DHS to host alert system fair

Homeland Security Department officials plan to host an industry day in October for companies to show off their solutions for public warnings and alert systems.

The event will help the new federal department decide what kind of systems work best, said Rose Parkes, the acting chief information officer for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which is now part of DHS. She said the event is in the planning stages with DHS's Science and Technology Directorate and Information Assurance office.

"We know there is no single solution to this," Parkes said.

New crisis response systems and partnerships for sharing information with state agencies "were clearly tested" last week during the power failures that affected much of the Northeast and Midwest, DHS Secretary Tom Ridge said in a speech Monday to the nation's governors. "Let's just call it an initial test of our relationship, and I think it worked pretty well," Ridge said, during a meeting of the National Governors Association.