Several key lessons have emerged from this effort:

The private sector has an important role to play in disaster preparedness and disaster response. U.S. citizens expect government and relief agencies, including the Red Cross, to lead these efforts. However, the private sector has the ability to move quickly, the necessary key skills and the desire to provide disaster assistance.

The U.S. needs a powerful public/private alliance that can be activated during times of national emergency. It's only a matter of time until the next hurricane, earthquake or pandemic, such as the bird flu, hits. It's much easier to get cooperation from people you already know. Cooper contacted companies that were already providing products and services to the Red Cross. Now that an ad hoc IT disaster response group has been formed, a more permanent partnership can be established in anticipation of future situations.

Good communication is critical to successful disaster response efforts. At times, communication among volunteers, government relief workers, government agencies and the Red Cross broke down. This resulted in extra field work and occasional missed opportunities to help victims. The importance of communication is often underestimated because people assume it will happen naturally. But the scale and scope of communication channels often demand more attention than anticipated.

The post-Katrina finger-pointing was almost as bad as the hurricane itself. Local, state and federal officials all blamed one another for not being prepared and not responding quickly enough. In contrast, the IT teams cooperated superbly and produced excellent results. Relief team members experienced strong camaraderie, were proud to be part of the efforts and described their participation as a deeply rewarding personal experience.