Module 4 - Case

DISASTER RECOVERY AND CLOUD COMPUTING

Assignment Overview

It  is important to assure the continuous and proper operation of  information systems in business continuity planning and information  recovery in disaster recovery, as we have discussed in the previous  module. The relationship between information systems and disaster  recovery has another perspective—how information system is leveraged to  manage disasters.
Information  systems and telecommunication infrastructures have long been critical  in emergency management. We sometimes heard about from the news how a  three-year-old kid even knows to call 911 to seek help in emergency.  Nowadays, 70% of 911 calls are from mobile phone. FCC requires 911 calls  to be transmitted even if a mobile phone doesn't subscribe to any plan  (FCC). Various apps for smartphones exist for emergency management. This  is just a beginning.
FCC (2012), FCC Wireless 911 Services.
Continuity_Compliance (2011), Disaster Preparedness Apps List for Smartphone.
Need C. (2011), Disaster Preparedness 2011: Smart Phones Enhanced with Nanotube Hazmat Detectors Bring a New Dimension to Preparedness.
Chan,  W. K. (2012). Operational Effectiveness of Smartphones and Apps for  Humanitarian Aid and Disaster Relief , Naval Post Graduate School  Thesis. https://calhoun.nps.edu/handle/10945/17338
The  Internet, of course, is also a means of help. Please check out the two  websites below and see how the websites may help in the time of disaster  or emergency.
FEMA, http://www.fema.gov/
Disaster Assistance Program, http://www.disasterassistance.gov/
Geographic  Information System (GIS) is another example of information systems that  is widely applied in disaster management. The following three  presentations show comprehensively how GIS and other information systems  have been applied in disaster management and emergency response:
Cyber Risk Assessment and Management: https://staysafeonline.org/re-cyber/cyber-risk-assessment-management/
Lucus-McEwen, V. (2011) If you haven’t heard about crisis commons yet….http://www.emergencymgmt.com/emergency-blogs/campus/Crisis-Commons-Monitors-Turkey-Earthquake-102311.html
Heaton, B. (2013).  How emergency managers can benefit from big data. http://www.emergencymgmt.com/disaster/Emergency-Managers-Big-Data.html?page=2
A  less considered or known is probably how digitization itself has helped  preservation of assets that might be totally lost in a disaster. Please  briefly review the following. The key is to be exposed to this  perspective. You don't need to know of the details.
Video (2015). Digital Preservation and Nuclear Disaster: An Animation
British Library (2012), British Library Digital Preservation Strategy.
AABC (2012), The Archives Association of British Columbia Archivist's Toolkit: Preservation and Emergency Planning. 

Assignment Expectations

After reviewing the above materials, please write a 3-5 page paper titled:
"Leveraging Information Systems for Disaster Management"
Please address the following issues in your paper:
How  information technology assists in risk management, continuous  monitoring, business continuity planning and disaster recovery of a  business
The benefits, new advances, and future trend of technologies in disaster management.
Provide examples of technologies and the use of them to support your discussions above.
Challenges in properly applying technologies in disaster management.

DISASTER RECOVERY AND CLOUD COMPUTING BACKGROUND

FCC (2012), FCC Wireless 911 Services.

Cyber Risk Assessment and Management: https://staysafeonline.org/re-cyber/cyber-risk-assessment-management/ 

Lucus-McEwen, V. (2011) If you haven’t heard about crisis commons yet….http://www.emergencymgmt.com/emergency-blogs/campus/Crisis-Commons-Monitors-Turkey-Earthquake-102311.html

Heaton, B. (2013).  How emergency managers can benefit from big data. http://www.emergencymgmt.com/disaster/Emergency-Managers-Big-Data.html?page=2

Video (2015). Digital Preservation and Nuclear Disaster: An Animation

Discovery (2009), Perfect Disaster -- Solar Storm, Part 1-5.

Cloud Security Alliance (2011), Domain 7: Traditional Security, Business Continuity, and Disaster Recovery, in Security Guidance for Critical Areas of Focus in Cloud Computing V3.0, p74-88.

Cloud Security Alliance (2011), Domain 14: Security as a Service, in Security Guidance for Critical Areas of Focus in Cloud Computing V3.0, p162-176.

NIST (2011), Guidelines on Secuity and Privacy in Public Cloud Computing, National Institute of Standards and Technology Special Report 800-144.

Wood T., Cecchet E., Ramakrishnan K.K., Shenoy P., Van Der Merwe J. and Venkataramani A., (2010) Disaster Recovery as a Cloud Service: Economic Benefits & Development Challenges, HotCloud'10 Proceeding of the 2nd USENIX conference on Hot Topics in Cloud Computing. USENIX Association Berkeley, CA.

Chow R., Golle P., Jakobsson M., Masuoka R., Molina J., Shi E., Staddon J. (2009), Controlling Data in the Cloud: Outsourcing Computation without Outsourcing Control.

Murukutla M. (2010), Virtualization: disaster recovery for the hospitality industry?

Optional Reading

Continuity_Compliance (2011), Disaster Preparedness Apps List for Smartphone.

Need C. (2011), Disaster Preparedness 2011: Smart Phones Enhanced with Nanotube Hazmat Detectors Bring a New Dimension to Preparedness.

Chan,  W. K. (2012). Operational Effectiveness of Smartphones and Apps for  Humanitarian Aid and Disaster Relief , Naval Post Graduate School  Thesis. https://calhoun.nps.edu/handle/10945/17338

British Library (2012), British Library Digital Preservation Strategy.

AABC (2012), The Archives Association of British Columbia Archivist's Toolkit: Preservation and Emergency Planning.

FEMA, http://www.fema.gov/

Disaster Assistance Program, http://www.disasterassistance.gov/

Foxnews (2009), Nasa Warns of Super Solar Storm 2012.