Recent changes at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) may generate significant opportunities for commercial vendors to introduce innovative technology to the agency, which it requires to accomplish its mission efficiently, according to the Input Executive Program (IEP).

"The study shows that after a rough couple of years for FEMA, the opportunity for vendors to bring innovation to FEMA is moderate," Deniece Peterson, IEP senior analyst, told HSToday.us. "But they are being smart. They are not doing too much too soon. They are open to ideas but they realize the environment right now in terms of program management and the internal controls are not necessarily where they need to be to adopt the riskier or more innovative technologies. They are in the middle-of-the-road right now, which is an improvement from where they have been."

The willingness of FEMA leadership to move forward and to catch up with the rest of the federal government in IT infrastructure improvements opens specific opportunities in the Multi-Hazard Flood Map Modernization Program, where vendors could provide geospatial technologies, database integration tools, and Web-based collaboration applications, among other products and services.

FEMA has been concentrating on improving its program management capacities throughout the agency. The agency has been focusing on short-term improvements within its organization, paving the way for long-term improvements in systems innovations, Peterson said. Improvements in FEMA management procedures and tools would yield greater opportunities for vendors to assist FEMA with meeting its goals.

"Innovation can be useful at all levels of an organization, whether in the field or at top management," Peterson commented. "For example, my research has shown that the logistics and the communications improvements that have happened after Katrina have been huge. They have been reevaluating and seeing how technology can prevent breakdowns in communication from happening again."