The first event was the was the Round Table on Disaster Risk Reduction which was held on October 23rd. This was a combination on site event and a virtual talk show which was supplemented with social media to make the message available to a broader audience. Speakers presented different suggestions for disaster risk reduction but one common thread across the presentations appeared to be a need to broaden the groups with which we collaborate, build bridges between the silos and I believe one speaker suggested we could increase our resource base by allowing more folks inside the yellow tape. 

It is good to hear these suggestions but what happens after the round table discussions. Do we simply go back to the status quo or will action be taken? An article entitled Feedback on Round Table Discussion on Disaster Risk Reduction was published in PTSC-Online to provide those who attended or listened to the round table discussion an opportunity to highlight areas which could be collectively worked on line in either open or secure private forums following the conference. A few comments were received and I understand more might be coming. You can view the article and participate in the discussion here. 

The next event, a Tri-Services Communities of Practice Meeting scheduled for November 16th in Regina is a new initiative sponsored by the Canadian Safety and Security Program (CSSP). As I understand it, the aim is to develop Responder Communities of Practice to support the CSSP along with eleven communities of practice which have already been formed.

Partnerships Towarde Safer Communities - Online was established by the Canadian Association of Fire Chiefs with support from Public Safety Canada to encourage improvements to Canadian emergency management, business continuity and critical infrastructure protection programs. As the two events mentioned above appear to support enhancing emergency management programs, how can the organizers and supporters of these initiatives build bridges to and work with PTSC-Online to use our communication and collaboration services to help achieve their objectives?  PTSC-Online is not a competing program but a service which is available to help organizations which in any way contribute to enhancing our capability to deal with emergencies.

Please leave your thoughts on how we can build bridges and work together as comments to this article.