Today a group of 50+ experts in public health, communications, and defense from both the private and public sectors are gathering at the National Institute of Health to talk about pandemic preparedness and community resilience around the H1N1 flu. So far the talks have been great, with Vint Cerf and David Alberts leading off this morning, Chris Allen talking about decentralized open source communication tools, and Larry Brilliant scheduled to talk specifically about H1N1 this afternoon.
In addition to talks by big thinkers like these, there are also workings sessions that will focus on addressing “mission critical gaps” around the possibility of a second wave of an H1N1 pandemic hitting this fall. Eric will be presenting in one of these on the decentralized communications tools we are working on and how they can help in a pandemic – specifically looking at Open Atrium and Managing News. He’ll also be talking about how distribution tools like Drupal’s new feature server can allow for more resilient software development communities.
You can listen to the event here where they’re live streaming it. Tune in at 3:00 pm to hear the working groups report back on what they’ve discussed (these won’t each be streamed).
The timing of this meeting is important given that late last week the Senate passed a bill including an additional $7.7 billion for pandemic flu preparedness and response, and that we are now less than 75 days out from the start of the fall flu season. As it stands now, resources aren’t allocated to resilience networks that will ultimately decrease the effects of a pandemic and slow its spread. Dr. McDonald, Coordinator for Global Resilience System and who has organized this meeting, believes we need to invest in these networks to:
“Maximize the number of Americans protected from economic impacts, social discontinuities, and critical infrastructure failures, as well as from infection and premature death associated with H1N1. Attention must now be focused on mission critical gaps that can be bridged during the upcoming months in advance of the fall flu season, as well as on longer term projects. These gaps must be addressed through community resilience efforts before the majority of the American public can be vaccinated (estimated to be in December 2009 – February 2010, months after the start of the fall 2009 flu season). Homeland Security Presidential Directive 21 (HSPD 21) mandates actions to preserve the health and human security of Americans through community resilience. Situational awareness and information sharing are essential to community resilience.”
You can listen to the meeting via the live stream here. You can also follow @ericg on twitter for his take on the talks.