At the recent OracleWorld conference in San Francisco, where one of the major topics was Homeland Security and geospatialtools for emergency first responders, a new service offering from PlanGraphics, Inc. of Frankfort, Kentucky was highlighted.  Spatial Templates for Emergency Preparedness (STEPs)  fills a void that has existed for many years-getting useful real-time information to both emergency managers as well as to the first responders on the scene.

PlanGraphics has enhanced its geospatial technology and services to meet this need by enabling emergency workers to share and retrieve critical information via a Web portal. STEPs extracts geographic information system (GIS) data from divergent sources and databases and puts it to work through an information portal. This solves the problem of first responders and their managers who, until now, have not had the full range of disparate data available that would affect and improve their decisions.

While GIS technology is now in widespread use in many organizations today, a "missing link," which has prevented the GIS to transition from the hands of technical departments to mainstream information technology (IT) users, has been identified. The next step in the evolution of GIS to spatial information management is to make the spatial data available to the enterprise in a standard open format without mandating the client tools or application environments that will access the data.

GIS data is basically composed of static historical records or imagery, which still exist in the departmental "silos." When responding to a crisis, emergency workers using computerized maps may be no better off than they are using paper ones, especially if they can't import or integrate other crucial information outside of their own department. They may also need other datasets that they may not even know exist or are unable to import because of the lack of systems interoperability

This need for integration and data sharing is evident daily in today's public enterprise. During a disaster or widespread emergency, this need is multiplied several-fold and is further combined with the need for a timely and professional response. Many organizations acknowledge the likelihood of future major emergencies (even at OracleWorld we had a bomb threat to deal with); therefore, the pressure is on to deliver a proven methodology or "template" that allows organizations to implement and integrate an enterprise "datamart" for unstructured data. This includes location or spatial information for mapping, engineering, and CAD drawings of buildings and facilities; streaming video from surveillance systems; three-dimensional visualization; aerial imagery; and telemetry or sensor systems with well-defined links to multiple enterprise applications and simple Web-based access for the public.

STEPs is a simple web-based platform that provides for access of emergency management data via the internet. Security requirements to authorize access are handled by the database. All users see the same information in real-time, which differentiates it from other systems. Further, for ease of use, all data are displayed in the same window, thereby avoiding the confusion encountered when multiple windows are opened. In fact, STEPs was designed so users can put it to work with only 15 minutes of training.

PlanGraphics also developed STEPs to make it easier to overcome a bigger problem: the reluctance of agencies to exchange their data with others. In most cases, disasters typically will cross political boundaries, whether between cities, city to county, or to state or federal authorities. Accordingly, during the system design phase of STEPs, PlanGraphics identifies and develops links to the various agencies that will be involved, such as FEMA, NOAA for weather real-time data, USGS, and others. The system also includes fly-over views and 3-D visuals so that managers not on site can better visualize the disaster scene and react with more appropriate solutions. It also can provide for telephonic notification of residents in affected areas when evacuation is necessary.

The Proving Ground Was New York City

PlanGraphics' engagement with New York City began in 1995 and continues today. One of the primary tasks of this engagement was to design and implement a centralized data repository to accommodate the convergence of multiple GIS systems and to provide this data as a "utility service" to City agencies. The justification for this project was based on improving the operational efficiency of the City and the integration of multiple "stovepipe" databases of geographic data that were closely guarded by individual departmental users.

When disaster struck on September 11, 2001, PlanGraphics personnel were already on scene supporting and staffing the Office of Emergency Management. It quickly became evident that the response to an emergency requires appropriate and timely knowledge about, and allocation of resources to, a specific location. Without spatial information or sound knowledge of location, including street networks, buildings, utility and transport infrastructure, floor-plan layouts, assets, and personnel, the emergency response can be seriously compromised.

Now, how let's look at how PlanGraphics puts STEPs into operation for a community.

