I have to agree with Phil Windley … he posted this on his blog, and I
really like the train of thought on these technologies to watch. 
I too have been watching several of these, but David has added some new
ones to my watch list!

Cost Effective Business Continuity.

David Stephenson writes a blog on Homeland Security. I met him when I was CIO for Utah. H recently published a story on the ten homeland security technologies to watch in 2005. But what caught my eye was his criteria for judging homeland security technologies.

1. Also having day-in-day-out applications so that they will
   both be familiar in an emergency (i.e., not requiring users to have to
   learn something new when they’re already stressed) and will have
   economic and/or social benefits so their purchase and deployment are
   more easily justified.
2. Decentralized, so they are less likely to be rendered inoperative by attacks on a centralized switching facility, etc.
3. In the hands of the general public, so they leverage technology
   that is already in use (and, given the inevitable cost and procurement
   limits of government technology, more current) and that people are
   likely to have with them when disaster strikes, so they can get
   up-to-the minute information.
4. Location-based, so that we can get away from lowest-common
   denominator evacuation and response plans that are likely to cause
   their own problems such as traffic jams.
5. Empower the public, because authorities may themselves be
   incapacitated and our fate will be in our own hands, and because we may
   be more likely to listen to trusted friends and/or neighbors than
   distant authorities.
6. Two-way, so that the general public and/or responders who may be
   the first to come upon an emerging problem can feed information back to
   authorities.
7. Redundant, because various technologies have distinctive
   strengths and liabilities that may render them unusable, or, make them
   crucial fall-back options.
8. Allow dissemination of information in advance so they can be
   quickly activated and/or customized in an emergency (instead of
   requiring massive data-dumps in the midst of a crisis).
9. IP based, because packet-based information will require less bandwidth in a situation where conserving it is crucial.
10. Foster collaboration, because multiple agencies and
    jurisdictions may be involved and will need to share information from a
    wide range of sources on a real-time basis.

With only a few word changes, this is also a great set of criteria
for judging any technology you put in place for business continuity.

The point about having day-to-day uses is crucial. If you can’t do
that, then you probably ought to outsource that function to a
specialist who makes it there business to test it. A good example is
back-up diesel generators. Just putting one in might make you feel
better, but you probably ought to have a regular maintenance contract
with someone who’ll come test it regularly.

[Phil Windley’s Technometria]