Title: Homeland Security: Uses and Opportunities for Simulations and Games
1Homeland SecurityUses and Opportunities
forSimulations and Games
- Briefing to
- Serious Games Summit
- October 18, 2004
Julia Loughran, loughran_at_thoughtlink.com with
support from the ThoughtLink ODP Team Rebecca
Agrait, Andrew English, David Evans, Ed McGrady
and Marcy Stahl
2Agenda
- Status of homeland security training and
exercising - Product examples
- ThoughtLinks project
- Customer basics
- Desired product attributes
- What others are doing
- Summary
3Game Developer andProduct Consumer Questions
The World Current MSG Training
audience Commercial games
Whats out there?
Whats the market?
What can and should developers and
consumers do?
Consumers Requirements Standards Procedures
Developers Capabilities Economics Timelines
What are the requirements?
4Lets Not Get Bogged Down in Definitions!
- Building a shared understanding of sims vs.
games might take all day - Some games use simulations
- Some simulations are games
- In addition, models might be used in both sims
and games - The term Sims and Games will cover the whole
gamut of products
5Brief Introduction
- Who is ThoughtLink?
- Who is the Office for Domestic Preparedness?
- What did they want us to do?
- Why?
- Why ThoughtLink?
6Agenda
- Status of homeland security training and
exercising - Product examples
- ThoughtLinks project
- Customer basics
- Desired product attributes
- What others are doing
- Summary
7How TE Products are Purchased
DHS does not buy COTS products for TE
---- Individual jurisdictions do
8Todays TE Is Primarily Face-to-Face
Seminar Games (Table-top Exercises)
Top Officials Exercise (TopOff)
Awareness Training
Full-scale Exercises
Education/Training .
. Exercises
9TE Supply Demand
- Demand far exceeds the current capacity
- Face-to-face requires instructors and
facilitators - Effective but cannot meet needs!
- Estimated 3.2 million first responders
- Estimated 4-5 million medical workers
- Countless others from the private sector
- Technology can help
- Expand reach (train more!)
- Increase frequency (more often!)
- Lower costs (meet constraints!)
10Agenda
- Status of homeland security training and
exercising - Product examples
- ThoughtLinks project
- Customer basics
- Desired product attributes
- What others are doing
- Summary
11Emergency Fighters for Life
- What A Computer-based game that allows the user
to practice strategic and tactical
decision-making in responding to thirty different
accident or disaster scenarios - Who The Emergency Fighters for Life software is
targeted to civilian consumers of PC-based video
and simulation games - Developed by Sixteen Tons Entertainment
12Human Patient Simulator
- What Incident response focusing on medical
diagnosis and treatment - Who Medical individuals or teams (e.g., EMT,
nursing, triage, teams etc) - Developed by Medical Education Technologies Inc.
(METI)
13AEASAutomated Exercise and Assessment System
- What Simulation to exercise decision makers in
Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) scenarios - Who Responders both at the Incident scene as
well as the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) - Developed by SAIC for the National Guard
14CERRTS Civil Emergency Reaction and Responder
Training System
- What Emergency response/crisis rehearsal tool
for training Incident Command and Emergency
Operations Centers - Who Incident Commander/Staff and Emergency
Operations Center Director/Staff - Developed by Raytheon Company
15Agenda
- Status of homeland security training and
exercising - Product examples
- ThoughtLinks project
- Customer basics
- Desired product attributes
- What others are doing
- Summary
16Project OverviewPhase 1 June 2002 April 2004
- Conduct research on the availability and state of
technologies for training and exercising (TE) - Specifically models, simulations, and games (MSG)
17Methodology Linking Requirements and Products
- Used Rational Requisite Pro to track requirements
and product characteristics - 100 products 1100 requirements
- Created attributes allow product and requirement
info to be linked - Example Requirements are for team training and
incident command RRP would list matching
products
18Examples of Analysis
Target Audiences Supported
19Examples of Analysis
Functional Areas Supported
20Effect of Our Work
- States can now (FY04) use ODP grant for sims
and games - States need to consult ThoughtLinks report
- In FY05, states are likely to be required to
follow ThoughtLinks requirements-to-products
methodology in justifying purchases
21Strategic RoadmapFuture Vision for TE
MSG
22ThoughtLinks Report for ODP
Report is available at www.ojp.usdoj.gov/odp/exer
cises.htm Click on MSG link Or from
ThoughtLinks Home Page www.thoughtlink.com
23Agenda
- Status of homeland security training and
exercising - Product examples
- ThoughtLinks project
- Customer basics
- Desired product attributes
- What others are doing
- Summary
24Homeland Security Customers
- Todays TE is primarily face-to-face
- Technology is focused at either detailed models
or complex simulations - Cost lots of
- Generally require a lot of contractor support
- Users are in the initial phase of technology
adoption - Early adopter customers are driving RD
- Most dont have a mental model of how to use sims
