Bringing Science and Technology to Security Operations

Abstract

The year 2010 was a demanding period for Canada s security communities. After years of inter-agency planning and exercising for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Games, and the G8 and G20 Summits, it would be natural to conclude that Canada s ability to respond to a public security event had never been so great. Given the complexity of the challenges associated with international events of this magnitude in such a short timeframe, it is interesting to understand how Canada s security community was able to accomplish the mission at hand. One player that has emerged with a bright future as a key enabler to domestic security is Canada s Science and Technology (S&T) community. During V2010and the Summits, a network of Scientific Advisors was embedded within key federal and provincial operational domains to support planning, exercises, and real-time security operations. This group also served as the vanguard to a robust S&T reach-back capability, which offered responder communities an opportunity to have timely access to some of the best scientific advice and expertise in the country. Scientists actively engaged in key operational organizations such as the RCMP Integrated Support Unit and the Government of Canada Operations Centre, and delivered S&T reach-back that incorporated a unique whole-of-government approach which called on support from across federal science-based departments and agencies, as well as academia. For many of the uniformed operators across responder communities, access to this level of expertise became critical, especially as it applied to complex, non-traditional security challenges. As one key V2010 planner said, In my mind there is no question that the Olympics, G8, and G20 validated the concept of embedded S&T support during security operations. I see scientific support as a key risk mitigator in our business.

Open PDF

Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 01, 2011
Accession Number
ADA551211

Entities

People

  • Colin Murray
  • Susan Mcintyre

Organizations

  • Defence Research and Development Canada

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Counter WMD
  • Engineered Resilient Systems
  • Human Systems

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Communication Systems
  • Communities
  • Counterterrorism
  • Governments
  • Mobile Laboratories
  • National Security
  • Natural Disasters
  • Natural Resources
  • Physical Security
  • Public Health
  • Public Safety
  • Risk
  • Safety
  • Scientists
  • Security
  • Terrorism
  • United States

Readers

  • Canadian European Scientific Immigration and Epilepsy Clearance Studies
  • Emergency Management and Homeland Security.
  • Joint Military Operations and Doctrine.