The Superhero GIS Van

Photo: geoplace.com

Mild-mannered Monroe County, New York, Department of Environmental Services mapping van turns into superhero when called into action by community fire, police, and Emergency Management personnel.  Click here to read the story as published by geoplace.com.


Comment: This story sounds vaguely familiar.  Indeed, see Comments of: Imagery and Maps From 9/11, to learn how the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources contributed their Mapmobile to the nation's response to the World Trade Center attack.

The Heart Attack App

IDG News Service recently ran an article about the PulsePoint Foundation app that sends a notification to a smartphone if the user is close to a possible heart attack victim in a public place. The app is currently available in both the Android Market and iPhone App Store. As related in the article, the product is starting to spread in California:

A location-based phone application that alerts people trained in CPR when someone nearby is having a heart attack will be spreading from San Ramon, California, to San Jose by mid-February, according to San Ramon Valley Fire Protection District Chief Richard Price.

Click on video above to learn more, or click here to read the full article.

The PulsePoint Foundation's website is filled with great information.  Go here to view.


Comment: What more can anyone say but - Wow!

Google Public Alerts

On January 25, 2012, Google Crisis Response launched a new project called Google Public Alerts. Using a variety of publicly available feeds from entities like the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Weather Service, and U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the system overlays warning and alert data from these sources onto a Google interface. To view, go here.

Comment: Once again, huge kudos to Google for showing the nation the way ahead by fusing available data into a practical and friendly application that John Q. Public can start using right now. And, once again; shame, shame, shame, Google (See: Google's Crisis Map - Falling Short of the Mark). Until Google follows through on that national leadership position by incorporating U.S. National Grid functionality into its common man's geospatial products for public safety, it will be part of the problem, not part of the solution.  (If anybody from Google is reading this post.....tell Ms. Mayer I'll take the shop out for a night on the town in Wausau, WI if you'll fix this problem!)

GIS and Snow: Kudos To Seattle



Earlier this week, GeekWire published an article by Bill Schrier that reviewed Seattle's performance during the recent heavy snow storm in that city.  The city got high marks for having a well run Emergency Operations Center (EOC) and its extensive use of Geospatial Information Systems (GIS).  To read the article, go here.


Comment: This is an exceptionally informative article that relates not only what the city did right, but how GIS and social media tools could be combined to provide an even better flow on information to the Emergency Services Sector and the public in the future.  You are encouraged to take the time to review the hyperlinks offered in the story.  In particular, the ones for the Seattle Department of Transportation "Weather Response Viewer" and Seattle City Light System Status map will help gel some ideas offered in the article.

USNG FEMA Think Tank Conference Call Transcript

Tough job - trying to make the case for U.S. National Grid, over the phone, in ten minutes.  I feel like I could have done better.  But hopefully, the thought will have caught on for a few more folks.

A transcript of my comments from yesterday's teleconference, can be found here.

What I believe the greater USNG user community would say about the recommended next steps for FEMA, can be found here.

Since the call, there has been lively discussion taking place over on the FEMA Think Tank on this topic.  You are encouraged to add your thoughts there.

To all those who listened in - a big THANKS!

Here We Go: Today's FEMA Think Tank Conference Call

Yesterday afternoon, FEMA Deputy Administrator Richard Serino released details of today's Think Tank Conference Call.  Here are the details:

• Date: Thursday, Jan. 26

• Time: 1:30-3:30 p.m. CST / 2:30-4:30 p.m. EST

• Call in number: 800-593-0692

• Password: Think Tank January (operator managed)

• Access captioning

• Twitter hashtag: #femathinktank

The call is open to a national audience of state, local, and tribal governments, and to all members of the public, including the private sector, the disability community, and volunteer community, who share an interest in improving the Nation’s capacity in emergency management. For those who cannot join in on the call, you can follow the conversation and ask questions on Twitter.

The three ideas that we will be discussing on this call are:

• Community Mapping
• U.S. National Grid System
• Incorporating Preparedness in Schools

Members from the community who submitted the ideas for this month’s call will brief the Deputy and all attendees, and afterward, the Deputy will open up the call to the national audience for further discussion, questions and answers.

