High-tech tool improves incident planning and response for emergency management officials.An enhanced high-tech, collaborative mapping tool is helping law enforcement and emergency management officials better coordinate event and incident planning and real-time response. In its most significant deployment to date, the Geographic Tool for Visualization and Collaboration (GTVC) developed by the Georgia Tech Research Institute The Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) is the nonprofit applied research arm of the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, Georgia. GTRI employs around 1,300 people, and is involved in approximately $100 million in research annually for more than 200 clients in industry (GTRI GTRI Georgia Tech Research Institute GTRI Global Threat Reduction Initiative ) proved its usefulness during the G-8 Summit of world leaders The Summit of World Leaders is a meeting of current and former heads of states and other international dignitaries, sponsored by the Interational and Interreligious Federation for World Peace, an organ of the Unification Movement founded by the Rev. Sun Myung Moon. at Sea Island, Georgia Sea Island is an isolated resort island located in Glynn County just off the Atlantic coast of southern Georgia in the United States. Sea Island is part of the group of islands known as the Golden Isles of Georgia together with Jekyll Island, St. Simons Island, and Little St. , in June 2004. The Georgia Emergency Management Agency The Georgia Emergency Management Agency or GEMA is the emergency management agency for the U.S. state of Georgia. Its function is similar to that of FEMA in preparing for and responding to disasters, and mitigating potential hazards.
GEMA Groupement des Entreprises Mutuelles d'Assurances (French) ), which is funding GTVC development and deployment, made the tool available to state and federal law enforcement agencies A law enforcement agency (LEA) is a term used to describe any agency which enforces the law. This may be a local or state police, federal agencies such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) or the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). during the event to coordinate their combined resources and responses in real time. GTRI researchers during the event demonstrated the system's features, including high-resolution imagery available at 1-meter resolution for the entire state, and even higher resolution for certain areas. The maps scale with each view and maintain all the markings made on them electronically. Kirk Pennywitt, a GTRI senior research engineer, said he and his colleagues also derived numerous lessons learned from the G-8 experience. They are prioritizing work on 130 potential new features and requirements for the next version of GTVC software. Some goals are to make network connectivity easier, create better information-reporting capabilities so that both icons and text or other details can be included, display real-time GPS-based tracking of vehicles and personnel, and add more powerful geographic search capabilities, such as the capability of showing all the hospitals within a 50-mile radius. GTRI is working with the Georgia Forestry Commission to adapt GTVC to track smoke during planned burns of forested land. Other potential applications for GTVC include tracking of chemical plumes and planning of evacuation routes, as well as tracking of human and animal diseases. GEMA also uses GTVC for hurricane and flood evacuation planning and for public-event-activity planning. Pennywitt and his colleagues expect to deploy a new version of the GTVC software within the next year to support a statewide infrastructure for wider use. For more information, visit the GTRI Web site at www.gtri.gatech.edu. |
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