Dawn or Doom
Eric Dietz

Eric Dietz

"Where does sacrificing liberty for security exceed our limits?"

STEW 214 CD: 1:30 - 2:30 PM

Introduction of information technology into the practice of emergency management and homeland security emerge as the dawn of new applications but are these methods the doom for liberty and privacy. The abundance of disasters from all causes, have illuminated the fragility and weakness in our civilization, the urgency for taking action and the need to make timely decisions to limit property damage and reduce the risk to human life. Information technology systems are emerging as a tool for emergency management practitioners to plan with more efficiency and to achieve sufficient situational awareness with greater speed and accuracy than legacy systems to make good decisions. While information technology systems can speed decision making, can information technology and security measurement methods give us insight into our limits for sacrificing liberty for security?


Bio: J. Eric Dietz, PhD, PE earned Chemical Engineering BS and MS degrees from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology and PhD from Purdue. Now director of the Purdue Homeland Security Institute and professor in the computer and information technology department, he has formerly served as founding executive director for the Indiana Department of Homeland Security. There Eric reorganized Indiana’s public safety planning and response, led development of comprehensive plans, training, and exercises needed to optimize Indiana’s emergency response, and led the state’s response to seven presidential major disasters and emergency declarations. Dietz retired from the U.S. Army in 2004, retiring as a lieutenant colonel. While serving, he led Army research and acquisition programs, including chemical weapon detectors, command and control software, and army power systems.