The tragedy of Hurricane Katrina tested the limits of the information technologies employed in disaster response. Three months after the storm battered the Gulf Coast, emergency managers and IT executives continue to compile and ponder the IT lessons learned from Katrina. The process already has begun to shape the ways in which technology will be deployed in future disasters, whether natural or man-made. The latter category has emergency managers and technologists particularly worried, after witnessing the destruction of an unintentional event.

"It scared a lot of us," said Michael Helfrich, senior vice president of product strategy and marketing at Jabber, which makes collaboration technology for emergency management and other applications. But what are we going to do if an incident is caused by folks who really want to do us harm? he asked.

When disaster strikes, the response effort relies on an array of IT resources. Command and control systems coordinate rescue operations. Digital imagery and geographic information systems help provide a common operating view of an unfolding situation. Technology also plays a role in reporting incidents, delivering supplies and registering evacuees.

In the case of Katrina, some IT elements worked well, while others were found wanting. Logistics systems emerged as one particular weakness. Katrina also underscored the inadequacy of conventional telecommunications systems, such as landlines and wireless phone networks, in a major disaster. Satellite communication filled the gap in New Orleans and other jurisdictions, enabling Web-based messaging and collaboration.

Some observers contend that Katrina and previous catastrophes also highlighted the lack of an overarching, integrated emergency management system that spans local, state and federal authorities. The Homeland Security Department's Homeland Security Information Network (HSIN) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency's National Incident Management System (NIMS) are steps in the right direction, but work remains to be done.

Even the task of defining the individual elements of an emergency management system -- much less creating an integrated system of systems -- has proved challenging. Every disaster is different, which complicates the job of defining standard features. But initiatives now aim to hammer out reference models for rapidly deployable networks and operation centers.