Geoinformation for Disaster and Risk Management - ISPRS

Understanding between the United Nations Office
for Outer Space Affairs and the International
Cartographic Association, It was agreed “to utilize,
when appropriate, the scientific, technological,
expertise of ICA through the reviews, evaluations or
recommendations on matters relating to the use and
applications of GNNS, early warning and disaster
management, and management of natural
resources”.
The formal proposal to form a Working Group on
Early Warning and Crisis Management was made at
the 13th ICA General Assembly, held in conjunction
with the International Cartographic Conference, in
La Coruna, Spain in 2005. The initial Chair of the
Working Group was Dr Wilber from Kenya.
The Working Group on Early Warning and Crisis
Management is now an active contributor the work
of the International Cartographic Association and its
outreach and training activities. The endeavours of
the Working Group are focussed on contributing to
promoting the importance of geospatial information
and tools to inform in early warning and how access
to appropriate geospatial tools can assist in times of
emergency. As well, the Working Group actively
disseminates the knowledge about the use of maps
and geospatial information to the wider
international emergency mitigation and
management community.
The aims of the Working Group
• To provide leadership in the development of
concepts, ontologisation and
standardization of early warning for hazard,
risk and vulnerability mapping and
cartographic modelling.
• To promote the cartographic use of
remotely sensed and other geospatial data
and various analysis techniques for early
warning and crisis management by
organizing conferences, seminar and
workshops.
• To investigate psychological condition of
end user given by their personal character
and situation and psychological condition of
rescued persons.
• To promote capacity building and quality
mapping, and cartographic modelling
including modern technology for early
warning and crisis management through
topic related publications.
• To participate and contribute to global
initiatives in early warning and crisis
management for instance through the
maintenance of a website.
• To promote hazard, risk and vulnerability
mapping for crisis management and
communication.
• To develop mechanisms and networks for
exchange of information among
stakeholders on crisis management and
early warning.
Activities of the ICA Working Group on Early
Warning and Crisis Management
In 2005, at the XVIII General Assembly of the Pan‐
American Institute for Geography and History in
Venezuela, the ICA Working Group promoted the
need to develop cartography and GIS applications for
early warning prevention and management of
disasters to the Latin American community.
The 2005 ICA conference in La Coruna, Spain ICA
included a special seminar Cartography in the SDI
Changing World, The Role of SDI and Cartography in
our contemporary World for monitoring and disaster
alleviation.
In 2006 a poster was prepared by the Working
Group ‐ “Cartography and Geoinformatics for Early
Warning”. The poster was widely disseminated
within the cartography and GIScience international
community. It was aimed at the promotion of the
work of the Working Group within the community
and to illustrate to the general public the need to
ensure that essential geospatial information was
available during times of crises. The poster was
launched at the Third International Conference on
Early Warning, organized by the United Nations and
the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction
(ISDR), held in Bonn, Germany in 2006.
In 2007 the work of the ICA Working Group on Early
Warning and Crises Management was promoted in
the Asia‐pacific region. The Working Group was
actively involved in the Workshop on Disaster
Management, associated with the 2nd Indonesian
Geospatial Technology Exhibition (IGTE) in Jakarta,
Indonesia.
The start of 2008 saw the beginning of a number of
seminars organized by or with direct contributions
from the ICA Working Group. The first was the Early
Warning and disaster/crises management conference
was held in Borovets, Bulgaria. The second was the
Workshop on Cartography in Early Warning and
Crises Management and Round Table, held at
AutoCarto 8, Shepherdstown, West Virginia, USA.
This event addressed natural anthropogenic
disasters; current global, regional and local
initiatives in early warning and crises management;
paradigms of action; exchange of best practices for
activities in the field; avoidance of shortcuts in crises
situations; sharing and standardizing of data on
material reserves and potential human provisions;
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