Go Lean Commentary
“Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong” – Classic Murphy’s Law!
The age of technology has overcome us; computerized systems are impacting every aspect of modern life.
This is good!
This is bad!
The famous criminal Willie Sutton was once asked why he robbed banks, and his response was simple, eloquent, and humorous:
Because that’s where the money is.
The book Go Lean…Caribbean posits that wherever and whenever there is economic prosperity, “bad actors” will always emerge. This fact should be no surprise; it should be expected forthright. The book serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU). This CU would function as a facilitator for the 30 member-states of the Caribbean, charged to elevate the economic, security and governing engines of the region. There will be the need to facilitate the full breadth and depth of Information & Communications Technologies (ICT).
The “bad actors” or threats to societal engines could be intentional or accidental, man-made or natural. This is duly documented in the current news story of heightened computer glitches that have disrupted major players in the American business eco-system … on the same day.
This has disrupted the business as usual. Is it chance or is it choice?
This is yet to be ascertained; see the news article here:
Title: NYSE re-opens after trading stopped amid United Airlines, WSJ.com tech issues
Reporting by: Kylie MacLellan; Editing by: Dominic Evans
Trading was halted for more than two hours on the New York Stock Exchange floor Wednesday after an internal technical issue was detected – which then set off speculation that a cyber-glitch at United Airlines and a temporary online outage at the Wall Street Journal newspaper were connected.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest said President Obama had been briefed on the glitch that took out trading on the floor of the NYSE by White House counterterrorism and homeland security adviser Lisa Monaco and chief of staff Denis McDonough.
He also said despite indications that it was not a cyber-breach, the administration was “keenly aware of the risk that exists in cyber space right now.”
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson tried to allay fears, saying, “It appears from what we know at this stage that the malfunctions at United and at the stock exchange were not the result of any nefarious actor.”
He added, “We know less about the Wall Street Journal at this point except that their system is back up again as is the United Airline system.”
Trading at the NYSE stopped around 11:30 a.m. ET though NYSE – listed shares continued to trade on other exchanges such as the Nasdaq.
…
Read the rest of the article here: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2015/07/08/nyse-united-airlines-wsjcom-hit-with-computer-issues/
The CU/Go Lean roadmap provides for comprehensive oversight in this arena of ICT; to protect against bad actors and bad happenstance.
The overriding theme of the foregoing news article is that cyber-security is not automatic, and not easy; it takes heavy-lifting on behalf of skilled stakeholders to ensure the appropriate protections are in place. The Go Lean roadmap asserts that some empowerments for the Caribbean may be too big for any one member-state alone; that there will be the need for a deputized technocracy like the CU to provide the remediation and mitigations for regional progress. The roadmap calls for vesting the CU with the authority to establish and execute a comprehensive security apparatus that also covers cyber-threats and computer glitches.
The Go Lean book relates (Page 127) how ICT can be a great equalizer in competition with the rest of the world. This embrace of ICT must include e-Government (outsourcing and in-sourcing for member-states systems) and e-Delivery, Mobile, Social Media, Postal/Electronic Mail, e-Learning and wireline/wireless/satellite initiatives.
In fact, this the Go Lean book posits that mastery of these technology endeavors are necessary to fulfill the CU prime directives, defined by these 3 statements:
- Optimization of the economic engines in order to grow the regional economy to $800 Billion & create 2.2 million new jobs.
- Establishment of a security apparatus, authorized by a Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA), to protect the resultant economic engines.
- Improvement of Caribbean governance, including a separation-of-powers between CU federal agencies and member-states governments, to support these engines.
The book contends, and this foregoing news report confirms, that bad actors and/or bad happenstance will always emerge to disrupt business as usual in the region. This point is pronounced early in the book with the Declaration of Interdependence (Page 12) that claims:
x. Whereas we are surrounded and allied to nations of larger proportions in land mass, populations, and treasuries, elements in their societies may have ill-intent in their pursuits, at the expense of the safety and security of our citizens. We must therefore appoint “new guards” to ensure our public safety and threats against our society, both domestic and foreign. The Federation must employ the latest advances and best practices … to assuage continuous threats against public safety.
