|
WASHINGTON, DC, August 25, 2003 - As the United
States prepares for a coordinated attack on our critical
infrastructure, ICF Consulting is concerned that the
potential for damage could be much greater due to the
lack of coordination between the public and private
sectors.
"ICF Consulting believes that, if the nation suffers
an attack on our critical infrastructure, the outcome
will be a crisis of greater intensity due to our lack
of preparedness for a coordinated response by the public
and private sectors," states Anita Kellogg, CEM,
a Senior Vice President with ICF Consulting and leader
of its homeland security practice. "In areas prone
to natural disasters, relationships between these groups
have been galvanized through response. In areas of the
country that have not had the 'benefit' of disaster
response opportunities, the relationships between sectors
are not as strong. That lack will affect both response
time and efforts."
|
|
Federal, state, and local officials regularly use "scenario
driven" exercises to strengthen their emergency response
to potential disasters. All too often, the private sector
is not included. As jurisdictions across the country assess
their preparedness to respond to an energy
crisis—such as the 2003
Northeast Blackout—and the cascading impacts to other
infrastructures, those governments should include the private
sector in the assessment and in planning the public-private
sector response.
"Exercises designed with knowledge of the interdependencies
and vulnerabilities of our critical infrastructures under
terrorist scenarios are key to establishing industry and government
partnerships," says Brian Carney, a Principle in ICF
Consulting' homeland security practice. "The overwhelming
majority of the Nation's critical infrastructures are privately
owned and operated. Both the public and private sectors should
be aware of each other's capabilities and interdependencies
before disaster strikes."
Learn more about emergency
preparedness exercises and ICF Consulting's capabilities
in homeland
security and critical
infrastructure protection.
|
ICF International (Nasdaq: ICFI) partners with government and commercial clients to deliver consulting services and technology solutions in the energy, environment, transportation, social programs, defense, and homeland security markets. The firm combines passion for its work with industry expertise and innovative analytics to produce compelling results throughout the entire program life cycle, from analysis and design through implementation and improvement. Since 1969, ICF has been serving government at all levels, major corporations, and multilateral institutions. More than 1,800 employees serve these clients worldwide. ICF’s Web site is http://www.icfi.com.
|
|
For Immediate Release
Contact: Douglas Beck
1.703.934.3820
Contact: Brian Carney
1.703.934.3805
|
|
