APRIL 2019CIOAPPLICATIONS.COM8IN MY ViewWhat are the challenges that entities in your domain would face in the near future?In 2002 we had the Bioterrorism Act after 9/11. This required water utilities to conduct vulnerability assessments and develop emergency response plans with deadlines for benchmarks set in 2020 and 2021. But it was a one-time only measure with no specification on how often they had to be updated. This is very ambiguous, and it includes a lot of different requirements. It addresses cybersecurity, physical security, natural hazards, and all kinds of different components that wastewater agencies are now looking in to. It's not a requirement for wastewater agencies at this point, but eventually, it will be. A lot of agencies are trying to address this challenge and respond to avoid non compliance fines.Later in October 2018, the Congress approved a Senate bill called `America's Water Infrastructure Act of 2018,' and it was signed into law. This bill specifies that the water systems have to complete and update Risk and Resilience assessments and emergency response plans every five years and then provide a certification to the EPA. This was a new development in this sector. Could you shed some light on the trends that are shaping the Business Continuity space?Y2K bug problem was one of the big pushes that made Business Continuity not just relegated to I.T. but a part of the business process. And it seems to be more integrated with other operations including emergency preparedness and disaster recovery. As far as the discipline goes, it's a broad brush of people who used to organically evolve within the agency and now are actual positions with training and certification requirements. In some instances, people are getting degrees in business continuity, which weren't available 15 years ago. So for those people who have been in the industry for a long time they've got it through the school of hard knocks and not necessarily have a degree in business continuity or disaster recovery. On the other hand, some industry agencies would provide these certifications in those disciplines but not necessarily a degree.What is your recommended approach to identifying the right partnership providers from the lot?When we first got an emergency communication system, there weren't too many contractors available in the market. Today there are dozens of them with different capabilities. They also connect with people who provide software solutions for business continuity and disaster recovery. So for those agencies that can't afford to have a full-time person dedicated to specific tasks or key projects, they can outsource. But as big as the JULIA HALSNE, BUSINESS CONTINUITY MANAGER, EBMUDBuilding Relationships--Establishing Contingencies before a Disaster Julia Halsne
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