For Immediate Release
Contact: David Niles, 414-617-6597
dniles@productiveknowledge.com
Hollywood attack simulation group will be part of event
MILWAUKEE — National counter-terrorism experts will join security and health care industry representatives to discuss strategies to prepare for and respond to terrorism and natural crises in the United States and Canada during a two-day conference here March 28-29.
The inaugural Great Lakes Agro Security Symposium (GLASS 06) will have a strong focus on protecting the North American food supply, but other aspects of terrorism and natural occurrences, particularly health care issues such as pandemics, will be addressed. And the director of a California institute that develops anti-terrorism and war training simulations will share and display that group’s work.
Richard Lindheim of the Institute for Creative Technologies in Marina del Rey, Calif., will present a war and terror event simulation during a GLASS luncheon program, and discuss how the Army-funded institute works with Hollywood movie executives to develop training-focused gaming.
A number of those movie executives will join Lindheim at the GLASS conference on Tuesday, following an exclusive gathering they will have in Milwaukee on Monday.
One of the main focuses of the GLASS event will be safety of the North American food supply. The Bush Administration has identified food and agriculture as a “critical infrastructure” for U.S. security, noted David Duecker, president of the National Security Network, Inc., which created GLASS 06. Duecker, who also directs the Southeast Wisconsin Homeland Security Partnership said that, “Homeland Security Presidential Directive 9 clearly establishes the roles and responsibilities of the government and the private sector in protecting this critical infrastructure and key resources.”
Symposium organizers hope the event helps create the bridge between national policy and regional implementation, equipping producers and processing firms with the practical tools needed to sustain the food supply chain in the face of an attack or other calamity.
Event organizers say the symposium topics will appeal to regulators, law enforcement agents, responders, researchers, service providers, producers and consumers, manufacturers and processors, packers and transporters, distributors and receivers, and import/export operators.
GLASS attendees will also hear threat briefings from key government officials and security experts. They will also learn best practices for information and intelligence sharing among government organizations and between businesses and government agencies. Those experts will include Jonathan Duecker, a national terrorism expert and U.S. Naval Reserve officer who headed up Pennsylvania’s Homeland Security office. Duecker will be joined by Ed Manavian, the California Department of Justice’s chief in charge of its Criminal Intelligence Bureau, which includes the Anti-Terrorism Information Center. Manavian lead efforts to create a secure, national information-sharing system following the Sept. 11 attacks.
• One of the newer tools for preparing for attacks — the CARVER + Shock risk assessment tool, will be described by security expert Richard Ryan of Archer Daniels Midland, based in Illinois.
• Ray Pettit, a Washington state-based international security consultant who formerly worked for a London firm focusing on counterterrorism and international kidnap cases will offer his perspective on threats to the food supply and where he believes attacks might originate. Pettit also will provide practical solutions businesses can use to protect the food supply.
• Vivian Marinelli of FEI Behavioral Health in Milwaukee will discuss crisis communications psychology and social behavior, focusing on what corporations should have in place and how they should respond internally during crises.
• Matt Taylor of the Canadian Animal Health Coalition will talk about Canadian initiatives to foster cross-industry collaboration to be better prepared to respond to a crisis. His talk will cover bio-security and issues involving Canadian-U.S. border crossings.
• Also coming from Canada is Serban Teodoresco of Sturtevant, Wis.-based JohnsonDiversey Inc., which manufactures and supplies cleaning and hygiene products and systems for businesses. Teodoresco will discuss mitigation strategies companies can use to protect their brands, businesses and customers in the event of an attack.
• Dr. John Whitcomb of Aurora Health Care in Milwaukee will lead a discussion on pandemics and how to prepare for them, explaining a new checklist developed by the Centers for Disease Control.
More information on the event, which is being presented through the Wisconsin Institute and Productive Knowledge Inc., can be found at www.glass06.org or via e-mail at info@glass06.org. GLASS 06 will take place at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in downtown Milwaukee.
JohnsonDiversey Inc. of Sturtevant, Wis., The Wackenhut Corp. of Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., and Sonic Foundry of Madison, Wis. are sponsoring GLASS 06.
