RE: Comment on a preliminary report from the W3C Emergency Information Interoperability Framework (EIIF) incubator

All -

 

I have been involved (peripherally) in a W3C incubator group 
activity.  Below is a call to review their draft report and work to 
date.

 

Please send any comments to the individuals named in the letter.

 

Regards

 

Carl

OGC

 

We invite and encourage your 
comment on a preliminary report from the Emergency 
Information Interoperability Framework (EIIF) Incubator Group of the 
W3C. The incubator group will conclude its work on 30 June 2009 and welcomes 
input from the emergency management community at this time.

 

The mission of the Emergency 
Information Interoperability Framework Incubator Group, part of the Incubator 
Activity, is to review and analyze the current state-of-the-art in 
vocabularies used in emergency management functions and to investigate the path 
forward via an emergency management systems information interoperability 
framework. 

 

The emergency management 
community encompasses a broad spectrum of local, national and international 
organizations with a role to play. Comprehensive emergency management generally 
is composed of Reduction, Readiness, Response, and Recovery activities. The wide 
variety of roles in which information systems are used by emergency managers 
(such as assessment, facilitation, coordination, and support), as well as the 
wide range of organizations involved, require a collaborative approach to the 
sharing of information. Systems to support this can add significant value, 
especially as the scope and scale of an event increase and, along with them, the 
volume of information required to be managed and shared.

 

It is viewed as essential that 
information is stored and communicated in common formats to ensure that 
information can be easily exchanged and aggregated to support the decision 
making process. A key component of this process is ensuring that consistent 
definitions (vocabulary) are used to support meaningful sharing of 
information.

 

This preliminary report of this 
W3C incubator group includes the following:

 

l        
A sampling of information frameworks

l        
An emergency response coordination scenario

l        
A review of selected use cases

l        
Consideration of work required to move toward common 
ontologies

 

Through this work, the incubator 
group hopes to encourage the emergency management community in the development 
of clearly defined vocabularies and a framework for information interoperability 
to ensure that meaningful sharing and aggregation of information to assist in 
emergency functions.

 

To provide feedback on this 
preliminary report, please send email to Renato Iannella 
and Chamindra de 
Silva, EIIF Incubator Group co-Chairs, no later than 
<date?>.

 

Carl Reed, PhD
CTO and Executive Director Specification 
Program
OGC

 

The OGC: Helping the World to Communicate Geographically

 

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"The important thing is not to stop questioning." -- Albert Einstein 

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