As Australia’s involvement in international response and recovery operations has increased over the past decade, so has the number of government agencies contributing specialist capabilities and expertise to these operations. In this context, the need for effective interaction and enhanced preparedness between agencies is crucial to the success and effectiveness of operations.

Offshore crisis response requires a higher level of multi-agency interconnectedness than ever before. However, the data overload that we all face in the Information Age inhibits networking as much as it facilitates it. To achieve the necessary level of interconnectedness, individuals and organisations need to adopt a completely new way of doing government business.