Homeland Security Conference 2007
WBR's Homeland Security Conference 2007 started on the 27th June in the Hispanic Moorish splendour of the theatre conjoined with Brussels' Hotel Le Plaza. The conference brought together the agencies that work on the multiple aspects of civil security and emergency management provision and looked at how agencies are transforming in order to cope with changing threats
Appropriately for a theatre, several key players from around the world gave dramatic performances. From stage right, London General Assembly Member, Richard Barnes, entered and gave a powerful account of the 7th July 2005 London bombings. Eschewing death by PowerPoint, Mr Barnes ably kept his audience's attention by relating, without notes, examples of the problems faced by first responders and the human face of the tragedy.
No underground radio and conflicting public information announcements hindered the rescue efforts. "Keep the politicians out of it", said the politician Mr Barnes, conscious of the irony. The role of the UK government's crisis committee, COBRA, should be strategic rather than tactical. "Let the professionals on the ground make decisions and yes, reverse them if that's what's needed, " advocated Mr Barnes. A report into the 7th July bombings by a review committee, chaired by Mr Barnes, will be published in a few weeks.
Also among the many other speakers was Jack Clarke, Professor of Strategic Studies, the Marshall Center, Germany, who spoke eloquently on the differences and similarities between European and US civil liberty. He made the interesting point that American risk assessment focuses on identification of criticality and vulnerability, whereas Europeans, subject to greater cost constraints, concentrate more on the probability of the threat occurring. However the European development of resilience was also being adopted in the USA.
The audience's eyes widened at the approach centre stage of a man in a hurry to spend money - 155 million euros, in fact! Mr Herbert von Bose from the European Commission had to rush back to his office to award a set of reserch contracts to identify and evaluate the role the EU has enhancing homeland security. Mr von Bose drew a laugh from the audience when he described the relationship last year with the US Department of Homeland Security. "We had their number; we called, but nobody answered the telephone". Mr von Bose was delighted to report that things had got a lot better since.
