Hurricane Irene Geospatial Information Page Is Available

EPC SPECIAL NOTICE

In support of Minnesota corporations that may need geospatial information for their operations along the U.S. East Coast during, and after Hurricane Irene, a special information page devoted to the event is now available.

Look for it by clicking on the "Available GIS for Disasters" link in the right side bar.  Then click on "Hurricane Irene" in the left side bar of the site's Home page.  Alternately, click here to proceed directly.

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Geospatial Tech's Impact on Government's Emergency Response Efforts

Click on the link below to proceed to the article as published in Government Computer News:

Virtual USA: How Geospatial Tech Is Changing Government
By Patrick Marshall
Aug 10, 2011

Here's the pitch: "A geospatial framework emerges for emergency response coordination among federal, state and local governments."

Comment: This article is actually the lead piece in an interlocking series on the same subject that can be found by clicking links in the "Related coverage" window, middle of the first page.  Correspondingly, even more articles can be found by using the "Related coverage" links in those follow on pieces.   As you are reading these articles that focus primarily on the power of technology, remember there are three pieces that must be in place to make a Common Operating Picture (Virtual USA) approach work: technology, people and policies.  Without those last two, the effort will fall far short of what is technologically possible.  Go here to read more on that point (shameless plug).

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Blurred Satellite Images - Living in the Post 9/11 World

Click on the link below to read the article by the Associated Press:

AP IMPACT: Uneven Post-9/11 Data-cloaking Persists
By JUSTIN PRITCHARD, Associated Press
August 22, 2011


Comment: This article is an eye-opener for two reasons:
1. It drives home the point that many individuals involved in homeland security see geospatial data as the tip of the spear when it comes to information flows in our society that could be used against us.  Indeed, in the state of New York - mentioned many times in this article - the New York State GIS Clearing House resides in the Office of Cyber Security in the New York Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services.


2. Since ALL infrastructure data has a location element to it, location is the cross compartment unifying theme for managing and visualizing emergency preparedness and response efforts for those systems.  Consequently, infrastructure data is headed toward center stage of the much bigger geospatial data fight that has started to emerge in our nation.  (See the "Legal" category, this blog)

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Next Quarterly Meeting of the EPC - September 8, 2011

Looking for something to do when the Minnesota State Fair is over, the kids are back in school - but the leaves are still somewhat attached to the trees?  Well, I've got just the answer:

The next Quarterly Meeting of the MnGeo Emergency Preparedness Committee (EPC)! 

Highlights of the September 8th event:

• InfraGard P2CAT overview


• U.S. National Grid location marker update


• Twin Cities GECCo details


• And much, much more 


For event details, to include online participation information, go here.

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About: EMR-ISAC

Here's information about a free DHS program of information that may be of help to you:


The Emergency Management and Response—Information Sharing and Analysis Center (EMR-ISAC) is located at the National Emergency Training Center in Emmitsburg, Maryland. It provides no-cost threat and vulnerability information as well as critical infrastructure protection and resilience lessons learned and best practices to the leaders and operators of the nation’s Emergency Services Sector (ESS).


The EMR-ISAC primarily aims to assist firefighters, emergency medical technicians and paramedics, law enforcers, emergency managers, 9-1-1 operators, and related disciplines in making informed decisions regarding survivability and continuity of operations in an all-hazards environment. The intended outcome of the EMR-ISAC efforts is to improve the capabilities of emergency departments and agencies to perform their mission-essential tasks before, during, and after an all-hazards event.


In addition to “For Official Use Only” documents for vetted/validated personnel, the EMR-ISAC also disseminates weekly non-sensitive INFOGRAMs for a wider ESS audience. The free services of the EMR-ISAC specifically support Department of Homeland Security initiatives to share information among federal, state, local, tribal, territorial public and private departments, agencies, and organizations. Recently, the EMR-ISAC established a community of interest (COI) on the Homeland Security Information Network (HSIN) to facilitate the sharing of FOUO information with the vetted, incumbent ESS leadership. The COI includes announcements, alerts, advisories, updated products, news feeds, and other useful links.

For more information see their website at: http://www.usfa.dhs.gov/emr-isac, or contact them at: emr-isac@dhs.gov; 301-447-1325.

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Anger Builds Over Radiation Forecast Maps Withheld From Japanese Public

Click on the link below to read the article from the New York Times:

WORLD   | August 09, 2011
Japan Held Nuclear Data, Leaving Evacuees in Peril
By NORIMITSU ONISHI and MARTIN FACKLER
Residents of a town in the nuclear disaster zone expressed fury that unpublished radiation forecasts could have prevented them from harm.

