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BAPCO Journal visits ESRI (UK)'s Enterprise Lab
With Star Trek currently riding high in the film charts there was no better time for the BAPCO Journal to visit ESRI (UK) to see its new Enterprise Lab at its headquarters in Aylesbury.
The lab was built after it was established that to best demonstrate the benefits and uses of GIS technology a large-scale unit, in which scenarios and demonstrations could be played out, was necessary. This allows ESRI (UK) to best present their software, while also allowing those involved to both pose questions and then identify potential solutions to these within a secure, enterprise environment.
With four computer pods in the room to represent each potential use of GIS information – the GIS analyst, the bronze command user (first responders), the silver commanders at the C+C level and members of the public – the lab can demonstrate the benefits of GIS technology for each different level of user. The end-user’s perspective is an important addition because, as Managing Director Richard Waite stated, ESRI (UK)’s goal is to make GIS “indispensable in daily life”.
The Enterprise Lab offers the opportunity for organisations to see how they could best use GIS information for the management of incidents in real situations, using the four pods as a model for real world examples. Demonstrations, such as flooding, can then be used to demonstrate how GIS can help in such situations, while also allowing organisations to interact with the technology and develop ideas for GIS uses in real life scenarios.
The GIS Analyst – By being able to look at detailed maps of the areas potentially prone to flooding, the GIS analyst is better able to consider how best to protect, prevent, prepare and respond to potential flooding risk – ensuring that the emergency services have a better plan when flooding occurs. This is in keeping with the Pitt Report that said better use of maps and geographic information was necessary for dealing with flooding.
Bronze Command - At a bronze command level the GIS technology enables first responders out in the field to send back information to the silver command based in the control room, that can be overlaid on maps.
This works by using a digital pen (pictured below) to draw on a map, and then sends the data back to the silver command, where the information that the pen has “remembered” is redrawn on the map at HQ. This is done by docking the pen in a terminal that can be stored in-vehicle and then sends the data back wirelessly.
The paper maps are waterproof to avoid the obvious risks of water damage in a flooded area and, with numerous bronze commanders on the front line, silver command are able to specify when they wish to see the data they are being sent back.
Silver Command - As mentioned, silver command are able to receive data back far quicker from bronze command, and have a clearer understanding of the situation as the data arrives on the map in real time. From here they are able to coordinate responses for boats, work out the best road routes for evacuating casualties and deal with dangerous situations as and when they are reported back.
Members of the Public – The public are able to access public websites where news and information on the floods can be updated to find out what is happening, where their nearest evacuation station is and so on. There is also the option for the public to submit information on the flooding in their area, allowing a greater database to build up that can be used both as the incident unfolds, and afterwards for analysis.
A lot of this information can be supplied in non-GIS format, despite having come in as GIS data originally – such as the location of buildings and the extent of the flooding and underlines that GIS data has the potential to be used in ways that, while at first don’t appear to be GIS, are using data and information that has been sourced through the use of GIS information.
The ESRI (UK) Enterprise Lab certainly underlines the massive growth that GIS is going through and the next print issue of the BAPCO Journal will feature a further look at this technology. Certainly for large scale events like flooding, the use of GIS technology, as outlined in the Pitt Report, is something that seems likely to become ever more prevalent, and central, to the successful management of such scenarios as and when they occur.
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