This page is a collection of letters sent to manufacturers, educational institutions, politicians, media outlets and non-profit organizations. It is intended to be both a record of my good-faith attempts at free-market activism, and a storehouse of ideas.
Contents
Computer/Game Designer letter
Research Institution letter
Heavy Equipment Maker letter
Political letters
Non-Profit letters
Media letter
Computer/Game Designer Letter
July 1, 2011
To: VP, Product Development
Fr: Lt Brian Houska, Urbana Fire-Rescue
Re: Simulation design
Dear Sir or Ma’am,
Change is often threatening; my industry faces great change. With threat comes opportunity: there is great opportunity for your industry in helping mine adapt. The industry that could use your help is the US fire service, and there may be significant first-mover advantage in doing so.
As you may be aware, we have more firefighters and fewer fires than ever before. This inflames an already-robust hero tournament while at the same time reducing opportunities for on-the-job training and skill growth. Obviously, this is a compound human resource development problem. One solution is simulation, and that’s where you come in.
Today there are about 1.15 million firefighters in the US in more than 30000 departments (USFA, 2009). An unnumbered multitude would like to join our ranks. Firmly established in the heroic economy with products like HALO and Call of Duty, video game manufacturers and the computer makers that support them are well-positioned to exploit these market segments. Firms like yours have the potential to realize not only profits, but less tangible benefits too.
Potential soft benefits include grant support to underwrite product development, and access to public modeling data (NIST, NIOSH, National Registry Paramedic Standards, etc) that would lower the time and cost of development. Public relations could benefit: development of a“1st-person savior” could mute critics of combat-oriented products. Also, a successful product could create governmental good will by improving the safety and cost-effectiveness of the fire service.
A monograph on the future of the fire service can be found at 21stcenturyfire.blogspot.com under the "Vision" page of "The Progressive Firefighter" blog. This is a “Jules Verne/Buck Rodgers” vision that should provide some ideas for an entertaining but educational game platform. I’m sure your talented designers can take it much further. Please be aware that this is in no way representative of mainstream thinking within a fire service that proudly calls itself “200 years of tradition unimpeded by progress”.
That conservatism has become a real threat to firefighters and the public alike. By daring to change we can cut the cost and size of government in a time of economic stress while improving public safety. Coming from a junior officer with a business degree, simulation is seen as a threat and dismissed. But a game whose entertainment value and hero-market draw springs from the marriage of realistic simulation with innovative tactics and technology would minimize the threat of the new. Those seeking to enter the fire service or new to it would grow up with these ideas; those established within it might learn to embrace them. This is a strategy for grass-roots change.
Change tends to be a function of underlying economics. Today the fire service is far too inefficient: international comparisons and studies like America Burning make that clear. Just as compelling is the idea that game designers can profit mightily from assisting with homeland security, for that’s what the protection of lives and property is. Please take advantage of this opportunity and help my profession fulfill its mission, provide good return to your shareholders, demonstrate corporate social responsibility, and serve our nation. Thank you.
This letter has been sent to:
Apple
Microsoft
Dell
HP
Research Institution Letter
July 1, 2011
To: Vice President/Chancellor for Research
Fr: Lt Brian Houska, M.HR/IR, Urbana Fire-Rescue
Re: Interdisciplinary Research
Cc: Illinois, MIT, RAND, Chicago, Harvard/Kennedy, NYU/Wagner, Cal-Berkeley, Texas/Austin
Dear Dr X,
To the extent that research is federally funded, every institution engaged in it has a vested interest in the solvency of our nation. This may be especially true for firms in the higher education industry – firms like MIT. With 16 years in the fire service I believe that great savings can be realized by re-inventing this sector of government. Having investigated the fundamental economics of my industry, I believe I have sound economic support for that position. My purpose here, however, is not to solicit support or sound out a doctoral program but to spur awareness of a research opportunity with great potential.
Re-engineering government means embracing systemic change. Success, therefore, relies on an integrated effort. To that end I have encouraged leaders in the gaming industry to pursue profitable, realistic simulation games that are as educational as they are entertaining. I have done likewise with robotics and logging equipment manufacturers regarding opportunities in fire apparatus design. There are natural overlaps between these industries – how simulation can inform design and vice-versa, for instance. But the benefits of cross-industry synergy are difficult to convey in terms of profit and market share. This is where your industry comes in.
