August 10, 2009 By Scott Corwin
A major snowstorm ravaged New England in December 2007. The storm hit Providence, R.I., especially hard, creating extensive evacuation delays and leaving residents stranded for hours. Following this event, Providence Mayor David Cicilline, the Providence Emergency Management Agency (PEMA) and state organizations recognized the need to enhance emergency management capabilities and restore public trust in the city by demonstrating their commitment to improving emergency preparedness and showing that a similar event would not paralyze the city.
Providence is one of a few cities in America where the state capital and its economic center are both located in the state's largest population center. This combination magnifies any emergency management problem by simultaneously affecting commerce, inconveniencing a large portion of the population and potentially paralyzing state agencies and the seat of government. Providence learned from this situation and forged ahead with improvements to its overall public safety and security and began construction of a new Emergency Operations Center (EOC).
Go to Emergency Management magazine's Web site for more information about Providence's Emergency Operations Center.
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Until recently, there was no alternative to the familiar desktop computer, and its expensive upgrades and maintenance requirements. For cash-strapped local governments, the desktop computer is quickly becoming an unsustainable option for future progress. Now, a technology known as virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) offers an alternative. It can be significantly more affordable than buying individual computers for every employee, and it provides similar capability. This paper shows how VDI is the future of the desktop and is a game-changer for local governments.
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