Main Menu

Background

The Pacific NorthWest Economic Region (PNWER) launched the Partnership for Regional Infrastructure Security and the PNWER Disaster Resilience and Homeland Security Program in November, 2001 with the goal of improving the ability of the Pacific Northwest to protect its critical infrastructures and withstand and recover from all-hazards disasters. Based in Seattle Washington, PNWER is a statutory, non-profit public/private organization formed in 1991 by legislatures of the northwest states of Alaska, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbia, Saskatchewan, and Yukon Territory.

PNWER, through its Pacific Northwest Center for Regional Disaster Resilience, works with key public and private stakeholders to create and implement workable solutions to local and regional infrastructure vulnerability and other related needs. PNWER accomplishes this by raising awareness of infrastructure interdependencies, providing training and education, and developing tools, technologies, and approaches that build on existing capabilities and can be utilized across the United States, Canada, and the international community. click here for the PNWER website

Center for Regional Disaster Resilience (click here for brochure)

The RDR Center’s mission is continuing and building upon a long legacy of PNWER’s work with states, municipalities, and other regions to secure interdependent infrastructures and develop disaster resilience. In July 2006, the National Infrastructure Protection Plan referenced PNWER as the model process to address critical infrastructure interdependencies. PNWER is working to foster public-private partnerships across the Pacific Northwest, including, Washington State, the Puget Sound area, the Portland/Vancouver area, Alberta and Alaska.

Blue Cascades Interdependencies Exercises

PNWER has organized four critical infrastructure interdependencies exercises over the past five years. Each exercise was designed by the stakeholders and reflected regional concerns (terrorism, cyber security, natural disaster, pandemic flu). An integrated Action Plan was created based on the findings and recommendations of the exercises. Numerous projects from the Action Plan are currently underway.

Northwest Warning Alert and Response Network (NWWARN)

(click here to download brochure)

PNWER has worked with stakeholders for over four years to develop an information sharing system to allow infrastructures to send and receive critical information. This collaborative effort has a goal of maximizing real-time situational awareness by providing immediate distribution of information to those in the field who need to act on it.

NorthWest Alliance for Cyber Security (NWACS)

PNWER serves as the Secretariat for NWACS, which was created after Blue Cascades II (September 2004). The mission of NWACS is to improve and maximize the cyber resilience of the Pacific Northwest region by maximizing opportunities and communications between local, regional and federal organizations, and enterprises.

The RDR Center is building on this extensive foundation of activities through:

Creating and fostering cross-sector partnerships focused on infrastructure security and disaster resilience;

Developing and conducting regional infrastructure interdependencies initiatives focused on various threat scenarios that include regional cross-sector/cross discipline workshops and exercises to better understand threats, vulnerabilities, and develop strategies for action to address them;

Developing requirements for stakeholder-validated projects and activities to address readiness gaps and improve regional resilience;

Seeking funding and other resources to support regional pilot projects and other activities and to enable state and local agencies to address regional preparedness needs;

Overseeing the implementation of priority projects and activities in a cost-effective, timely and ethical manner;

Conducting outreach and develop and facilitate seminars, workshops, and targeted exercises to raise awareness and test the level of preparedness.

Communicating stakeholder validated regional disaster resilience recommendations to state and provincial governments and policymakers

A Document Library that can be searched by infrastructure sector, hazard, threat, and jurisdiction;

An Events Calendar with dates and information on conferences, exercises, and other events concerning disaster resilience and critical infrastructure protection;