November 1, 2006
Disaster Prediction, Social Networking Boosted by Geo-Data Feeds
National Geographic carries an interesting short article entitled Disaster Prediction, Social Networking Boosted by Geo-Data Feeds, looking at how geoRSS can make sharing spatial data simpler, quicker and more useful.
The article deals with prediction rather than response, and the question of how geoRSS might improve disaster response is still open. The obvious one is data sharing from needs assessments or situation reports, but that goes back to the problem that most people don’t really understand the role of spatial data - let alone set up their mobile phone as an automatic GPS ping, like Tim Hibbard in this article.
What it’s about is changing peoples attitudes towards spatial data - making them realise its value - and offering them the tools to work with that data more effectively. If we can do that, we can let the end users define what they need, and maybe develop it themselves - which some are already doing with Google Earth. So maybe it is about their mobile phones after all….
Hat tip to Mikel Maron.
Filed under GIS, Tsunami by Paul Currion
Posts
Comments on Disaster Prediction, Social Networking Boosted by Geo-Data Feeds »
Einar Bjorgo @ 6:12 pm
At UNOSAT we have been developing a special set of RSS feeds that do in fact include geographic coordinates for our maps. We will now move towards using GeoRSS. In case you do not subscribe to our RSS feeds, please see our website and see if it is of interest.
We now use RSS feeds (and inputs from ReliefWeb and AlertNet on our own website) in combination with GLIDE numbers to ensure automatic and interoperable services for example in the context of GDACS.
Tim Hibbard @ 1:37 am
Hey! That’s me. Thanks for the link!
GeoRSS is very exciting. I like seeing weather agencies embracing it. I would like to see journalism do more with it. Being able to add a geographic layer to a news story enables localization. People really want to know what is happening in their back yard, and GeoRSS is a way of getting that information to those people quicker.
Paul Currion @ 12:15 pm
Einar - great to hear that UNOSAT is embracing GeoRSS. Your disaster maps are generally excellent - the GeoRSS movement offers a completely different but complementary approach to sharing spatial data. Do you know if the UNGIWG discussions on SDI will include GeoRSS?
Tim - I love your website, and I could think of a very practical application for aid workers. Most of us carry mobile phones in the field , and if we were to set those phones up as you have, it would provide a cheap (although not 100% reliable) security monitoring system.