GPS Tracking: Bad Guys 1, Good Guys 0



On Monday, January 23, 2012, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down a unanimous ruling that police cannot install a GPS tracking device on a suspect's vehicle without first obtaining a warrant.  The ruling reversed the conviction of suspected Washington D.C. drug kingpin, Antonio Jones, who had been sentenced to spend the rest of his life in jail.  To read more, go here.


Comment: Developments in the world of geospatial technologies are a two edge sword. Going forward, the Emergency Services Sector will have to be smart about how those capabilities are deployed, or they are going to end up on the wrong side of the blade every time.

Burnsville Police, Armed With........Body Cameras

Photo: Taser



In an effort to use technology as an impartial witness, officers with the Burnsville, Minnesota, Police Department have started wearing body cameras that record everything that happens during a shift.  Turns out individuals cited for various violations are less likely to challenge the citation or claim improper officer conduct once they find out there is a recording of the event.  To read more, go here.


Comment: For those who were able to hear Dr. Carl Reed's comments during the Twin Cities GECCo, the use of body cameras fits perfectly into the theme of "the responder as a sensor".  Furthermore, not noted in the above article, the system deployed by Burnsville allows a supervisor to review movements and location of incidents for all officers on duty during a shift.  As this technology matures, look for it to include the ability to send a geospatially-referenced, real-time feed back to a command center.

USNG as Topic for First FEMA Think Tank Conference Call

Late Friday afternoon, this author was informed the post entitled "U.S. National Grid as the Response Language of Location" on the FEMA Think Tank, would be one of the topics discussed during the first national FEMA Think Tank "Conference Call".  Here are the details as now known:

Date: Thursday, January 26, 2012
Time: 1:30 to 3:30 CST
Host: FEMA Deputy Administrator Serino

It is anticipated agenda and call in instructions will be posted here: http://www.fema.gov/thinktank/conferencecalls.shtm

Comment:  I certainly hope you will set some time aside this coming Thursday to participate in the call.  The more bodies on the call who support the idea the Emergency Services Sector and nation need a standardized, precise, and easy to way to communicate location, the more likely it is policy makers will get the message.

FEMA Job Offering - Brand New Position

To support implementation of the National Disaster Recovery Framework (see also: Presidential Policy Directive/PPD-8), FEMA has recently created a new position that will be filled at locations around the United States.  Here are some quick details:

Job Title: Federal Disaster Recovery Coordinator GS-0301-14/15
Salary Range: $84,697.00 to $129,517.00 / Per Year
Submission Deadline: Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Locations:
1 vacancy(s) - New York, NY
1 vacancy(s) - Kansas City, MO
1 vacancy(s) - Denver, CO
1 vacancy(s) - Philadelphia, PA
1 vacancy(s) - Atlanta, GA
1 vacancy(s) - Chicago, IL
1 vacancy(s) - Denton, TX
1 vacancy(s) - Boston, MA
1 vacancy(s) - Bothell, WA

Job Summary:
In this position the incumbent will serve as a senior manager, policy advisor and executive staff official for implementing the National Disaster Recovery Framework (NDRF). The primary function will be to serve as Federal Disaster Recovery Coordinator (FDRC) and principal staff advisor to the Federal Coordinating Officer (FCO) on all recovery issues as they relate to the overall mission of FEMA during disaster recovery operations.

To learn how to apply, go here.


Comment: FEMA needs folks with good geospatial awareness inside the firewall.  Hopefully, some readers of this blog will apply!

What Not to Do With Social Media

Reuters is reporting New York City Police have arrested scores of individuals after reading their online bragging about crimes they had committed.   Apparently, Facebook is the place to tell the world you have committed murder.  Go here to read more.

Comment: You can't make this stuff up.  You have to wonder - was the location tracking feature of Facebook enabled during these events?

Floor Plan Mapper

To much fanfare, late last year Google announced release of an indoor mapping application for Android platforms. That story was posted to this blog as: Indoor Mapping Comes to Android. 

While Google and several others have been pursuing an approach that amounts to indoor GPS on a mobile device for large commercial venues, others have been working on simpler, but very effective, approaches for specific sites. One of those efforts is Floor Plan Mapper.

Floor Plan Mapper allows a corporation to integrate its building blueprints with its personnel directory, thereby creating a way for employees to search contact information and the visual "where" as well. The application can also be used to search for assets (where is closest open meeting room?), and help employees and emergency responders understand escape and access routes. It is available both as a desktop and mobile application.  A version is also available for convention floors. To learn more, go here.

