Redlands, California—Esri and the National Alliance for Public Safety GIS (NAPSG) Foundation announced the creation of a new cloud-based, virtual center that will supply public safety and homeland security agencies with valuable tools, resources, and training. The center will connect NAPSG’s public safety community using the Esri ArcGIS Online platform. It will provide responders and commanders with easy access to intuitive map visualization and analysis for emergency preparedness, mitigation, response, and recovery.
"NAPSG does important work helping the first responder community develop capabilities to protect the nation’s communities," says Russ Johnson, global public safety solutions director, Esri. "We are working with it to carry out its vision to enable local, state, regional, and national organizations to share maps, apps, and best practices."
The center will give the NAPSG community the ability to create individual ArcGIS Online user accounts at no cost, for a limited time. NAPSG will train and assist members in creating organizational accounts for building local data, maps, and applications that support departmental workflows.
"Safety begins with first responder readiness," says Peter O’Rourke, executive director, NAPSG. "The new ArcGIS Online center gives the responder community a social platform to more effectively use GIS technology. They will have specific tools to improve planning, prevention, and operational purposes."
Once individual and organizational accounts are established, the NAPSG center gives public safety agencies across the country the ability to easily communicate and exchange information. They will have a searchable ArcGIS Online resource to find training, best practices, tools, templates, data models, and more. First responders can use the center to improve damage and risk assessment, build map-based run books, and develop comprehensive digital preplans. They can create customized dashboards, mobile incident map viewers, and live situational awareness applications. Real-world examples of these and other applications give novice staff the ability to communicate with veteran public safety GIS practitioners and fulfill mission requirements with map visualization and analysis.
Training seminars and workshops will be available online to NAPSG members stretched across all 50 states. They’ll have the ability to learn GIS skills specifically designed for all levels of public safety, whether at the local, state, or national level. In addition, the center connects people to partner public safety and GIS groups including COGO, NSGIC, NISC, and more.
The center will be available to the NAPSG community in the summer, 2014. To learn more about the center, visit napsgfoundation.org.