Re: [emergency] The Modularization of CAP?

[Art Botterell <acb@incident.com>]

At 9:03 AM -0400 6/15/04, R. Allen Wyke wrote:
>Can you elaborate just a touch more on this though? I have a mental 
>picture/definition of what a coordination language and/or profile 
>is, but I want to make sure we are using those terms in the same way.

I'd say I was using "language" to mean "a collection of semantic and 
syntactic rules for communication in some topical domain," (the 
domain in this case being "emergency coordination")... and "profile" 
to mean "a specified subset of a language used for a particular 
purpose," (e.g., alerting.)

Looking at this in terms of ICS, CAP was primarily designed to 
support one aspect of the Public Information function; even in that 
narrow domain there are other functions such as processing inquiries 
from the media/public that CAP doesn't address.

If we look at the Operations branch we find other communication acts 
like giving orders, acknowledging orders, reporting status and 
"throwing exceptions" (reporting exceptional conditions that are 
preventing or impeding the execution of orders.  In Logistics we have 
activities like assigning resources, reporting resource status, 
forecasting resource status and availability, enforcing 
maintenance/crew-rest rules and so on.  In Plans we have the 
description of the current situation, the forecast of future 
situation (sometimes in multiple scenarios), the forecast of resource 
requirements and the recommendation of strategies (and I'm 
oversimplifying here.)  And in Finance we have personnel timekeeping, 
expense tracking and so on.

So the language would (ultimately) have semantics and syntax 
addressing these and other communication acts within emergency 
management.  CAP would be one specified subset of the language for 
the particular functions of alerting.

- Art