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In: *Connecting the Dots Blog*, Uncategorized

  Earth Day has been celebrated since 1970 and was created to broaden the support for environmental programs and community awareness to promote environmental citizenship. So in honor of Earth Day…I am offering everyone a tip that can help your organization with “going green” and “saving lots of green”. Wouldn’t be great if your organization could eliminate: Paper-based handbooks (employee, student, vendor, etc.) Paper-based manuals (policies, procedures, plans, etc.) Paper-based documentation (acknowledgements, agreements, etc.) Paper-based training Paper-based memos and alerts Paper-based updates Paper-based incident reporting Paper-based investigations Paper-based incident management Paper-based CYA   And just think about all of the labor-intensive cost savings your organizationRead More →

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In an effort to keep up with information security risks and threats and improve the incident management process between the 23 Virginia Community Colleges and the system office, the Virginia Community College System has implemented TIPS, an innovative risk management software platform from Awareity. TIPS provides the Information Security Officers (ISOs) from each of the 23 colleges with a secure online incident reporting platform to report suspicious activities and incidents. ISOs will also be better prepared to share investigation details, suggested actions, next steps, guidance, etc. and follow‐up with system office personnel to determine the best overall response. TIPS empowers each organization to create customizedRead More →

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Awareity, a leading provider of incident management and prevention software platforms, has received a 2012 Innovation Award from Business Insurance, for TIPS (Threat Assessment, Incident Management and Prevention Services). Traditional front‐end incident reporting solutions are clearly not delivering the results organizations need. The TIPS platform delivers an innovative and comprehensive suite of tools, equipping risk managers, threat assessment teams, risk assessment teams, legal teams, audit teams, and school safety teams to take appropriate actions, securely communicate and share information, and document all investigation and intervention efforts to prevent incidents rather than react to incidents. “Status quo approaches are expensive and they are not working. ItRead More →

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Awareity, a leading provider of incident management and prevention software platforms, has been recognized as a 2012 Honors Laureate by IDG’s Computerworld, for their web‐based TIPS (Threat Assessment, Incident Management and Prevention Services). The annual award program honors visionary applications of information technology promoting positive social, economic and educational change. “There’s no question technology plays a vital role in driving business forward. It ensures an organization’s ability to compete, innovate, communicate and to thrive. What the Computerworld Honors Laureates so clearly demonstrate is technology’s role in moving society forward. Computerworld acknowledges and applauds the outstanding work being done by individuals and organizations who have successfullyRead More →

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In: *Connecting the Dots Blog*, Incident Reporting, School Safety, Uncategorized

  A disconnect is seemingly growing and becoming more and more serious every day. Disconnects in schools exist for many reasons including: silos and departments hierarchy and org chart issues multiple locations lack of ongoing awareness and accountability ineffective and outdated policies and procedures the disconnect between “well said” and “well done”   What about disconnects between Adults and Students…are these disconnects also a problem? For example, most adults never experienced cyber bullying at a young age, so can adults really relate to what students are experiencing these days? As I work with K-12 and Higher Education leadership across the U.S., I come across numerousRead More →

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In: *Connecting the Dots Blog*, Uncategorized

  How important are platforms? What if you had a great football coach, but no platform (fields, training rooms, etc.) to bring it all together? What if you had a great cast and a great play, but no platform (stage, props, etc.) for performances? What if you had some great software, but no platform (PCs, servers, etc.) to use it on? Most organizations would tell you their people are their greatest assets, but many organizations do not have a platform that empowers people to come together, keep up with constant changes and achieve better results. With regards to people, lessons learned reveal the following: PeopleRead More →

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In: *Connecting the Dots Blog*, Uncategorized

  I have attended several threat management and risk management seminars this year, and it seems like many of the speakers and experts have fallen under the spell of “super-should-a-docious”. Many of the speakers and experts continue to express “You should do this” and “Your people should do that” or “You should implement best practices” and “Your people should know this/that” and on and on. And at the seminars and conferences I have been attending, I sense that attendees  are starting to get tired of the same old “should” dance and would rather hear about solutions that allow them to implement all the “shoulds”.  It’sRead More →

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In: *Connecting the Dots Blog*, Uncategorized

  The California Division of Occupational Safety and Health recently fined the Children’s Hospital in Oakland for allegedly failing to protect workers from violence in the emergency department.  The hospital was penalized for “having an ineffective training program, incomplete and inadequate procedures to deal with safety concerns, and an incomplete and untimely hazard correction for workplace violence exposures in the emergency department.” Lessons Learned: The first lesson learned is obvious…organizations must have a comprehensive workplace violence program in place and ensure that all staff has been adequately trained on how to prevent and respond to incidents of violence, identify red flags and report all threats,Read More →

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In: *Connecting the Dots Blog*, Uncategorized

  I went on a trip to South Korea of the holidays and had a fabulous time. The trip was great because I had never been to South Korea, so there were many “firsts” for me.  I also love Korean food and had some “really fresh” seafood too! I got to see a lot of South Korea via airplane from Seoul to Jeju Island where I ate a bunch of delicious hallabongs (small orange like citrus fruit grown only in Korea) and rode on my first bullet train from Daejeon back to Seoul….which was very cool and very fast. My top 5 observations about SouthRead More →

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In: *Connecting the Dots Blog*, Uncategorized

  As the end of 2010 approaches, it is a great time to review lessons learned and decide where you need to be to ensure better results in 2011. Lessons learned from WikiLeaks, OCR and NSBA Dear Colleague letters, breaches, lawsuits, fines and numerous other failures clearly reveal how risks, threats, regulations, liabilities, vulnerabilities and obligations are changing.  Are you, your entire organization and your partners prepared for 2011? Status quo is not the way to keep up with change and status quo is clearly taking a serious toll on organizations around the world. Status quo is also expensive and perhaps Albert Einstein said itRead More →