The Cabinet Office has enlistedBTto build an extranet to help the UK
respond to emergencies.
The
National Resilience Extranet (NRE) will provide organisations
such as fire and rescue services, utility companies and strategic
health authorities with secure, internet-based collaboration
technology.
The NRE is aimed at helping organisations respond better to
emergencies by sharing information and communicating online.
It will be a browser-based "collaborative working tool" which
will enable information exchange both during planning and in
response to emergencies such as floods and outbreaks of
agricultural diseases.
Responding organisations, government departments and agencies
will be able to share knowledge, plan responses and manage
situations as they happen.
The extranet is part of the government's response to emergencies
over the past few years, such as the
2007 floods and the foot and mouth outbreak. It is an attempt
to improve secure communication and information sharing.