Mobilizing Multi-source Geospatial Information for EW and EM: Maximize Sharing, Enhance Flexibility, and Minimize Costs

Abstract

It is difficult to think of any Early Warning (EW) and Emergency Management (EM) activity that does not involve geospatial information , that is, information about things and events that have location in time and space. It follows that EW and EM decision makers can make better decisions if their information systems provide geospatial information in ways that fully accommodate well-defined user requirements for information discovery, access, and use. Geospatial information for EW and EM is almost always created and maintained by multiple organizations, agencies, and companies, and the data almost always resides on different systems on one or more networks. Unfortunately, “non-interoperability” between these systems and their data has often prevented their discovery, access, and use. Sharing geospatial resources is now much easier, thanks to a well-developed, though still evolving, set of standards. EW and EM managers can maximize sharing, enhance flexibility, and minimize costs by making full use of these standards and contributing to their evolution.