Discussions at the workshops convened by the steering committee for the project spanned many aspects of computing and communications technology research, development, deployment, and use, focusing on crisis management as the primary application area. The steering committee developed 11 findings based on input from the workshops and additional, related information. The findings have a number of common themes. Another theme is that the technologies must be easy enough to use to complement the users rather than distract them from their missions. Crisis manage- ment, in particular, illustrates the value of being able to integrate highly diverse resources whose usefulness in an unusual situation could not have been anticipated in advance.
Crises can overwhelm available resources.
For ex- ampie, communications systems, power plants, hospital systems, and weather centers can all be saturated in a crisis. Rapid response in communication and information ser- vices to the special loads of crises is essential. Infrequency and uncertainty. Some high-magnitude events, such as earthquakes, occur infrequently and in unpredictable locations. Special information needs.