OGC Invites you to the Disasters CDS Workshop at the NOAA Auditorium

7 June 2018: The Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) invites you to the second Disasters Concept Development Study Workshop on July 24-25, 2018 at the NOAA Auditorium in Silver Spring, MD. The Disasters workshop is being organized by the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) and sponsored by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC), the US Geological Survey (USGS), and other Government agencies.

The workshop is hosted at the NOAA Auditorium in Silver Spring, MD. The workshop is part of the OGC’s Disaster Concept Development Study, and will shape future activities to be led by OGC regarding disaster preparedness & response, and to inform development of potential Disaster Spatial Data Infrastructures (SDI).

According to NOAA, in 2017 in the United States there were 16 major natural disasters with costs that exceeded 306 billion dollars, shattering previous annual records.

Can we save more lives and reduce damages by providing better discovery and access to data that will improve mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery of disasters?

The ability to effectively share, use, and re-use geospatial information and applications across and between governments and Non-Government Organizations (NGOs) in support of disaster response and resilience is dependent upon having a Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI) already in-place when disaster strikes.

The Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) is bringing together key stakeholders in the natural hazards disaster communities to advance the emerging Disaster SDI by conducting a study and developing a set of pilots over the coming years. OGC's Disasters Interoperability Concept Development Study (CDS) will assess the current state of data and product exchange technologies as used in disaster planning, response, and recovery. The information gained in the CDS will aid in developing a series of future pilots that will in turn advance the state of Spatial Data Infrastructures (SDIs) that support disaster risk reduction across the globe.

Specifically, the purpose of this workshop is to guide future OGC Innovation Program Activities by:

1. Engaging executive level participants to understand the most important challenges
2. Bringing together diverse sponsors to understand challenges that may translate into requirements for pilots that will kickoff in October 2018
3. Engaging different stakeholders in disasters
4. Helping participants better understand activities occuring at OGC and other key organizations
5. Engaging operational and technical stakeholders to gather and share information on the current state for using geospatial data and services during natural disasters, including:
   1. Understanding what data, applications, tools, and services stakeholders need
   2. Understanding what data, applications, tools, and services are available
   3. Understanding discoverability, accessibility, and usability challenges
   4. Understanding interoperability challenges and integration opportunities
   5. Identifying gaps in data, applications, tools, and services

For more information on the Disasters CDS Workshop, including the agenda and how to register, visit the Disaster CDS Workshop at NOAA Silver Spring event page on the OGC website. Registration for the workshop is free but mandatory.