four: Command and control in practice

This session will bring the day ‘back to Earth’ following the more academic discussions of the morning and early afternoon. How do we ensure that command and control issues identified are put into practice? How do you exercise adequately for command and control? Once all the issues from the previous panels have been identified, how can these be harnessed to ensure that emergencies are managed as efficiently as possible? How do you ensure commanders are qualified and will rise to the challenge on the day?

DAY TWO: CROSS-JURISDICTIONAL COMMAND AND CONTROL

Day two will take a look at international issues in command and control, including cross-jurisdictional command within the UK, across the EU and internationally.

Session one: Regional vs local ownership

This session will ask whether a top-down or bottom-up approach is the best way to manage emergencies? Without a top-down approach, how do you maintain national standards and interoperability, but is such an approach too distant?

The session will look at specific case studies within the UK and internationally on issues such as procurement, exercising and mutual aid. It will address the recommendations for upper-tier local authority ownership mentioned in The Pitt Review; the introduction of regional fire control centres; and the ability/need for one region to carry on as normal when an emergency is going on next door to ensure that the situation does not escalate.

Session two: Command and control across international borders

This session will look at recent case studies that have required international co-operation or that would have benefited from much greater international co-operation. It will look at the lessons identified and how these might be taken forward.

This session will consider a number of case studies and what they can teach us, including: the Channel Tunnel fire – co-ordination between France and England as case study; Haymarket/Glasgow Airport bombs – police jurisdiction between England and Scotland; UK Border Agency – operations overseas that ‘export’ the UK border to France, Belgium etc; Litvinenko case – detection of Po-210 trail across Europe and contacting potentially affected individuals
Session three: International systems for command and control

This session will look at large-scale information management systems for international command and control and consider the importance of inter-operability between nations; the security issues arising from this; and what can be done to improve interoperability in the future.

An issue relevant to this is the money available from the EU; the UK is one of the biggest under-bidders for EU grant money. The session will therefore look at the grant programmes available and how UK organisations and agencies can benefit.

Case studies considered will include NIMS and its use in multinational exercises such as CyberStorm IV; Should there be an international standard for information management systems? The EU Monitoring and Information Centre (MIC) – how the MIC supports co-ordination and facilitates assistance.
End Keynote: The Future of Command and Control

This session will look at the issues raised over the previous day and the morning session and will look ahead to the issues that need to be recognised and addressed in the future (particularly before the 2012 Olympics).