The National Alliance for Public Safety GIS (NAPSG) is a consortium of national organizations representing local government, public safety, and health professionals with a shared vision of advancing the effective use of GIS for public safety. Among those national organizations are the International Association of Fire Fighters, the International Association of Fire Chiefs, the International Association of Emergency Managers, the National Emergency Number Association, and the National Association of State Fire Marshals. There are others as well, listed on their website.
The Alliance encourages on regional coordination among emergency agencies and promoting best practices, while serving as the political advocate for GIS on behalf of the member organizations. The Alliance establishes a national vision and articulates major goals that support the emergency management community as a whole. The Alliance was not established to carry out training programs and related activities. To that end, the Alliance looks to the NAPSG Foundation to be the operational arm to support the goals of the Alliance.
The NAPSG Foundation is independent of the Alliance with a separate Board of Directors and governance structure. As a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, the Foundation focuses on developing and deploying projects at the local and regional levels to carry out the visions of the Alliance. The Foundation serves as the unified voice of the Alliance by advancing of public safety education and research. Though these efforts, the Foundation can help the public safety community implement GIS programs that support local and national preparedness goals.
The Foundation is helping develop a national professional GIS preparedness capability for public safety agencies because, as many EM professionals recognize, the public preparedness level is highest at the local level (where complexity of incidents is lowest)but the critical need for improved coordination among multiple agencies is at the regional and national levels (where complexity is highest). GIS is one of the key elements that contribute to more complete information, better communications and coordinated incident management in dealing with complex incidents.
In 2009, the Foundation posted a free publication "How to Build a GIS for Your Fire Department" on its website and delivered 6 Fire/EMS User Group Meetings throughout the US. The Foundation coordinated with DHS Science & Technology Directorate to set-up the GIS Working Group under the Virtual USA initiative and facilitated the development of a framework for a "National Strategy to Operationalize GIS." This is exceptional contributions for a brand new organization.
This year, the Foundation's activities and events include a "GIS for Public Safety Training Summit" for selected public safety leaders, the development of a web-based "Capability & Readiness Assessment Tool" (so locals may evaluate their existing GIS capabilities, identify gaps, and determine next steps), and deliver a Spring 2010 series of regional Fire/EMS GIS User Group Meetings. These were most welcomed last year by many of the fire and emergency professionals that attended. Look for one in your region this year!
Top
The Alliance encourages on regional coordination among emergency agencies and promoting best practices, while serving as the political advocate for GIS on behalf of the member organizations. The Alliance establishes a national vision and articulates major goals that support the emergency management community as a whole. The Alliance was not established to carry out training programs and related activities. To that end, the Alliance looks to the NAPSG Foundation to be the operational arm to support the goals of the Alliance.
The NAPSG Foundation is independent of the Alliance with a separate Board of Directors and governance structure. As a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, the Foundation focuses on developing and deploying projects at the local and regional levels to carry out the visions of the Alliance. The Foundation serves as the unified voice of the Alliance by advancing of public safety education and research. Though these efforts, the Foundation can help the public safety community implement GIS programs that support local and national preparedness goals.
The Foundation is helping develop a national professional GIS preparedness capability for public safety agencies because, as many EM professionals recognize, the public preparedness level is highest at the local level (where complexity of incidents is lowest)but the critical need for improved coordination among multiple agencies is at the regional and national levels (where complexity is highest). GIS is one of the key elements that contribute to more complete information, better communications and coordinated incident management in dealing with complex incidents.
In 2009, the Foundation posted a free publication "How to Build a GIS for Your Fire Department" on its website and delivered 6 Fire/EMS User Group Meetings throughout the US. The Foundation coordinated with DHS Science & Technology Directorate to set-up the GIS Working Group under the Virtual USA initiative and facilitated the development of a framework for a "National Strategy to Operationalize GIS." This is exceptional contributions for a brand new organization.
This year, the Foundation's activities and events include a "GIS for Public Safety Training Summit" for selected public safety leaders, the development of a web-based "Capability & Readiness Assessment Tool" (so locals may evaluate their existing GIS capabilities, identify gaps, and determine next steps), and deliver a Spring 2010 series of regional Fire/EMS GIS User Group Meetings. These were most welcomed last year by many of the fire and emergency professionals that attended. Look for one in your region this year!