STEP 1
Assessment and Gap Analysis

STEPs is founded on a structured methodology that serves as a foundation for building both the technical and the institutional architectures that enable

PlanGraphics' clients to achieve their objectives. The structure provides for documentation and evaluation of the current technical and institutional capabilities, resources, and needs to respond to natural and man-induced emergencies drawing from (and supporting) a broad range of responders and participants in planning, response and recovery operations. The STEPs methodology draws heavily from techniques that are inclusive, building consensus and agreement from the outset and identifying topics requiring special attention at an early stage where consensus is challenged. Workshops, interviews, topical focus sessions, and facilitated discussions and mediation are a few of the techniques brought to bear.

STEPs is data centric. The methodology is based on the idea that it is the use (or application) of the data that should drive both the institutional agreements, or protocols, and the data requirements and the resultant linkages to sources (or the development of data to fill gaps in sources).

Cognizant of that philosophy, the methodology embodies a series of activities that develop and prioritize applications that in turn drive the physical needs for data and the arrangements to gain access and share that information. STEPs is also pragmatic. STEP 1, the consulting phase, yields a deployment plan facilitating quick and tangible progress and capability-early wins in data sharing and applications  as well as a program that yields access to a more comprehensive array of data and range of application functionality.

STEP 1 methodology typically includes:

• Initiation workshops

• Information gathering

• Inventory of resources

• GAP analysis

• Priority applications requirements

• System integration requirements

• Enterprise interface requirements

• Technology design

• Deployment plan.

STEP 1 Typical Deliverables are:

• Resource inventory

• GAP analysis

• Recommended application suite

• System integration requirements

• Enterprise interface requirements

• STEPs technology design

• STEPs Deployment Plan

STEP 2
Architecture: The Evolution from GIS to Spatial Information Management

PlanGraphics took its NYC experience of 9/11 and enterprise information technology architectures and created a series of templates, consulting services, data translation tools, data loading tools, Web applications, and various application interfaces to deliver a best-of-breed solution to organizations ready to take the next STEP in spatial information management. STEP 2 takes the results of STEP 1 and uses that information as a blueprint to build a spatial information architecture to support the data convergence and information-flow required for emergency management planning, response, and recovery and to prototype a number of key enterprise applications.

Users

While PlanGraphics had the expected resources needed to mobilize immediately to augment New York City personnel at the Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications soon after 9/11, the lesson learned is that the organization itself must have the database architectures, application, networks, operational procedures, and training in place and accessible by a broader user community before a disaster strikes. Moreover, the impact of these events frequently causes the diversion of key personnel to support other jurisdictions or commercial organizations. The dual use of these systems to support daily operations, as well as homeland security/emergency management (HS/EM) events, highlights the importance of keeping data current while ensuring all personnel are trained and proficient in the use of the technologies and relevant procedures.

Data Maintenance

It is widely acknowledged that the operational units within a public enterprise that create and maintain data need to be engaged in an ongoing capacity as the custodians of that data, whether it is for enterprise access or emergency response.

One of the primary demands of HS/EM response and recovery operations is that multiple systems in the response enterprise be able to inter-operate and share information in real-time. The ability of the database to index the spatial data and retrieve it quickly while having access to all the traditional features of the spatially enabled datamart to handle events or triggers makes this environment better suited to the emergency management situation.

Situation Awareness

When a disaster strikes, there is an immediate demand for facts and status of assets, personnel, and the surrounding locale. Surveillance cameras such as those often already put in place by the department of transportation, and other sensors have proven invaluable in clearly communicating the situation at and around the event area to either the command center or to the first responder.

The effective integration of such systems at more than a simple application programming interface (API) level is required in order to have a coordinated response with high data integrity.

Scalability and Security

Additionally, when an emergency strikes, there are extraordinary demands on the scalability of the systems to serve information to a broader user community than the traditional internal departments. Most often the user community crosses political boundaries and may also move upward to state or federal agencies that need to be involved. As importantly, the systems must be able to support varying degrees of security within the network and the database structures.

System Integrity

Interoperability is being touted as a driving force in many large enterprises today. Live Web services and XML have widely been seen as the answer to problems of disparate applications and data sets. In the graphics world, GML has also been flagged as the format of choice when integrating different systems and has been endorsed by the Open GIS Consortium (OGC) as the architecture of the future. While PlanGraphics has implemented such standards-based solutions in the past, there are practical issues in the emergency management situation which acknowledge weaknesses in this architecture.

