Welcome to the Geospatial Dimensions of Emergency Response Community of Practice!

The Geospatial Information & Technology Association (GITA) has created this unique forum to address the application of mapping technologies such as GIS, GPS, and remote sensing to emergency and disaster response. In response to a perceived need, GITA held the first ever Geospatial Dimensions of Emergency Response Symposium in Seattle, Washington in March 2008. The response was overwhelmingly positive, and, in 2009, the symposium will once again bring together the worlds of emergency response and planning and geospatial technology April 19-22 in Tampa, Florida.

In offering this specialized education, GITA is seeking to meet the following critical goals:

  • Provide educational sessions about the application of geospatial technologies to emergency and disaster response that are applicable to individual responders, operational managers, and support personnel in both communities
  • Draw the geospatial professional and emergency response communities together in an effort to improve communication between the two groups
  • Foster a better understanding between the two communities of the roles and responsibilities of each
  • Encourage and assist the communities to maintain an ongoing dialogue so that all are better prepared to assist and achieve maximum efficiency in times of disaster and emergency

We intend this site to be a vital forum for information exchange and sharing of expertise.  As such, we will continue to expand the opportunities for interaction among professionals interested in the intersection of emergency response and geospatial technology.

Coming soon: 

  • ER-Xchange – a repository of pertinent articles, “white papers,” presentations, reports and other resources to serve as your best reference to the use of geospatial technology in emergency response;
  • A “Practitioners Pipeline” that will serve to identify the most urgent and relevant topics for the next symposium;
  • ….and any other ideas that will help us complete our mission of “bridging the gap” between these two important communities.