Comment: Great to see another approach to the idea of indoor navigation. Look for many more variations on this topic in the future with Japan leading the way. Here are a couple of examples:

• Indoor/Outdoor Seamless Positioning Using Lighting Tags and GPS Cellular Phones for Personal Navigation, and
• Japan’s Indoor Messaging System: IMES

  

Note From Editor - Unable to Publish

Yesterday I thought EPC Updates got knocked off line by the Google/Wikipedia blackout.  Looks like this site may have a more serious problem.  EPC Updates has picked up some type of publishing error that trouble-shooting suggests is a site structural issue.  If the post above, or this one, is deleted, in the body of the post remaining there would be a blank white box and associated message that says:

"Given URL is not allowed by the Application configuration.: One or more of the given URLs is not allowed by the Application configuration. It must match one of the Connect or Canvas URLs or domain must be the same as or a subdomain of one of the Application's base domains."

We will continue trouble-shooting this issue, but for the time being we are able to publish by leaving this place holder in place. Please bear with us as we determine the exact nature of the problem and remove it permanently.  Any thoughts or suggestions out there would be greatly appreciated.  Send to: mngeoepc01@gmail.com. Thanks.



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Test anchor

Drones, Drones and More Drones

Photo: Siemens

Several recent articles in the main stream press have brought attention to the growing role of drones in modern society.  In large part, this expanding mission has been driven by advancements in remote sensing and modern autopilot and navigation systems.  Two recent examples have included:

• Report on the start of Afghanistan field trials of the KMAX unmanned cargo delivery helicopter, and
• The "rescue" of Nome, Alaska by a Russian oil tanker aided by an "eyes-in-the-sky" drone.

However, within the realm of direct value to the Emergency Service Sector, Siemens and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have been hard at work on a mini quadro-copter that will be capable of  "producing digital models of complex interiors and inspecting inaccessible installations."  Go here to read more.


Comment: Shortly after the first Gulf War, I was asked to provide comment on a planned U.S. Air Force project.  The project's goal was determining feasibility of allowing one pilot to fly three other accompanying unmanned aircraft (think four aircraft flying together - with only one being manned).  After considering the various military and commercial scenarios where this idea was going to be applied, my comment was: "Why don't you just sit in a bunker and fly the airplanes remotely".  Looks like we are there.

LightSquared - Down for the Count

Photo: German Federal Archive

On Friday, both the National Space-Based Positioning, Navigation and Timing (PNT) Executive Committee (ExComm), and LightSquared had something to say about each other. 

For its part, the ExComm released a letter that basically says: the "science" of LightSquared will not work without causing irreparable harm to GPS - no further testing is warranted.  Coming from ExComm co-chairs, Deputy Secretary for Defense Ashton Carter, and Deputy Secretary of Transportation John Porcari, that puts LightSquared on the mat, down for the count.

For its part, LightSquared attempted to stagger up from the blow by accusing the ExComm of "bias and inappropriate collusion" and proposing a third round of testing on its terms.  With billions at stake, staying on the mat is not an option.

For anyone joining this saga in the 13th round, past history of the fight and related blog links can be found here: The LightSquared Fight Card.


Comment: Although it's not over until the referee raises an arm - it's getting pretty darn close.

DHS Inspector General: Chicago Region Wasted $45 Million on Police Cameras

Photo: Chicago Sun-Times

Earlier this week, news broke that the Inspector General of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) had concluded Cook County wasted a $45 million dollar grant to install cameras in 256 police cars across the Chicagoland region. The system, known as Project Shield, was suppose to give a central command center the ability to view patrol car circumstances from afar. Report findings included: poorly designed equipment that failed to work, sloppy record keeping, and untrained operators. Links below provide more information on the situation:

• Chicago Tribune article from January 9, 2012
• DHS Inspector General's "Spotlight" Report
• DHS Inspector General Full Report: Homeland Security Grant Program Funds Awarded for Project Shield (PDF, 25 pages - 3.06 MB)

Comment: This is the classic good idea gone bad. The project goal was clearly worthwhile, but with the wrong people in the mix the vision of what the Geospatial Revolution could do for the law enforcement community in Cook County got side tracked. Looks like they need an EPC!

