Integrating geographic information systems, spatial digital libraries and information spaces for conducting humanitarian assistance and disaster relief operations in urban environments

The GeoWorlds system integrates geographic information systems, spatial digital libraries and other information analysis, retrieval and collaboration tools. It supports multiple applications ranging from intelligence gathering to urban planning, to crisis management and response. Teams can rapidly assemble collections of document-based information from the World-Wide Web and other specialized information sources, visualize geo-spatial distribution of these collections and monitor events that might change conclusions or decisions formed on the basis of an initial information set. This functionality is provided within a framework that supports both synchronous and asynchronous collaboration over finding, filtering and organizing information and presenting it in a rich visualization environment

Practitioner’s hands and academic eyes : a practical approach to improving disaster preparedness and response

This dissertation primarily uses observations made during the 2005 Kashmir earthquake relief effort and available disaster literature to address problems that impede effective and efficient disaster preparedness and response. Three manuscripts form the body of the dissertation. The manuscripts are thematically linked through the Emergency Management Cycle. Each manuscript examines actual problems and provides recommended solutions to these problems along with a strategy to implement them. The first manuscript proposes a practical method whereby emergency managers can assess risk in their community and examines the use of schools as the basis of a community-wide relief center plan. The second manuscript draws on observations from the 2005 Kashmir earthquake and available literature to examine impediments to operational geo-information utilization during that relief effort. The manuscript concludes with recommendations on how to increase the accessibility of geo-information to a diverse group of users and better manage geo-information during future disaster response efforts. The last manuscript supplements the study of civil-military relief efforts with contemporary anecdotal experience. The research examines the interaction between US military forces and other disaster relief actors during the 2005 Kashmir earthquake relief effort. The manuscript puts forth the Kashmir Model of integration, coordination, and transparency of intent as a framework in which future humanitarian assistance operations can be successfully executed.Keywords: disaster response, Pakistan, geographic information system, civil-military, disaster preparednes