Single Automated Business 

Exchange for Reporting

Contact Us: first.responder@hq.dhs.gov scitech.dhs.gov dhsscitech 

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BUSINESS OPERATING DATA INFORMS 

RESPONSE AND RECOVERY PLANS 

After natural or man-made disasters and emergency situations,

a necessary detail for prioritizing response and recovery efforts 

is the operating status of the area’s businesses. In 2019

Hurricane Barry’s wake, the Federal Emergency Management 

Agency (FEMA) used business status information data in 

Louisiana to guide the recovery plan and to help decide which 

organizations needed federal aid. FEMA pulled this data from 

a self-reporting tool called the Single Automated Business 

Exchange for Reporting (SABER). 

By inputting business information to SABER, organizations 

have a means to share their information directly with response 

and recovery agencies like FEMA. The Department of 

Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate 

(S&T) is now funding SABER, making it available for both 

public safety and private sector companies to use.

SEAMLESSLY SHARING BUSINESS DATA

WITH RECOVERY ENTITIES 

SABER is available on the web and via a mobile application. 

The tool allows users to upload and share real-time business 

status information with other organizations during an 

emergency or crisis. Organizations can share their information 

regarding operating status, location, challenges to their 

operation (e.g., blocked roads, power outages), resource 

levels for normal operations (e.g., supply chain disruptions, 

utilities), and an estimate of time to reopen. With SABER, this 

information is provided directly to government aid entities such 

as FEMA, helping the response and recovery process happen 

more quickly. This information is essential to planning effective 

recovery efforts, and DHS S&T’s funding and support has 

allowed SABER to grow and refine its information sharing 

services, as well as expand its reach to both private and public 

sectors of business and government.

Businesses can enter their status information to SABER’s 

secure website and server by using one of the following

methods: 

 Automated connection: continuously uploading and sharing 

business status information in real time

 Excel spreadsheet: if multiple branches have been affected 

by a disaster, a spreadsheet with business status 

information about all affected locations can be uploaded 

 Mobile app: an individual location can upload its business 

status information via a SABER-specific mobile app

 

FASTER RESPONSE AND RECOVERY 

SABER is designed to adapt to differing user capabilities in 

government and business. Organizations can easily retrieve 

the data and use it in their own situational awareness and 

common operating picture applications.

SABER helps its users continue or resume their operations 

both during and after a disaster by:

 Communicating their operational status and whether they 

need assistance to maintain or resume regular operations

 Helping them specify unmet needs to governments to set 

priorities and remove obstacles that hinder their operation

 Allowing collaboration with other businesses in addition to 

local, state, and federal organizations and aid groups

SABER status shown in an ArcGIS application. 

EXPANDING THE RECOVERY NETWORK

There are currently 130,000 organizations in more than 30 

states across the nation that are using SABER’s services to 

report their business status during emergencies. By the end of 

2020, DHS S&T and SABER aim to have 300,000 

organizations across the United States employing SABER to 

share their business status and provide effective and targeted 

aid to each other during emergencies and disasters.