When a disaster like Hurricane Katrina strikes a community, maps that show water mains and utility lines can be vital tools.
But pieces of that infrastructure information, known as geospatial data, are held by a disparate array of organizations, including local governments, utilities and businesses. Sometimes those groups are hesitant to share.
Robert Samborski sees his job as “just breaking down the obstacles to sharing data,” he said.
Samborski, executive director of the Aurora-based Geospatial Information & Technology Association, was in Denver on Tuesday to speak at the ESRI Homeland Security geographic information system conference.
After Sept. 11, 2001, for example, “people were able to respond (by using) databases and technology. A lot of geospatial technology was involved in the recovery from that,” he said.
A pilot project in Denver coordinated by the association aims to get governments, utilities, first-responder agencies and the military to better prepare for a disaster by identifying what information they will need and how to get it.
Dave Murray, geographic information systems coordinator for the city of Westminster, sees a need for this type of project. “The average citizen, including me, doesn’t understand why we can’t work cooperatively to solve problems,” Murray said.
Representatives from local municipalities, the state government, the Air Force Space Command, the Department of Homeland Security, the University of Denver, the Regional Transportation District, Xcel Energy, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and others gathered in November to start the process.
It won’t be easy to share the data, and participants pointed out a number of reasons why:
Some groups fear their data will fall into competitors’ hands.
There could be liability issues if groups provide wrong information.
Some parties are unwilling to give away data for free.
Security problems could develop if data got into the wrong hands.
Data are stored in different formats.
Samborski is trying to get funding for a second phase of the project. He hopes the finished product will contribute to a national geospatial framework for protecting infrastructure.
Staff writer Kelly Yamanouchi can be reached at 303-820-1488 or kyamanouchi@denverpost.com.
