TEEX: Warren ‘Country’ Weidler notes challenges integrating new technologies, dangers of autocorrect

Warren “Country” Weidler, the search-and-rescue coordinator for Texas Task Force One and part of the Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service (TEEX), describes the recent cybersecurity-related response exercise conducted at the Winter Institute, where he led the incident-command post. With LMR radio unavailable under the scenario, chat messaging, pictures/video from drones and other communications methods were used to provide situational awareness during the exercise. Such new information is helpful, but many operational lesson learned included the need to have users turn off the “autocorrect” function on their devices before sending messages and to take steps that ensure that chat “rooms” do not become information silos.

Warren spoke with IWCE’s Urgent Communications Editor Donny Jackson during the Winter Institute event hosted by the Texas A&M University Internet2 Technology Evaluation Center (ITEC).