Tuesday, October 11, 2005

Katrina data management snafus compound chaos

Katrina data management snafus compound chaos: "In the weeks that followed Hurricane Katrina, IT professionals and volunteers scrambled to assemble technology to reunite evacuees with their loved ones. But while technology eventually prevailed, many reunions were delayed as IT and bureaucracy clashed in the face of the unprecedented disaster.

On arrival at Houston's Astrodome shortly after the hurricane, approximately 25,000 evacuees filled out a form with their personal information and gave it to the American Red Cross. Volunteers then entered the data into a pilot database program called the Coordinated Assistance Network (CAN), run by a group of nonprofit organizations, including the American Red Cross and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)."

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