In early 2016, the NISC, with support from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology First Responders Group, worked with G&H International Services to develop the Battle Rhythm Manager tool. The initial purpose of this exercise management tool was to support exercise play during the NISC’s virtual CHECKPOINT 16 exercise. The Battle Rhythm Manager was designed to allow a diverse set of participants from across multiple time zones in the United States and internationally to participate in the exercise. The Battle Rhythm Manager coordinates the delivery of injects and allows participants to test information sharing tools and technology while giving feedback throughout the exercise event.
Designed to be compatible with Esri’s ArcGIS platform, the Battle Rhythm Manager integrates easily into an organization’s ArcGIS viewer for use in trainings and exercises. It can also be configured to support multiple lanes of participation (e.g., government, private sector, non-profit, general public) to give participants a customized experience that is relevant to their needs.
In addition to the NISC’s CHECKPOINT 16 exercise, the Battle Rhythm Manager has been used as an exercise facilitation tool during the January 2017 New Orleans Flood Experiment and is being used as the central hub for the August 2017 EARTH Ex exercise.
The NISC is currently exploring making the Battle Rhythm Manager a transitional tool available to NISC members through the NISC Member Portal that can be easily downloaded and integrated into local systems, so stay tuned!