First FEMA Think Tank Conference Call

The date for the first conference call that will discuss ideas from the FEMA Think Tank has been announced.  According to http://www.fema.gov/thinktank/:

The first call will take place from Milwaukee, Wisconsin on Thursday, January 26th 2012. That week FEMA will post instructions for participating on the call as well as the information on the ideas that will be discussed.

Also according to the FEMA Think Tank home page, the intent of this, and subsequent calls, is as follows:

Deputy Administrator Serino will conduct monthly conference calls to discuss some of the real-life solutions and ideas that are generated by this online forum. These calls will be open to the general public and captioning for participants who are deaf or hard of hearing will be provided. The Deputy Administrator will travel to a different location each month to personally meet with members of the emergency management community.

What ideas will be discussed during the monthly conference call?  Each month, Deputy Administrator Serino will select three to four ideas on improving emergency management at the federal level to discuss during the conference call. The individuals that submitted these ideas will have the opportunity to brief the Deputy Administrator during the call. The call will then be opened for questions and further discussion.

Comment: Through efforts of readers of this board, and others from across the U.S., the number one idea on the FEMA Think Tank web page is: "U.S. National Grid as the Response Language of Location".  That's not to say everyone agrees with the premise that the nation needs a standard way to communicate location when the Emergency Services Sector (ESS) is called into action.  For every 11 votes supporting the idea, one person has voted against it.  Although politicians would love that statistic, it leaves one wondering what do the naysayers believe is the alternative?  Choices would be:

• Keep doing what we are currently doing - no clearly stated national policy; a situation which leaves every jurisdiction off doing whatever they want.  How exactly does that create interoperability when disasters cross administrative borders?
• Use street addresses to communicate "where"?  Beyond the fact 35% of response calls don't go to a street address, that's an approach that's doing a poor job for locations that have them.
• How about using the Public Land Survey System (PLSS)?  In addition to being an incredibly cumbersome way to describe a location, more than a few states don't use PLSS.
• Latitude-Longitude?  That's an attempt to take an approach created to support area navigation across great distances (sea, and then air) by very well trained navigators, and back fit it to meet localized needs of individuals who generally don't have a great deal of geospatial training.  And that's a difference that has contributed to the loss life during "rescues".
• U.S. National Grid/Military Grid Reference System?  As the ultimate response organization, there are reasons the U.S. Armed Forces (and NATO) decided more than 60 years ago to use this system for land based operations: interoperability, precision, simplicity, and the desire to minimize the potential for LOSS OF LIFE inherent in the other systems that describe location.

To all you out there that have voted to place "U.S. National Grid as the Response Language of Location" at the top of the FEMA Think Tank - a BIG THANK YOU!  For those who haven't voted yet, please do so.  Click here to learn how.

National Levee Database

Since the early days of the United States, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) has been intergral to the nation's development through its congressional mandate to build and maintain public works that promote interstate public safety and commerce.  Part of those efforts have focused on the USA's major waterways, to include ports, shipping channels, locks, dams and levees. 

Due to the ever present and wide-spread disaster potential associated with this last item, levees, the USACE has worked diligently to give transparency to its efforts.  Most recently, those efforts have included release of the online National Levee Database (NLD).  A treasure-trove of data about the nation's levee system, the NLD features an expansive geospatial viewer with many real-time data sources.  To learn more:

Click here to proceed directly to the NLD home page

or try URL: http://nld.usace.army.mil (see note below)

Comment: The NLD offers an amazing amount of layers in one place.  Unfortunately, it appears to have difficulty with Internet Explorer - works fine in Chrome or Firefox.

Editor’s Special Comment: New URL for EPC Updates!

Dear Cherished Reader,

About a month ago, I learned this blog was being blocked by many government firewalls because the site’s URL was associated with "blogspot" or contained the term “blog”.  Pretty ironic situation given one of the primary audiences EPC Updates was intended to reach is…….public servants.   The situation is even more ironic given the existence of blog.fema.gov, blog.dhs.gov, and several other similar sites.  Either “gov” in those URLs is allowing users to see them through government firewalls, or unbeknownst to editors of those sites, they have the same problem as EPC Updates.  But, I’m not going to worry about letting those editors know even if it turns out to be the last situation - they’ll find out soon enough.  Yesterday, Reuters revealed that since June 2010, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), “has been operating a "Social Networking/Media Capability" which involves regular monitoring of "publicly available online forums, blogs, public websites and message boards."  Classic, just classic.  Government decision makers, do you realize your Information Technology policies are bi-polar?

