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Stephenson’s Homeland Security Laws
By WDavidStephenson | July 9, 2007
By way of introduction, these are “laws” in the scientific, not legal, sense, meaning “generalizations that describe recurring facts or events in nature.” Yes, they are definitely true, and shouldn’t be 
questioned by anyone, because I said so, and if you don’t play by my rules, I’ll take my marbles and go home…
- Stephenson’s Law #1: find a solution to your problem by thinking of someone who shares the same problem, but to the nth degree, because their pain has probably motivated them to find an answer.
- Stephenson’s Law #2: the creators of a truly innovative technology can’t imagine in advance all the ways users will find to apply it to meet their own particular needs, so stand aside and let things evolve.
- Stephenson’s Law #3: in a crisis, turn communications over to the 15-25 year olds — they know how to route around obstacles (including adults!), and are most familiar with exploiting the full capabilities of emerging communication technologies.
- Stephenson’s Law #4: build a robust emergency communications system from technologies and applications used by many people daily (with particular emphasis on interoperability and collaboration, because they’re instantly available in a crisis, evolve constantly, and foster networked homeland security responses.
Stephenson’s Law #1: find a solution to your problem by thinking of someone who shares the same problem, but to the nth degree, because their pain has probably motivated them to find an answer. (I discovered this one back in my enviromental consulting days: the US nuclear sub fleets were the first to eliminate paper manuals and go all-digital, back in the late ’80s, since every piece of paper was a burden in their cramped quarters).
Examples:
- “the District of Columbia’s DC alert system, since the DC region, with its combination of federal offices, two states and the District, plus multiple local jurisdictions, is most likely to need a seamless, universal alert system.
- Dow Chemical’s real-time supply chain initiatives: due to their volume of rail, truck, and ocean shipping plus the environmental and legal penalties for a spill, they’ve got great incentive to streamline their supply chain and increase its security.
- Katrina forces New Orleans to become on-line permitting pioneer.
- Las Vegas is a security pioneer : “The lure of quick scores has made Sin City the most vigilant and diligent user of advanced surveillance, identification, background-checking and security technologies. If domestic security were prosecuted as aggressively as casino security, the terrorists that took down the World Trade Center towers might well have been caught.”
Stephenson’s Law #2: the creators of a truly innovative technology can’t imagine in advance all the ways users will find to apply it to meet their own particular needs.
Examples:
- New Orleans’ citywide free Wi-Fi system: this relates back to Law #1: given the severity of the city’s problems, you can bet that Crescent City residents will find tons of innovative uses for a free Wi-Fi system.
- the Cedar Rapids Iowa mobile internet cafes: AKA city buses, this novel application of mesh networking combines an improved security system for the drivers and gives riders free web access while onboard.
Stephenson’s Law #3: in a crisis, turn communications over to the 15-25 year olds — they know how to route around obstacles, including adults, and are most familiar with exploiting the full capabilities of emerging communication technologies.
Examples:
- Hispanic teens used instant messaging to generate the huge crowds at immigration reform rallies.
- How kids skilled at massively multi-player online games might be core of self-organizing groups in an unprecedented crisis.
- Kids are first to capitalize on tools such as mobile IM and camera phones that could be crucial in a crisis.
Stephenson’s Law #4: build a robust emergency communications system from technologies and applications used by many people daily (with particular emphasis on interoperability and collaboration), because they’re instantly available in a crisis, evolve constantly, and foster networked homeland security responses. Government emergency communications systems always seem behind the times, rely on obsolete technologies, etc., and are mysteries to the public — who would be forced to learn a new system during a stressful period when familiarity, simplicity and ease of use should be emphasized. By contrast, commercial technologies and related applications the public uses daily, from camera phones to OnStar to Google Maps, are familiar because of this daily use, constantly upgraded, and, because they are increasingly packet- and IP-based, don’t require a central authority to operate, and offer the possibility of self-organizing, self-healing peer-to-peer networks that are more likely to still operate during a catastrophe. Why not make them the heart of emergency communications?
Examples:
- Collaboration tools such as Social Text
- the National SOS network combining cheap FRS radios and ham operators
- Dodgeball.com, the social networking application that could instantly switch to a collaborative communication/ evacuation planning tool.
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