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Coronavirus is highlighting a fact of which experts have long been aware – geoinformation provides an overview where lists and spreadsheets fail.
We’ve no doubt been virtually obtaining daily updates from interactive maps in recent weeks, with interactive dashboards and countless geo apps guiding us through the isolation and uncertainty.
As examples from around the world prove, however, geo-IT has long been used as a key crisis management tool. The plague of locusts in East Africa is putting millions of people at risk of famine. Satellite images are tracking the swarms and helping to reduce their spread. Bark beetles are eating their way through the world’s spruce forests, which have been weakened by climate change.
Geoinformation has come to the rescue by providing a collaboration tool for everyone involved. In Australia, drones are currently being used to help reforest large areas devastated by the biggest bush fires in history. And in the Dominican Republic, airborne sensor technology is helping to map and monitor badly damaged coral reefs. This lays the foundation for understanding the situation and is a prerequisite for developing an action strategy.
Geo-IT helps out in crises. An informative series including brief reports, interviews, podcasts and prime examples from crisis-hit areas is available in the INTERGEO NEWSROOM at www.intergeo.de