xii. Whereas the legacy in recent times in individual states may be that of ineffectual governance with no redress to higher authority, the accedence of this Federation will ensure accountability and escalation of the human and civil rights of the people for good governance, justice assurances, due process and the rule of law. As such, any threats of a “failed state” status for any member state must enact emergency measures on behalf of the Federation to protect the human, civil and property rights of the citizens, residents, allies, trading partners, and visitors of the affected member state and the Federation as a whole.
xvi. Whereas security of our homeland is inextricably linked to prosperity of the homeland, the economic and security interest of the region needs to be aligned under the same governance. Since economic crimes, including piracy and other forms of terrorism, can imperil the functioning of the wheels of commerce for all the citizenry, the accedence of this Federation must equip the security apparatus with the tools and techniques for predictive and proactive interdictions.
So while the CU is set to optimize Caribbean society through economic empowerment, with a heavy emphasis of technology, the Go Lean roadmap posits that the security dynamics (and cyber-security) of the region must also be embedded with federal oversight.
The Go Lean strategy of confederating a unified entity made up of the Caribbean to provide homeland security and intelligence gathering-and-analysis for the Caribbean, allows for a one-stop solution for regional assurances. Homeland Security for our Caribbean homeland has a different scope than for our American counterparts. Though we must be on defense against military intrusions like terrorism & piracy, we mostly have had to contend with natural and man-made concerns like hurricanes, earthquakes, oil/chemical spills and narco-terrorism. But now we must also add these cyber-threats that may imperil the region’s economic engines, like tourism. These cyber-attacks and breaches can undermine the integrity of our institutions and establishments, as previously reported in this prior blog/commentary:
… imagine a “hack” that harvests credit card account numbers used at area hotels; if those fall into the wrong hands, the experience could tarnish the goodwill of the Caribbean brand.
Considering this threatening “what if” scenario described here or the actual incidences in the foregoing news article, there is the need to be on alert against this ‘Clear and Present Danger’.
The Caribbean appointing “new guards” – a security pact or Homeland Security Department – to ensure public safety includes many strategies, tactics and implementations considered “best-practices”. The Homeland Security Department must be on a constant vigil against “bad actors”, man-made or natural. This necessitate being pro-active in monitoring, mitigating and managing risks. Then when “crap” does happen, the “new guards” will be prepared for any “Clear and Present Danger“. The Go Lean book describes an organization structure with Emergency Management functionality, including Unified Command-and-Control for Caribbean Disaster Response, Anti-crime, enterprise corruption, corporate governance and military preparedness.
These incidences create the need for intelligence gathering and analysis to manage the right resource for the right time and right place. (The same as buildings with elevators must get and maintain appropriate “permits”, the Go Lean‘s corporate governance vision calls for IT and Data Center Best-Practice compliance). The Go Lean roadmap thusly calls for a permanent professional security force plus a robust intelligence (including cyber-security) agency. The CU Trade Federation will lead, fund and facilitate this security effort from “Step One, Day One” in the Go Lean roadmap, with the full facilitation and accountability.
This security effort is defined in the Go Lean book and blog commentaries as Unified Command-and-Control (UCC). The book details a series of community ethos, strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies necessary to establish and succeed with Unified Command-and-Control in the Caribbean region:
| Economic Principle – Economic Systems Influence Individual Choices and Incentives | Page 21 |
| Community Ethos – Privacy –vs- Public Protection | Page 23 |
| Community Ethos – Intelligence Gathering | Page 23 |
| Community Ethos – “Crap” Happens | Page 23 |
| Community Ethos – Cooperatives | Page 25 |
| Community Ethos – Ways to Foster Genius | Page 27 |
| Community Ethos – Ways to Improve Sharing | Page 35 |
| Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Greater Good | Page 37 |
| Tactical – Confederating a Non-Sovereign Union | Page 63 |
| Tactical – Fostering a Technocracy | Page 64 |
| Tactical – Separation of Powers – Treasury Department – Publicly Traded Corporate Governance | Page 75 |
| Tactical – Separation of Powers – Homeland Security – Unified Command & Control | Page 75 |
