Why not introduce a Great Preparedness Day?
by Kuno Brodersen, CEO, QualiWare
In 2023, Denmark abolished one of its public holidays — "Store Bededag" (Great Prayer Day) — to boost productivity. The decision remains debated, and many Danes and politicians continue to call for its reintroduction. At QualiWare, we have a different proposal: rather than bringing back Great Prayer Day, why not introduce a Great Preparedness Day?
We believe a national day dedicated to practicing emergency preparedness would be far more relevant than an extra day off. This idea was featured today in Computerworld Denmark (article in Danish)
We believe a national day dedicated to practicing emergency preparedness would be far more relevant than an extra day off. This idea was featured today in Computerworld Denmark (article in Danish)
What Would Happen on Great Preparedness Day?
Imagine a single day where a whole country collectively stress-tests its resilience. On Great Preparedness Day:
- Internet access will be cut off
- Power outages and fluctuations will occur
- There will be no hot water
- Water supply will be intermittent
- Telephone networks (landline and mobile) will be disconnected
- Credit card and mobile payments will be unavailable
- Public transport will be limited — overcrowded, delayed, and unreliable
- Employees who are also members of the Home Guard will be mobilized
- Nurseries, kindergartens, and schools will operate as normal, but additional staff will be called in to assist with unforeseen incidents and problems
How QualiWare Can Support Preparedness
QualiWare will support the Great Preparedness Day initiative by providing emergency preparedness software, and guidance.
Our preparedness software enables organizations to:
- Plan and manage emergency preparedness
- Establish standard processes, instructions, and guidelines
- Knowledge sharing via PCs, tablets, mobile phones, etc.
- Assess staff preparedness understanding through questionnaire-based tests and surveys
- Enable staff feedback in the form of text, images, video, etc. — for reporting issues that aren't working as intended or identifying preparedness needs that have been overlooked
- Incident tracking and crisis management, both during the preparedness exercise on Great Preparedness Day and in real crisis situations
Built for Crisis: Context-Aware Information Delivery
QualiWare has developed specialized functionality for emergency preparedness documentation and integration with systems and electronic devices (e.g., tablets, mobile phones, smartwatches, etc.), making it easy for employees to access the information they need when facing a crisis situation.
This means that all types of knowledge — from advanced technical models to simple graphical models, standard text files (Word, etc.), and audio files — can be delivered to a recipient regardless of their location.
Furthermore, QualiWare has developed various forms of situational and location awareness capabilities, such as GPS-based positioning, QR code recognition, image recognition, etc., ensuring that the right information is delivered to the user without them having to search for it.
What If the Internet Fails? Meet Tappaas – A Resilient Alternative
Emergency preparedness information from the Danish Emergency Management Agency, Local Government Denmark (KL), and similar institutions resides on their official websites. Accessing this information in a crisis situation requires a functioning internet connection. Since it is easy to imagine scenarios where the internet is unavailable during a crisis, QualiWare has engaged in a close collaboration with an open-source project called Tappaas.
Emergency preparedness information from the Danish Emergency Management Agency, Local Government Denmark (KL), and similar institutions resides on their official websites. Accessing this information in a crisis situation requires a functioning internet connection. Since it is easy to imagine scenarios where the internet is unavailable during a crisis, QualiWare has engaged in a close collaboration with an open-source project called Tappaas.
Tappaas provides a free, open-source alternative to proprietary solutions from Big Tech giants like Microsoft, Google, and Amazon.
Tappaas was initiated by two good friends of QualiWare: Danish Lars Rossen, former Chairman of the Board at The Open Group and the creator of the IT infrastructure management framework "IT4IT," and his close friend from the Netherlands, Erik Van-Busschbach, CEO of consulting firm Gridtefy.
QualiWare has been actively involved in Tappaas, particularly contributing to integration and testing of the identity management mechanisms in the Tappaas solution.
With Tappaas, all businesses and institutions — waterworks, heating plants, power utilities, kindergartens, schools, nursing homes, hospitals, fire departments, police, and more — can establish an alternative, free, advanced, and secure IT infrastructure that can serve as an alternative to traditional Big Tech solutions. For emergency preparedness, a Tappaas installation ensures that all critical information — from documents to instructional videos — remains accessible on local networks and devices, even without external connectivity.
