UC to Host Dec. 12 Conference on Infrastructure Security Issues

Homeland security in our region, with a special emphasis on agricultural and food issues, will be the focus on Tuesday, Dec. 12, when UC's Center for Integrated Homeland Security and Crisis Management hosts the first Joint Critical Infrastructure Conference (JCIC).

The focus will be on plans at each level of government to implement the National Infrastructure Protection Plan. Discussion will take place among representatives from a number of agencies that would need to work together in the event of a homeland security crisis, including the FBI, the Ohio Department of Agriculture, the Ohio Department of Homeland Security, the Ohio Emergency Management Agency, the Hamilton County Emergency Management Agency and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

UC Professor of Political Science James Stever is heading the effort to organize the conference. Stever is also an adjunct professor with the National Agricultural Biosecurity Center, based out of Kansas State University.

"The conference really relates back to the National Infrastructure Protection Plan, which was just released on June 30," according to Stever. "The plan outlines how the nation will protect its critical infrastructure, and aspires to set up regional councils that will focus on unique aspects in regions of the country."

The plan breaks the planning down into 17 different sectors, such as agriculture, transportation, chemicals and banking.

The JCIC will piggyback on an FBI-initiated conference held last year with the National Agricultural Biosecurity Center in Kansas that dealt with agro-terrorism. That conference drew more than 800 participants, with attendance at an upcoming follow-up conference this year expected to top 2,000.

The Ohio River will be a major topic at the conference. With almost 10 percent of the U.S. population living in the Ohio River basin, any terrorist threat involving the river would have broad implications. The most likely threat to be faced is an action that results in the obstruction of the river, which would interrupt the flow of the $45 billion in products that travel the river corridor each year. But an attack on the river as a source of drinking water, which supplies more than 3 million people, could also have widespread impact.

The initial conference will consider how to safeguard agricultural infrastructure. Subsequent conferences will likely consider potential disruptions such as the bombing of the Ohio River’s dams, locks or bridges, or the dispersion of chemical, biological or nuclear agents. With the sponsoring agencies, conference participants will be involved in conducting threat assessments, determining appropriate responses, planning to train to be ready for any such incidents and networking with others who would also be working these issues.

"This conference is a step towards bringing UC into the forefront on issues of Homeland Security," says Stever. "We currently offer a certificate program in Security Studies, with plans to add undergraduate and graduate degree programs in that area."

UC plans not only to train students in the field but also serve as an important regional resource on this subject. The Center for Integrated Homeland Security and Crisis Management will be set up to help provide local, state and federal government offices with expertise in these issues. Among other plans, it will also be hosting an annual security training conference.

The conference is also anticipated as being the first of an annual series of conferences examining infrastructure security concerns.

Registration is still open for the conference, and can be accessed at: http://www.conferencing.uc.edu/Details.asp?ConferenceID=255

UC is a charter member of the Homeland Security Defense Education Consortium. The topic requires a multidisciplinary approach, with a number of departments from UC’s McMicken College of Arts & Sciences involved, along with participants from the UC College of Engineering.

Support for the conference is being provided, in part, by a Taft Departmental Enhancement Grant from UC’s Charles Phelps Taft Research Center.