Attendees learn “How to Build a big Snowball”
By Deb Nerud, BS, MA, NREMT-P
Key Principles for Successful Enterprise Systems in the Google Age were presented Wednesday morning March 12, 2008, by Mark Doherty, executive director, Technology Architecture and Strategy, Intergraph Corporation. He related some of the challenges and opportunities that exist for enterprise systems to the standing room only audience.
“Today’s enterprise systems actually are ‘enterprise’ as they are the single source of truth and are widely used. But having to use them widely and integrate them increases their complexity.”
He said that the biggest single issue is to integrate with systems outside your own firewall. “It is really not a technology issue any longer, it has become policy and organization issue instead,” he said referring to who has security access and departments using regulations as a smokescreen for not wanting to work with other departments.
“The utility sector is probably as advanced as anyone in dealing with technology issues, a good example is the SmartGrid,” stated Counts.
Another challenge today is converting data to intelligence. “Many organizations are sitting on a wealth of transactional information.”
He said that one of the keys to successful enterprise implementation is that it is open at all levels. “It also needs to be standardized and a legally documented way to provide access to data or functionality.”
Counts stressed that Rich Internet Applications are far more capable, responsive and dynamic than ever before However, some of the geospatial heavy lifting still demands rich clients which deal with adhoc workflows and urged the audience to “mix and match” as necessary.
“Embrace emerging platforms and access to data that might not otherwise be available…use the right tool for the right job. If Microsoft Virtual Earth solves the problem, use it,” he said. He reminded everyone that using these platforms inside the enterprise requires licensing fees and agreements to be legal.
“Remember the saying: How do you build a big snowball? You start with a small snowball; build for today but architect for tomorrow. Infrastructure is as important in IT as it is in the real world. Smart investments in infrastructure pay off many times over,” concluded Doherty.
GIS Can Save LivesBy Deb Nerud, BS, MA, NREMT-P
Sadly most EOCs have push-pin and post-it note technology according to Tom Counts, 3-GIS CEO. “They are aware of GIS, but that’s a far cry from having GIS technology,” he said. Counts gave a synopsis of his experiences at the March 12, 2008 session, Transforming the Emergency Operations Center with GIS.
“Receiving information must be timely and aggregated to overlay common threads and avoid multiple responses to common events,” he began. “The events must be organized and prioritized in order of precedence for maintaining life, community and property. And the response must be measured.”
He said the need for a common operational picture (COP) became clearly evident with 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina. “With Katrina it took days and weeks to realize an accurate COP.” When the news is going through multiple levels of translation, it means that it may no longer be accurate when it reaches the operations center.
Counts stated that GIS is focused on integration or bringing together complex data and knowledge and then making it accessible. “GIS integrates road networks, geology, topography, infrastructure, land use, imagery, public safety, and assets. It links multiple departments and ultimately lives will be saved,” he said.
Regarding intelligence gathering, analysis, planning, response, recovery, he indicates that it is all geospatial in nature. GIS can allow the EOC to make decisions on when to set up road blocks, where to stage the ambulances, and where to have emergency responders stationed.
GIS visualization can also help to understand the critical infrastructure of a city in pinpointing gas leaks or high pressure mains. “We can look at weak points with view shed analysis to preplan or perform risk analysis. We can predict vulnerability and impact based on population density or protection of transportation traffic patterns,” Counts said.
“First responders have taken maps into the field for a long time, that’s not new, what is new is that now they are able to publish their information.”
The tools enable us to federate the data between groups without sharing sensitive or protected information and the Web provides a new pattern for this platform. Microsoft and Google are already using this platform, providing image base-maps for the world. “What used to be rocket science, is really not to hard to achieve with Web 2.0 architecture,” he said. “Technology has been enabled with increased bandwidth, faster processing, larger storage, mobile and real-time sensor networks, and GPS triangulation.”
He concluded by saying that we have created a way to aggregate data, visualize it, and take action to save lives. “First responders should not just respond they should report.”