Comment: Much to its credit, no main stream paper has tuned into the Geospatial Revolution like the New York Times.  Unfortunately, from this sad story that it ran yesterday, comes a lesson for us all about the immense damage that can happen to society when geospatial technology is not handled with care and respect.

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UN News Centre: UN Economic and Social Council Sets Up Committee on Global Geospatial Information

UN News Centre
July 27, 2011
Direct story link

"The United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) today voted to establish a committee of experts on global geospatial information management to coordinate international dialogue on spatial data infrastructures and enhance cooperation in that field.

According to the latest report of the Secretary-General on global geospatial information management, the rapid technological advances in geospatial information and related technologies have made this kind of information readily available.

Geospatial information has application in many fields including humanitarian, peace and security, environmental and development challenges facing the world, such as climate change, natural disasters, pandemics, famines, population displacement and food and economic crises, according to the report.

Building the infrastructure for the gathering, validation, compilation and dissemination of geospatial information is therefore as important for countries as the building of roads and telecommunications networks.

However, there is currently no global multilateral or intergovernmental mechanism that can play the important leadership role of setting the agenda for the development of global geospatial information and promote its use to address key global challenges.
The Secretary-General proposed that the UN take the lead role and serve as the coordinating entity of the global geospatial information community, hence the decision to create the committee.

The committee is mandated, among other tasks, with providing a platform for the development of effective strategies on how to build and strengthen national capacity on geospatial information, especially in developing countries.

It will also compile and disseminate best practices and experiences of national, regional and international bodies on geospatial information related to legal instruments, management models and technical standards, thus contributing to the establishment of spatial data infrastructures.
The committee will comprise experts from all Member States, as well as from and international organizations, who will serve as observers."

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NSGIC Geospatial Preparedness Committee Releases Recorded Webinar

The National States Geographic Information Council (NSGIC) Geospatial Preparedness Committee recently produced a webinar about how geospatial data and technologies were used during several natural disasters that occurred this past spring.  The recorded version of that webinar is now available.  Here are the details:


"On June 28^th, we held a special WebEx from the Geospatial Preparedness Committee.  Discussion focused on the unusual number of natural disasters that have occurred this year have and continue to plague federal, state and local resources.  In addition a National Level Exercise (NLE) was conducted, an earthquake scenario surrounding the New Madrid Fault. 


Geospatial data and related technologies has played a valuable role in supporting these events and exercises.  A panel of presenters discussed the challenges, the role of geospatial data and technologies as well as lessons learned. They included:
·         DHS NLE After Action – Noah Goodman and David Alexander 
·         Kentucky NLE – Kenny Ratliff 
·         Arkansas Flooding – Learon Dalby
·         Tuscaloosa Tornado – Mike Vanhook
·         Joplin Tornado – Tony Spicci
·         Q and A



The recording of that WebEx is now available at https://nsgic.webex.com/nsgic/lsr.php?AT=pb&SP=TC&rID=21360782&rKey=0dbd65d5ce2cc26f&act=pb "

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Quick Action Helps Google Win Friends in Japan

Click on the link below to read this article from the New York Times:

TECHNOLOGY   | July 11, 2011
Quick Action Helps Google Win Friends in Japan
By HIROKO TABUCHI
Through efforts like a Person Finder site and Street View recordings after the earthquake and tsunami, Google is finally winning over new friends in Japan.

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Resource Guide for the Criminal Intelligence Community Just Released

For those geospatial professionals working in the Law Enforcement community, here's a just released document that is packed with great information:

Source: U.S. Department of Justice

A draft of the Criminal Intelligence Resources Guide (PDF, 2.1 Mb) was released in late June by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). The unclassified document is a collection of intelligence information sharing products and resources, which aims to capture a valuable representation of the intelligence-related sources available to the intelligence community.
  
The Criminal Intelligence Coordinating Council believes the guide is a significant asset to law enforcement agencies by providing a single document of well-organized intelligence products and resources. The guide contains a listing of available open-source products and a brief summary of what each product entails.

According to the DOJ, the document should be considered a “living document,” and “persistent effort will be employed to continually update it as new resources are identified.”

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World Bank Is Opening Its Treasure Chest of Data

This is a must read article for anyone interested in importance of data sharing - geospatial or otherwise!

BUSINESS DAY   | July 03, 2011
World Bank Is Opening Its Treasure Chest of Data
By STEPHANIE STROM
Robert B. Zoellick, the World Bank president, argues that its most valuable currency isn't money - it's information.

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