Excess Success?
An article in the 28 October 2009 Washington Post raised the specter of a massive breakdown of communications in the DC region as a result of the flu pandemic. The cause of this potential cataclysm? Telecommuters!
Yes, the putative culprits are telecommuters working from home either because they or their kids have the flu or because they want to otherwise isolate themselves from flu carriers in the office. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) states that large numbers of such telecommuters could cause confusion and network disruption, according to the article. But, not to worry because we are prepared, right? Well…
The Department of Homeland Security is in charge of communications networks during times of national emergency. But it doesn’t have a strategy to deal with overloaded Internet networks — an essential resource to keep the economy humming, and residents informed and connected during a pandemic, the GAO said. Furthermore, the DHS hasn’t coordinated with agencies such as the Federal Communications Commission to create guidelines for how telecom, cable and satellite providers can minimize congestion.
So says the article. I know that this sudden (if not overnight) success of telecommuting may come as a shock to the government. After all, it wasn’t until 1977 that I started talking to federal agencies about the potential impacts of telecommuting, so you have to give them some time to react. But 30+ years? Of course the DHS hasn’t been around that long but the FCC has.
The quote above exemplifies the situation that has existed since my visits to federal agencies in the mid-1970s: No one is in charge! Several agencies have a piece of the telework pie. DOE’s interests are in the energy conservation aspects of telework; the EPA is concerned with the air pollution aspects; DHS worries about national security; the FCC tries to get the network infrastructure organized; DOD deals with its own decentralization issues; NSA worries about hard-to-detect communications with enemies; DOT should be concerned about the implications for transport systems; GSA is concerned with training telecommuters; and so on. All of these agencies have telecommuters. Well, you get the picture. No one has the responsibility and authority to make something coherent about this system-wide phenomenon. So far it’s a case of herding cats.
Maybe now is the time. As Hillary Clinton is fond of saying: Never waste a good crisis. Time to get organized! Next time it may be a real crisis that needs managing.
Anyone listening?