November was a month to remember for the Maps 2.0 team. Our research into Google Earth and Google Maps (GE/GM) convinced us that these tools would make possible a user-friendly, reliable way to display critical information in a disaster response or other emergency. While others have used GE/GM in emergencies (e.g. the California wildfires in 2007) to our knowledge no one has attempted a planned operational process for posting information on online maps in support of humanitarian teams, and with their collaboration. (If we are wrong, write a comment and tell us about it).
In the picture below, Kyaw Oliver and Hector Carpintero, both of ADRA, are online over a BGAN satellite terminal at the team operations center in the village of Ban Yang Loung in northern Thailand. The GPS coordinates that the ADRA and World Vision teams collected were posted by the HumaniNet team within hours of receipt, and the teams are able to view the results over satellite. You can see the same maps on our Thailand exercise page.
While we learned a great deal about managing information and collaborating with a “virtual team” (including volunteers) on the other side of the world, we all agree that the Google tools work, and it is very possible for non-tech people (like me) to learn how to use them.
You can read more about Maps 2.0 on this site and the HumaniNet Web site, where you will find some background and links to the Nepal simulation in late 2007.
Leave a comment, tell us your success stories, ask questions! While we are not all GIS professionals, we’re excited about the potential of displaying important information “geospatially,” in a way that your NGO or nonprofit team and supporters will easily understand. People want to know where you are, where your teams are operating. It’s not hard to do – build it into your 2009 plan.
Gregg Swanson