While there are indications some units of government are becoming less afraid of the connective tissue that social networking/media technologies have to offer – there is still a long way to go.  For that reason, I have decided to take the following steps in an effort to provide better site access for federal, state, and local government workers, and foreign friends dealing with censorship issues:

• Effective today, this site’s URL is changing to: www.epcupdates.org.  While Blogger will provide a redirect if you use the old URL, please note the change.
• Postings on this site will also be available by using links in the right side bar at: www.sharedgeo.org

Realizing full well this new approach might not be enough to achieve the stated goal because government firewalls may sense redirects, I’m prepared to standup a completely new site devoid of any blog connotation if need be.  But first, I’m going to try the easy route and see what happens.

Your thoughts and comments - either by email (mngeoepc01@gmail.com) or as an attachment to this post - are always welcome.

Fraternally,
Steve

NDSU Team Develops "Winter Survival Kit" App

Bob Bertsch and Jake Joraanstad, two software developers with connections to North Dakota State University (NDSU) in Fargo, North Dakota, have managed to create a rather large public relations buzz with release of their Winter Survival Kit application. As reported in the Washington Post, ABC News and a slew of others, the application offers a variety of features designed to be an electronic version of the survival kit many Midwesterners carry in their car during winter. Of course, the ability to determine a user's location and call 9-1-1 are key features of the application. Go here for the NDSU information page on this project.

Free Virtual Seminar - Statewide GIS Data for Public Safety

The National Alliance for Public Safety GIS Foundation (NAPSG) and NAVTEQ are sponsoring a free virtual seminar entitled: "Case Study on a Public-Private Partnership for Statewide GIS Data for Public Safety", this Thursday at 3:00-4:00 EDT.  The presentation will focus on efforts that have been taking place in Virginia.  Here are the bulleted details:

• Title: Case Study on a Public-Private Partnership for Statewide GIS Data for Public Safety
• Date: Thursday, January 12, 2012
• Time: 3:00 PM - 4:00 PM EDT (2:00 PM-3:00 PM Central Time)
• Cost: Free - but space is limited

Go here for more details and registration.

In addition, two documents from the case study are available:

• Executive Summary (1.91 MB PDF)
• Complete Report (7.04 MB PDF)

MicroSoft's "Avoid Ghetto" GPS Patent

(Graphic: JimBobThe Boss/Flickr)

As reported by several publications in the popular press, MicroSoft was recently awarded a patent for technology that will generate GPS routing based on crime factors.  Intended primarily for Windows enabled mobile phones, the technology has already been dubbed: "Avoid Ghetto".  Find below two articles on this development: 

• Microsoft Patents Bad Neighborhood Detection, Byte, January 7, 2012
• Microsoft Patents ‘Avoid Ghetto’ Feature For GPS Devices, CBS Seattle, January 6, 2012

Comment: It was only matter of time before this happened.  Although MicroSoft got there first with this aspect of what's possible with GPS and a dynamic data base - look for additional capabilities related to personal safety and emergencies from others in the years ahead.

Chicago Shovels!

Photo: Paul Davidy

This past February, the City of Chicago got a black eye when it was hit with a blizzard and it quickly lost situational awareness on clean up efforts.  On top of the public relations nightmare that came from claims of clean city streets, that were not, a handful of volunteers launched a social media mapping web site in less than a day that became the de facto understanding of the snow emergency.  Recently, the New York Times provided an update on what's happened in Chicago since those events played out in February 2011.  Click on the link below to read, or click here to go directly to the ChicagoShovels web site (look for "Plow Tracker").

U.S. | January 03, 2012 Snow Site Lets Chicago See if Plows Are Really in a Rut
By MONICA DAVEY
ChicagoShovels.org will track the clearing of streets and encourage residents to pitch in after storms.


Comment: Apparently unbeknownst to the New York Times staff, New York City has decided to copy the effort in Chicago.  A decision which comes as the result of another unit of government not keeping up with Geospatial Revolution - New York City suffered under circumstances similar to Chicago's on December 26, 201o.    