| Tactical – Separation of Powers – Emergency Management | Page 76 |
| Implementation – Ways to Pay for Change | Page 101 |
| Implementation – Start-up Foreign Policy Initiatives | Page 102 |
| Implementation – Start-up Security Initiatives | Page 103 |
| Implementation – 10 Trends in Implementing Data Centers | Page 106 |
| Implementation – Ways to Impact Social Media – www.myCaribbean.gov | Page 111 |
| Implementation – Ways to Foster International Aid – Aid to Security Apparatus | Page 115 |
| Implementation – Ways to Benefit from Globalization | Page 119 |
| Planning – 10 Big Ideas – #3: Homeland Security Pact | Page 127 |
| Planning – 10 Big Ideas – #8: Cyber Caribbean Equalization | Page 127 |
| Planning – Ways to Model the EU – Sharing | Page 130 |
| Planning – Ways to Make the Caribbean Better | Page 131 |
| Planning – Ways to Improve Failed-State Indices – Intelligence | Page 134 |
| Planning – Lessons from East Germany – Regional Security | Page 139 |
| Planning – Lessons from the American West – Law & Order Mitigated Wild-West | Page 142 |
| Advocacy – Ways to Grow the Economy – Better Corporate Governance | Page 151 |
| Advocacy – Ways to Improve Governance | Page 168 |
| Advocacy – Ways to Better Manage the Social Contract | Page 170 |
| Advocacy – Ways to Improve Leadership | Page 171 |
| Advocacy – Ways to Impact Justice | Page 177 |
| Advocacy – Ways to Reduce Crime | Page 178 |
| Advocacy – Ways to Improve for Gun Control | Page 179 |
| Advocacy – Ways to Improve Homeland Security | Page 180 |
| Advocacy – Ways to Mitigate Terrorism | Page 181 |
| Advocacy – Ways to Improve Intelligence Gathering/Analysis | Page 182 |
| Advocacy – Ways to Improve for Natural Disasters | Page 184 |
| Advocacy – Ways to Impact Wall Street – Ensure Better Corporate Governance | Page 200 |
| Appendix – Model of Cutting-edge Data Center | Page 285 |
| Appendix – Emergency Management for Information Technology Continuity | Page 338 |
Other subjects related to ICT, security empowerments and UCC for the region have been blogged in other Go Lean…Caribbean commentaries, as sampled here:
| http://www.goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=5435 | China Internet Policing – Model for Caribbean IT Oversight |
| http://www.goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=5002 | Managing a ‘Clear and Present’ Danger |
| http://www.goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=4308 | 911 – Emergency Response: System in Crisis |
| http://www.goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3881 | Intelligence Agencies to Up Cyber Security Cooperation |
| http://www.goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2684 | Role Model for Justice-Intelligence-Security: The Pinkertons |
| http://www.goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1554 | Caribbean Security Pact vested from a Status of Forces Agreement |
| http://www.goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=960 | Cyber-Security Model: NSA records all phone calls in Bahamas |
| http://www.goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=535 | Remembering and learning from Boston |
| http://www.goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=308 | CARCIP Urges Greater Innovation |
| http://www.goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=273 | 10 Things We Want from the US: #5 – Intelligence Gathering |
Cyber-security is now a constant threat globally – see Appendix* below – with headlines emerging almost daily. There are also film and TV shows with plot-lines that parallel this commentary; “art is now imitating life”.
Since the threat of computer glitches can disrupt everyday life, this subject area must now be assumed in the Social Contract between Caribbean citizens and their governments. Cyber-security is too big for any one Caribbean member-state to tackle alone, so rather, shifting the responsibility to the region-wide, professionally-managed, deputized technocracy of the CU will result in greater production and greater accountability. This mission aligns with the quest to make the Caribbean homeland, a better place to live, work and play.
The Caribbean region cannot allow a few “bad actors”, high-tech or low-tech, to disrupt the peace and integrity of Caribbean institutions. Everyone – residents, Diaspora, visitors, businesses and governments – are hereby urged to lean-in to this plan for confederacy, collaboration and convention, the Go Lean roadmap. 🙂
Download the book Go Lean … Caribbean – now!
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APPENDIX – *Source Reference: http://www.telos.com/news-and-events/cybersecurity-news/
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APPENDIX – VIDEO: Computer glitches disrupt stock exchange, United Airlines – http://www.today.com/video/computer-glitches-disrupt-stock-exchange-united-airlines-480883267766
The New York Stock Exchange came to a standstill for nearly four hours Wednesday and hours earlier, the computer system for United Airlines also froze. NBC’s Gabe Gutierrez reports.