The Disasters Interoperability Concept Development Study (CDS) is being organized by the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) and sponsored by the Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) and the US Geological Survey (USGS), with the objectives of collating, documenting, and making freely available the knowledge and best practices required for geospatial information sharing in times of crisis.
OGC is inviting anyone who provides and/or uses geospatial data or products connected to disasters to participate in a series of workshops this year. It has also issued a Request For Information (RFI) on February 28, 2018. Responses to the RFI are requested by March 30, 2018. The RFI includes instructions on how organizations can respond to and submit questions about the RFI, available at: Request for Information on Disasters Concept Development Study.
The purpose of this Request for Information (RFI) is to gain a better understanding of the full potential of a Disaster SDI that could serve local, national, regional, and international stakeholders. Information gathered and publicly reported by the initiative will expose opportunities to improve spatial data infrastructures for publishing, discovering, assessing, accessing, integrating, aggregating, and analyzing geospatial data. RFI responses will be discussed with an expanded set of sponsoring organizations, which will review information interoperability and integration requirements, and then outline opportunities for a Disaster SDI Pilot planned for later this year.
The OGC Innovation Program initiative will lay the groundwork for multiple OGC Pilot Projects over the next 5 years. These pilots will, in turn, advance the ability of SDIs to support disaster risk reduction.
By combining the information gained in this CDS with future OGC Testbeds and Pilot Projects, the OGC and its members will demonstrate the richness, benefits, and value of using international standards to provide geospatial data in support of disaster planning, response, and recovery.
This study and subsequent initiatives will show how data standards help stakeholders and decision makers gain new and beneficial perspectives into social, economic, and environmental issues related to disasters by providing access to an online network of resources that improve the sharing, use, and integration of information tied to geographic locations across the globe.