The Open Source Software Initiative Comes to NGA

Faced with the dual reality that the American taxpayer's pockets are empty, and that the open source software community has come a long way in the past decade, several efforts to promote the use of open source software in the Federal government have taken root.  Two of the most notable are:

• Military Open Source Software, and
• Open Source for America.

Recently, the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) decided to change its policies to allow the use of open source geospatial software at the agency.  Given NGA is the primary provider of remote sensing and mapping products to federal and state agencies during disasters, this development opens the door on deployment of a variety of geospatial products that have not been previously used in the official world of response.  For more on this topic, please see "The NGA Turns to Open Source", recently penned by Mark Lucas in LBx Journal.  


Comment: The EPC is no stranger to open source geospatial software.  Indeed, through its spin-off technical arm, SharedGeo, it has been promoting use of the Minnesota developed open source geospatial product GeoMoose.  Used successfully as a Common Operating Picture platform during both the 2008 Republican National Convention in the Twin Cities and Red River Valley floods of 2009, GeoMoose has recently entered the final phase of the Open Source Geospatial Foundation's (OSGeo) sanctioning process.  The other free Minnesota product to have completed this process is the exceptionally successful MapServer software.  

Drone Pilots - Overworked and Feeling It

Photo: USAF

Toward the end of last month, Jill Reilly of London's MailOnline, offered an article that explored the stress imposed on military drone pilots who are flying remote sensing platforms that effectively never need rest.  Contrary to what one might think, for these military pilots, the stress doesn't come from the combat role performed by the drones.  Go here to read the article.

  
Comment:  This article indirectly addresses a theme raised by Dr. Carl Reed during his Twin Cities GECCo talks - Big Data.  Remote sensing platforms are now capable of generating more sensory output than we have either the mechanical or human capacity to handle.  That equates to unreviewed stacks of collected data, and stress on system operators.

Bird Flu - It's Time to Think Geospatially!

As noted on this blog on December 21, 2011, it was recently announced that researchers in the U.S. and Europe have been able to modify the H5N1 bird flu virus in a way that creates an easily transmittable form of the pathogen - a point of great concern given the 60% fatality rate associated with this strain of flu.  On December 30, 2011, the World Health Organization (WHO) joined the U.S. National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity in urging the teams not to publish details of their efforts out of fears terrorists could use the information to create a world-wide pandemic of epic proportions. 

While these developments were taking place on center stage, a grim reminder of the deadly potential of the virus was playing itself out in Southern China. Coming on the heels of Hong Kong's effort to eradicate a mid-December outbreak of the virus by slaughtering nearly 20,000 market birds, it was announced this first outbreak of bird flu since 2010 had claimed the life of a Chinese bus driver on December 31, 2011. Expanded information on these developments can be found in the articles below:

• Debate Persists on Deadly Flu Made Airborne, NY Times, Dec 20, 2011
• WHO "Deeply Concerned" by Mutated Birdflu Research, Reuters, Dec 30, 2011
• A Bird Flu Death in China. What it Means - and Doesn't Mean, Time, Jan 1, 2012
• Hong Kong Keeps Ban on Some Chinese Poultry Imports After Flu Link Found, Bloomberg, Jan 3, 2012

Daily monitoring and/or detailed information on this subject is also available through the University of Minnesota's world renowned Center for Infectious Disease Reporting and Prevention (CIDRAP).  Bird flu resources can be accessed through the MCEIRS Avian Influenza Training link in the breakout box, top of the right main column. 


Comment:  Unfortunately, much like formal public health efforts inside the United States, WHO's perspective on the Geospatial Revolution is one focused on mapping statistics, not on using geospatial technologies for real-time situational awareness.  For an example, go here.

Given this virus, and others to come in the future, are potentially both significant natural and man-made threats, it's imperative that efforts like Florida's Community Health Assessment Resource Tools Set (CHARTS) Interactive Community Map and Houston's St. Luke Episcopal Health Charities Project Safety Net, are seen as the minimum starting point in moving the world-wide public health and medical communities toward real-time sensing and visualization of pandemic and other health related data.  In that regard, one of the most progressive understandings of what is possible was recently offered in the International Journal of Health Geographics: "Crowdsourcing, Citizen Sensing and Sensor Web Technologies for Public and Environmental Health Surveillance and Crisis Management: Trends, OGC Standards and Application Examples".