As emergency response agencies sift through the embers of the recent Pigeon Valley Fire, the lessons are again clear: reliable information, consistent communication and open data are critical.
A group of GIS (geographic information system) professionals and practitioners are working together to make sure that GIS is integral to emergency management in New Zealand. The group is called NZGIS4EM (NZ GIS for Emergency Management), and a recent example of their work is the national symbology for emergency management, launched in December 2018.
Emergency management symbology (NZGIS4EM)
NZGIS4EM also support open data initiatives. At a recent NZGIS4EM forum, the resilience team from LINZ (Land Information New Zealand) presented on their ‘Key datasets for resilience and climate change’ project. This project has identified 12 key datasets which contribute to resilience, covering people, property, transport, rivers and topography.
The resilience team are working with NZGIS4EM and other agencies around New Zealand to improve these datasets for the ‘4Rs’ of emergency management – risk reduction, readiness, response and recovery.
The agencies include Stats NZ, New Zealand Transport Authority, KiwiRail, Fire and Emergency New Zealand, NIWA and LINZ.
People using the datasets have identified a range of improvements. The next step is to work out which improvements will deliver the biggest value to New Zealand.
You can help prioritise the suggested data improvements by sharing with the team:
Help the LINZ resilience team prioritise improvements to the key resilience datasets (LINZ)
Closing date: 29 March 2019.
You can find out more about NZGIS4EM, or contact the LINZ resilience team, at:
