September 11 geospatial reflections

Since September 11th, 2001, geospatial technology shifted its emphasis to be more focused on emergency response, disaster recovery, terrorist action and other domains of the federal, state and county governments. Indoor mapping derived from this event, when it became evident that knowing where assets were located in buildings, would be vitally important in a time of disaster or terrorist action. If there is any one single event that showed the need for geospatial information, this was it.

The need for disaster management and recovery has escalated with the greater number of natural disasters such as hurricanes, earthquakes, tornados, floods and other acts of nature that have torn the fabric of the U.S. as well as other countries. Geodesign has emerged since that time, tracking requirements for marrying geographic sciences with design professionals and information technologies and the data provided by the people in a geographic location. There must be some overlap of these perspectives which would not overlap if not for the desire to merge information into a cohesive whole.

Other disasters such as Hurricane Katrina, have shaped the way geographic information has been disseminated to the public. Each time one of these disasters hits, there is more to learn about how to disseminate information to the public, how to find resources during a disaster and how to save lives and manage the recovery from these events.

Tags: 9/11, disaster management, emergency response, geospatial, GIS

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