2. SESSION C-2: INFORMATION MANAGEMENT
COOP and the Virtual Environment
Moderator:
Cindy Auten
General Manager, Telework Exchange
Panelists:
Joseph Ganci
Director of Audit Operations, COOP Coordinator, Office of Inspector General, Department of Labor
Josh Sawislak
Senior Advisor to the Administrator, Acting Chief of the Office of Emergency Response and Recovery, General Services
Administration
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3. SESSION C-2: INFORMATION MANAGEMENT
COOP and the Virtual Environment – Resources
COOP evaluation guide prepared by the PCIE/ECIE the predecessor of the CIGIE:
http://www.ignet.gov
“An IG’s Guide to Evaluating Agency Emergency Preparedness:
http://www.ignet.gov/pande/ie/emergencyprepareguide.pdf
National Institute of Standards and Technology Guide to Enterprise Telework and
Remote Access Security Report, issued on June 16, 2009:
This guide is intended to help organizations understand and the mitigate the risks
associated with the technologies they use for telework. It emphasizes the importance of
securing sensitive information and provides recommendations for selecting,
implementing, and maintaining the necessary security controls.
Link to:
http://csrc.nist.gov/publications/nistpubs/800-46-rev1/sp800-46r1.pdf
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4. SESSION C-2: INFORMATION MANAGEMENT
COOP and the Virtual Environment – Resources
Telework Resource: Telework Exchange:
www.teleworkexchange.com
FEMA COOP Programs, Templates, and Course:
http://csrc.nist.gov/publications/nistpubs/800-46-rev1/sp800-46r1.pdf
OPM Pandemic Preparedness Guidelines:
http://www.opm.gov/pandemic/OPM-Pandemic_AllIssuances.pdf
Telework Exchange "H1N1 – Uncle Sam’s COOP Exam":
The study examines Federal employees views on agency Continuity of Operations (COOP)
readiness associated with the H1N1 scare. Feds give their agencies mixed marks revealing
there is room for improvement in continuity plans and telework is a key remedy. Link to:
http://www.teleworkexchange.com/H1N1/
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5. SESSION C-2: INFORMATION MANAGEMENT
COOP and the Virtual Environment
Good morning and please accept my apologies for not joining you today. I asked Cindy to read this message because while
I cannot be with you to discuss today's topic, I am an object lesson in its importance. The reason I am not there today is
that over the weekend I can down with an illness and while I am feeling a little better this morning, I cannot be sure I am no
longer contagious. Our greatest tool in fighting the spread of infectious disease is social distancing. As we saw recently in
Mexico during the early days of the H1N1 pandemic, social distancing can have severe economic impacts.
However, we have a weapon in our arsenal and that is telework. The ability for many workers to stay productive during
periods when they may be able to work, but not able to attend their normal workplace will have a huge economic impact on
the nation and the world. In addition to the financial benefits, it also tends to improve compliance with the goal of keeping
infectious people out of the workplace. People who know they are still able to work from home are less likely to come back
early or not stay out at all. A recent study published by the Telework Exchange shows how we Feds have been working to
incorporate this great tool into our continuity plans, but we still have work to do.
If I can get across one point to all of you this morning, it is that we need to think of work as a "thing" not a "place" and
continuity planning as an effort to build resiliency into all of our work processes. We must move past the idea of COOP
planning as making big binders and having empty buildings full of computers which get used once a year. Resiliency is
something we need to think about every day and by embracing telework and not keeping all of our assets in the same place,
we get a long way toward that goal. If you have any questions on these thoughts, please feel free to email me at
josh.sawislak@gsa.gov. Thank you.
Josh Sawislak
Senior Advisor to the Administrator, Acting Chief of the Office of Emergency Response and Recovery, General Services
Administration
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