Whether its growing prominence is due to a growing appreciation for the complexity of dynamic systems or competition for grant support, inter-disciplinary research naturally exemplifies the sort of integrated effort necessary to re-envision and streamline emergency service delivery. The direct benefits of involving your institution in this effort include short term grant support and long-term cost-savings. Indirect benefits include improved financial conditions for all levels of government and the realization institutional and national charters. The stakes are that high.
This is a lot to claim for something as mundane as local fire protection. Most people, after all, take their emergency service for granted, just as they do with any other insurance. Few consider that on a per-fire basis the price of providing fire protection is more than 3 times the median value of homes in their communities; that as little as six weeks of paid training can more than double a firefighter’s income, moving his salary alone within spitting distance of median family income (2008), or that even facing a down economy, massive public debt, and ever fewer fires (-7%, 2009), double-digit job growth is forecast for full-time union firefighters.
In short, a fire service that is under-skilled and under-managed, but over-staffed, over-equipped, over-paid, over-weight, and over-traditional is a fire service long-overdue for reform and automation. Needless to say, this view is not well-received within the service – too much self-interest is involved. Hence the need for independent research. Put your own self-interest to work for our Nation: money not spent on fire insurance is available for other investments with higher returns -- like the human capital investment of education.
Please review the enclosed documents or visit the "Vision" page of the Progressive Firefighter blog at 21stcenturyfire.blogspot.com.
As you do so, please consider how your institution might combine sustainable urban planning, architecture, mechanical and materials engineering, business management, computer science, political economy/ public policy, sociology, applied mathematics, and public health to improve the cost-effectiveness of the fire service, and thereby reduce the tax and debt burdens of all levels of government. This is my mission. Help me achieve it by achieving yours.
Heavy Equipment Maker letter
To: VP, Product Development (Logging/Mining/Farming/Construction)
Fr: Lt Brian Houska, Urbana Fire-Rescue
Re: Apparatus design
Dear Sir or Ma’am,
Change is often threatening; my industry faces great change. With threat comes opportunity: there is great opportunity for your industry in helping mine adapt. The industry that could use your help is the US fire service, and there may be significant first-mover advantage in doing so.
Potential soft benefits include grant support to underwrite product development, and access to public modeling data (NIST, NIOSH, NFPA, etc) that would lower the time and cost of development. Public relations could benefit: development of a semi-robotic fire apparatus or exoskeleton that saves lives and dollars while reducing fuel consumption and pollution might offset ideas associated with extractive or industrial practices. Also, a successful product could create governmental good will by improving the safety and cost-effectiveness of the fire service. Potential hard benefits are market share and profits.
Please review the attached monograph on the future of the fire service or visit The Progressive Firefighter blog at 21stcenturyfire.blogspot.com. It is a “Jules Verne/Buck Rodgers” vision that should provide some ideas of the sort of machine we need to automate the fire service. I’m sure your talented engineers and designers can take it much further. Please be aware that this vision, while backed by economic principles and public data, is in no way representative of mainstream thinking within a fire service that proudly calls itself “200 years of tradition unimpeded by progress”.
That conservatism has become a real threat to firefighters and the public alike. By daring to change we can cut the cost and size of government in a time of economic stress while improving public safety. Coming from a junior officer with a business degree, the idea of automation is seen as a threat and dismissed. But like they said in a movie “If you build it, they will come.” Give city managers, fire chiefs, and aspiring firefighters a viable technological option, and sooner or later they will embrace it, just as generals and the daring young men they commanded embraced aircraft early last century.
Change tends to be a function of underlying economics. Today the American fire service is far too inefficient: international comparisons and studies like the America Burning series make that clear. Just as compelling is the idea that innovative apparatus designers can profit mightily from assisting with homeland security, for that’s what the protection of lives and property is. Please recognize this opportunity, help my profession fulfill its mission, provide good return to your shareholders, demonstrate corporate social responsibility, and serve our nation. Thank you.