As an example, the use of distributed Web services into an enterprise is fraught with organizational complications. The STEPs architecture and technology allow a browser interface to connect live to multiple departmental servers and to stream a live conflated graphic view to a browser window using GML or binary translators. In an emergency scenario, the command structure must take steps to reduce the variables from the situation. One of those variables is the integrity of the networked data. A practical strategy has been to migrate the data and metadata and to index it locally in the enterprise datamart. PlanGraphics will typically recommend a combination of the bulk migration to a physical and centralized datamart rather than a virtual datamart which requires uniform compliance with interoperability standards. Whether totally or partially centralized, the enterprise datamart supports distributed Web translation services-the Web services being made available to access additional data sets in real-time.

The Enterprise Datamart Design

PlanGraphics will produce a prototype database design for the datamart using its predefined template and the data sets identified in STEP 1, which support the emergency management command system. The design will address spatial, attribute, and image data to be managed by the enterprise datamart. A layer diagram, entity relationship diagram, and database schema will be developed to illustrate the concept.  

Applications

The primary focus of the enterprise datamart is to deliver appropriate information to the HS/EM system. Several foundational applications are built on commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) software which require similar information and can be put into daily operation quickly for routine operations aiding data maintenance.

Within STEP 2, PlanGraphics builds prototype applications that access the datamart.

The foundational applications typically include:

• Collaborative communication and information sharing

• Public information portal

• Situation awareness and surveillance interfacing to cameras and monitoring equipment

• 2- and 3-dimensional analysis and visualization techniques

• Infrastructure location and attributes.

In addition, through joint discussions with the organization, PlanGraphics will design and construct custom applications to meet the organization's day to day operational needs and at the same time utilize the STEPs architecture and foundational application environment for homeland security and emergency management.

STEP 2 Typical deliverables would include:

• User community defined for the datamart

• Definition of roles and protocols for datamart and departmental database maintenance

• Build and populate prototype of Oracle-based datamart

• Interoperability standards defined for the datamart (addressing real-time data, situation awareness, scalability, and security)

• Application suite specified and prototyped

STEP 3
Deployment of STEPs

Having designed and prototyped an application suite and datamart and demonstrated the data migration processes, STEP 3 revolves around refining the requirements, standards, processes, and designs and deploying and testing them in an operational environment. Institutional agreements and protocols must be developed in parallel to ensure consistency in capability and long term collaboration.

Definition of specific STEP 3 activities is dependent upon the results of STEPS 1 and 2 and can range broadly. A typical configuration at a state government level may include linkages and interoperability of data from selected federal agencies (e.g., FEMA, Transportation, Law Enforcement, Corps of Engineers, USGS, and NOAA, among others), other state agencies, agencies of local governments and adjacent states, the private sector including utilities, and the medical community.

A local government emergency management or law enforcement agency may configure its information access architecture similarly, with connectivity within its own jurisdiction and linkages to a broader enterprise, including state and federal agencies, adjacent jurisdictions, and the private sector. Frequently overlooked participants in the information flow that warrant design consideration and inclusion in the information flow architecture are linkages to the non-profit and volunteer organizations that play significant roles in response and recovery operations, e.g., the Red Cross.

Deployment best occurs in stages. With the architecture designed and an initial set (e.g., early win) of applications prototyped, a reiterative process of application rollout, re-evaluation of data and application priorities, decisions on next stage data linkages and application prototypes, and subsequent deployment begins. Drawing resources from the PlanGraphics Partner Program, PlanGraphics will introduce the technology and product expertise to augment its design and integration expertise as necessary at each stage of the deployment.

STEP 3 Typical deliverables are:

• Prototyped data sets and applications deployed operationally

• Training materials developed and tested, training conducted

• Re-evaluation of priorities for data linkages and applications

• Institutional agreements reached

• Second stage data sets and applications prototyped and deployed

Conclusion

Emergency preparedness agencies and managers are well served by PlanGraphics' STEPs methodology that provides real-time information and visuals to enhance their responsiveness. STEPs builds on PlanGraphics' continuing experience in emergency management needs. The architecture is field- and stress-tested and yet sufficiently flexible to be adapted to government enterprises and commercial operations.