and games as part of their TE program - Current customers are primarily larger cities
- Often led by one visionary person
- Youll need to find someone who gets it
25Homeland Security Customers
- Local, county, and state agencies will be the
main consumers of simulation and gaming
technologies - Many not able to translate their requirements
into product specs - Little technological expertise to evaluate
choices - Busy saving lives and doing mandated training
- Have constrained budgets and seek Federal grants
to purchase equipment and TE technology - Currently no Federal standards for WMD-specific
training
26Problem Space is Complex
Multiple Jurisdictions
Multiple Functional Areas Widely Varied Audience
Multiple Threats
27Agenda
- Status of homeland security training and
exercising - Product examples
- ThoughtLinks project
- Customer basics
- Desired product attributes
- What others are doing
- Summary
28Different Solutions
Tactical Tasks
Operational/Strategic Tasks
StatCare RTI International
Potential for Decision-Making Environment a la
Majestic (EA) Using real-world comm devices
Reality Response - AIS
3D Environments
29Desired Attributes
- Easy to use
- Low cost - already constrained budgets
- Easy to tailor to local cities/jurisdictions
- Terrain requirements for some tasks
- Automate the modeling and rendering of virtual
cities, towns and infrastructure (resources/org
structure)
30Desired Attributes
- TE for prolonged disasters
- Scenarios for Low frequency/High impact events
- Rapid AAR and performance feedback with built-in
measurement - Follow HSEEP guidelines
- Integration of C2 and tactical simulations
- Part-task Training
- FSE reinforcement
31Areas with few/no products
- Biological and Radiological events
- Critical infrastructure protection
- Mass casualty triage / hospital / health care
- Intelligence and information sharing
- Public safety communications
- Govt. administrative
- Private sector
- Transportation
- Federal, state, and local officials (vs. first
responders)
32Validity
- Users want products that
- Reflect current intelligence about adversary,
common scenarios, etc. - Incorporate standardized procedures and tasks
- Demonstrate relevancy to the problems they face
- Must win over skeptics your need to
- Quickly answer How will it help me in my job?
- Demonstrate how it will make their job easier
- Demonstrate how it will improve job performance
33Federal Concerns for Homeland Security TE
- Focus on All Hazards
- National Incident Management System (NIMS)
- Universal Task List (UTL)
- Capabilities based scenarios
- Standardization of AARs
- Developing an exercise toolkit
- Approval of grant to purchase sims and games
for TE - Focusing on open architectures interoperability
standards assessing readiness
34Agenda
- Status of homeland security training and
exercising - Product examples
- ThoughtLinks project
- Customer basics
- Desired product attributes
- What others are doing
- Summary
35Sponsored RD Efforts
- Main areas of past Federal sponsorship of sim and
game technologies - Combat, mission rehearsal (DoD)
- Facility, border, and port security (DHS, DOE)
- Operations Other Than War, Civil Support (DoD,
NG) - Some current areas of RD
- Modeling terrorist/crowd behavior
- Evacuation
- Bioweapons
- Epidemiology
- Pharmaceutical logistics
- Agriculture
36Who is Involved?
- DoD Multiple efforts, including Training
Transformation (T2) - JFCOM/JWFC
- Naval Postgraduate School
- Institute for Creative Technology (USC)
- Institute for Defense Analyses
- DARPA - DARWARS
- National Labs
- Stanford University
- New York University
37Department of Homeland Security
- DHS has many organizations researching,
evaluating, and using a variety of simulation and
gaming technologies - HSARPA (SBIR awards)
- Technical Support Working Group (BAAs)
- Office for Domestic Preparedness (Grants)
- DHS has established initiatives to foster
adoption of state of the market technologies
38Sample DHS Programs
- Urban Area Security Initiative
- 675 Million for Urban Areas
- Information Technology Evaluation Program
- States, locals, industry to develop and explore
new IT projects - Demonstrate novel use of existing IT to remove
one or more significant barriers in HS mission
critical areas - DHS Regional Technology Integration program
- 4 urban areas selected across country
- Goal is to speed introduction and implementation
of new technologies - Test maturing hardware and concepts
39Agenda
- Status of homeland security training and
exercising - Product examples
- ThoughtLinks project
- Customer basics
- Desired product attributes
- What others are doing
- Summary
40Summary
- Sims and games can fill gaps
- Cities (and DHS) are interested
- Issues facing developers
- Getting clear requirements
- Learning about Federal standards that will likely
become requirements - Finding the right customer
- Issues facing customers
- Voicing your needs to vendors
- Accurately assessing cost and effectiveness
- Finding time and people to work w/ the technology
- Wrapping the technology into a larger TE program
41For more information
- Stop by our booth in the Solarium
- Copies of ThoughtLinks product reviews
- http//www.ojp.usdoj.gov/odp/exercises.htm
(select the MSG link) - Or contact Julia Loughran loughran_at_thoughtlink.co
m 703-281-5694