When storms and other emergencies threaten North Carolina, the N.C. Department of Information Technology assists in emergency response and ensuring continuity of services for state and local governments.
September is National Preparedness Month and also falls within the peak of Atlantic hurricane season, but no matter what time of year, NCDIT is undertaking ongoing efforts to ensure the safety and security of our state, especially during emergency situations.
NCDIT has used geographic information systems and geospatial data to create many tools that help in emergency weather situations. The publicly available NC OneMap provides statewide data on floodplains, building footprints, storm surge inundation, hydrography and land ownership that is valuable for emergency response, evacuations, damage assessment and recovery.
GIS data also flows to the statewide Next Generation 911 network and helps to accurately locate 911 callers regardless of the communication technology used and to route the most appropriate emergency response resources to them.
Next Generation 911, a high-speed data network that includes all 124 public safety answering points funded by the N.C. 911 Board, increases redundancy and resiliency in handling 911 calls. Every answering point can serve as a backup for others on the system in the event of a natural disaster or an overload of emergency calls. NCDIT’s Network Monitoring and Assistance Center works around the clock every day to monitor the service and performance of the statewide 911 network.
North Carolinians who need medical care during an evacuation can benefit from the patient records maintained in NC HealthConnex, the state’s designated health information exchange. Participating health care providers from across North Carolina and in neighboring states can access the medical records of displaced residents to provide them with better care.
NCDIT staff also supports state departments including Transportation, Public Safety and Adult Correction and perform essential roles in these agencies’ emergency management and decision-making across North Carolina.
As the state’s primary IT provider, NCDIT hosts services on systems designed for resilience during disasters and proactively monitors and responds to any impacts on service delivery for customers including state agencies, local governments and educational institutions.
NCDIT’s secure data-center hosting facilities have layers of protection – multiple redundant power supplies, network connections and 24x7 system monitoring – so that they can reliably run state applications. The two data centers are more than 200 miles apart and are designed to operate for extended periods during regional power outages. Teams are available around the clock to respond to alerts and incidents, and in the event of a service loss, NCDIT leads efforts along with agencies and vendors to restore systems as quickly as possible.
In preparation for forecasted events, NCDIT enables major incident handling practices to ensure that all staff stay alert, informed and proactive. Staff quickly assess any impacts on services and communicate with state agencies, so they can be aware and maintain continuity of services.