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(L to R) Tom Howley, John Woodward, Russ Graves support the Boston Emergency Management Agency during the Boston Marathon.

Russ Graves and team members inside the UCC at the 2002 Boston Marathon.

In this era of heightened national security, MITRE is providing information technology assessments and systems engineering expertise to federal, state, and local officials.

In early 2002, the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) requested MITRE's help in coordinating emergency management communications for the Boston Marathon. A MITRE team, led by Associate Department Head Russ Graves, helped them integrate new commercially available technologies, enabling them to better monitor the "big picture" and rapidly respond to any problems that may arise. For security reasons, the marathon's Unified Command Center (UCC) relocated from its traditional location at the race's finish line to MEMA headquarters in Framingham, MA. Since the UCC included over 80 individuals from the local communities involved in the marathon, as well as state and federal public safety agencies, this move required the UCC to implement a more comprehensive communication infrastructure.

"MITRE's job was to demonstrate how information technology can enable better information sharing for coordination and timely decision-making," explains Graves. "For organizations such as most state and local emergency management agencies—that are still using paper, phones, and faxes—to share information, a simple Web site can open a new world. Users are able to log on, identify key contacts, exchange information, and follow developing situations."

In addition to providing advice, the team adapted the Inaugural Management Information Portal, which MITRE originally developed for the Washington, D.C., Emergency Management Agency's use during the 2001 Presidential Inauguration, for MEMA to use during the race. The easy-to-use, password protected portal gave the officials involved in safety, security and crisis management immediate access to information that would facilitate coordinated operations during the marathon. The portal also facilitated the use of other commercially available technologies, such as handhelds with global positioning systems, for individual and vehicle tracking, and virtual rooms, to monitor the race.

Besides providing the portal, "We helped state and local officials assess what type of technologies they need for crisis and event management and determine how to integrate them into their existing systems," says Graves. "While there are many commercial products available, we found that not all state and local emergency management agencies are organized the same or operate with common processes—thus no one tool is ideal for all organizations. We hope the exposure to information technology helps these organizations clearly understand their technical requirements so that they can better choose which commercial product to invest in."

"The work has been very gratifying," adds Graves. "The people we've worked with at the state and local level are very busy and they don't have a lot of funds. Since September 11th, they are overwhelmed with vendors peddling products as solutions to all their problems. They want an honest broker that can help them assess the commercially available products. They have appreciated everything MITRE's been able to do for them."

And what does Graves personally enjoy about his work at MITRE? "I continue to be amazed at the breadth and depth of our company's expertise and our willingness to leverage and share it with all of our customers. It's been extremely rewarding to work with such enthusiastic and dedicated people."