Mapping out Disasters and Emergencies with location intelligence
Brian Lantz
Vice President and Advisor to Homeland Security and Continuity Issues
MapInfo 3 Bethesda Metro Center, Suite M025, Bethesda, MD 20814
Abstract
With the heightened awareness around emergency situations and threats to our nation and
communities, government is now recognizing the critical need to share and disseminate
information?particularly spatial information--across agencies, jurisdictions, rescue and recovery
responders and citizens rapidly, efficiently and economically. In order to do this, location-based
technology is critical to plan, prevent, detect, respond and aid in recovery.
While the events of September 11 were sobering, they come at a time when American
technology has never been so advanced and ready to offer solutions. One such solution is
location-based technology, which plays an important role in disaster recovery, disaster
prevention and business continuity.
Using location-based technology, government agencies and companies with extensive
infrastructure deployed over wide geographic areas, like phone companies, oil companies and the
like can quickly locate assets in an emergency. For example, insurance companies can use
location intelligence to quickly determine a property’s proximity to hazardous materials and
better determine risk for establishing premium rates.
Instead of simply responding to situations, location-based technology empowers users to
prepare for emergencies through shared intelligence, accurate asset tracking and data
visualization. It provides the following benefits:
Rapid reaction and response
The technology enables emergency personnel to easily visualize, understand and view data
about people, places and resources "at a glance," for rapid reaction and response.
Shared intelligence
Government data, such as military assets or crime patterns, can be efficiently gathered from
both internal and external sources. Data can reside in multiple locations, across multiple agencies
and jurisdictions and in a variety of formats (including non-spatial data). MapInfo technology
brings this data together in a common, open format, enabling agencies at the local, state and
federal level to share information and make better decisions.
Flexibility
Solutions need to fit seamlessly with existing IT infrastructures and do not require additional
technology investments.
Accurate Asset Tracking
Need the ability to geocode the location of important public assets including large
landmarks, transportation hubs, underground telephone and electrical lines and high-voltage
power plants.
Multi-platform, multi-channel
Solutions need to be able to expand to deliver information quickly to users on the PC
desktop, Web or wireless.
Time and financial constraints make it impossible to plan for every disaster or catastrophic event.
But today’s technology gives you new insights based on location intelligence. Location-based
intelligence can help both public and private sector organizations assess emergency responses
“on the fly,” dynamically and in real time.
The steps to ensure operational continuity
For years, discussions about disaster planning focused solely on recovery. Most often
managers focused on backing up stored data, but rarely looked at the possibility of lost
infrastructure or, in the worst case, lost employees.
But after the events of September 11, 2001, the focus shifted to the much larger and more
complex issue of government and business continuity. Rather than looking for ways to simply
“recover” after a disaster strikes, agencies and enterprises have begun asking “how do we
continue our business operations in the case of the unthinkable?” The answer lies in developing
business processes that enable quick reactions and are flexible enough to adjust to any situation.
An organization is more than just its digital assets. Personnel and physical infrastructure
contribute to corporate value, whether it’s a private organization or a government agency. The
best way to ensure continuity is to create a careful plan, and the only way to plan is to fully
understand where physical assets are located in relation to any of a number of factors. These
include spatial issues, such as other physical assets, employees and customers, and non-spatial
issues, such as risks.
Agencies and businesses have collected this kind of data over time, but it is often spread
across organizations and stored in formats that are difficult to use. It could include information
about how many employees work in a remote sales office, or where equipment is stored. But if
this information is in the form of a spreadsheet or departmental database, it may be difficult for
managers to gain a true picture of what resources are where.
A solid continuity plan relies on the ability to access, understand, act upon and share this
information. Developing the plan relies on four key steps: accessing spatial data; understanding
the data; creating action plans; and sharing the information.
