The current capacity gaps in the ETC are in the same areas as those originally identified in 2005, namely: Human Resources; Global Strategic Stockpiles; Capacity Building and Training; Partnerships; and Response.  The original objective of the ETC was to establish the capacity to address three large emergencies per year, two of which occur concurrently, and with a large emergency defined as one with 500,000 or more beneficiaries and involving five areas of emergency operations.  Progress was made in each of these areas in 2006, such that the ETC currently has the capacity to respond to one single large emergency.  Thus the gaps have only been partially addressed because just 46% of the funds requested were made available to the Agencies and these funds arrived between September and December 2006.

The objective in 2007 -2008 is to fully achieve the capacity to respond to the three large emergencies, and with particular emphasis on the following:

1 ) Capacity building - The identification of qualified, experienced and available people to fulfill the functions of cluster coordinators and technical responders.  A training strategy is critical to target the identified people from global and local levels and aims at enhancing understanding and capacity to strengthen the response at country level.  Also essential is the establishment of an inter-agency roster.  To build capacity and improve response, the ETC will seek to increase the membership of NGOs, private sector and standby partners;
2) Supply/Equipment capacity - There is a lack of available standard equipment for emergency response both at the global and local level.  A capacity mapping must be undertaken to identify the needs and options for resource mobilisation.  Strategic pre-stock locations have been identified for equipment storage and arrangements will be finalised for pre-stocking of equipment;
3) Resource Mobilisation through Partnerships - A capacity mapping of the ETC membership and other organisations must be undertaken to identify the resources available in order to pool these to enhance emergency preparedness and response capacity;
4) Coordination - Both at the global and country level there is a strong need to coordinate the preparedness work which is being carried out simultaneously and to provide coordination during an emergency response;
5) Information and knowledge management - Currently there is no central unit that implements common information and knowledge sharing tools for the telecommunications emergency preparedness and response, except for the ETC;
6) Assessment tools and frameworks for implementation, monitoring and evaluation - Common standard assessment tools for prior to and during emergency response do not exist.  This gap is being met by the identification of required tools and the development of these tools along with standard procedures;
7) Emergency Response Triggers - At present it is still unclear at the local level how the cluster is activated and how the ETC emergency response is triggered.  For this, the ETC will be developing an improved communications strategy to fill this gap created by a lack of information and understanding of the cluster concept and ETC approach.