The National Alliance for Public Safety GIS (NAPSG) Foundation is pleased to release the third version of the Implementation Guidance: Information Sharing Standards for Crisis Management Mutual Aid Technology.
Previous versions of the guidance addressed two specific audiences (i.e., Public Safety Leaders and Technologists/Vendors) in a single document. The third version has broken the guidance into two separate documents:
Job Aid: Incident Management Technology – Aids in determining the appropriate standards and implementation options based on specific operational needs and requirements. This document is focused on the role of Public Safety Leaders.
Technical Guide: Incident Management Technology – Provides technical guidance on information sharing standards and specific workflows for technically implementing the various information sharing standards available today. This document is focused on the role of Technologists and Vendors.
In addition, the Job Aid has been adapted into an interactive StoryMap.
Download the Guidance!
This effort was made possible through a partnership with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Science and Technology Directorate (Agreement #70RSAT18CB0000041).
My name is Chris Diller, and I am the Chairman of the Board of Directors of NAPSG Foundation. Whether you are hearing about NAPSG for the first time or you have benefited from our resources for years, it is my pleasure to share with you today our new mission statement.
“Why did NAPSG change its mission statement?”
You might be asking, “Why did NAPSG change its mission statement?”. Well, what we do has not changed. Our focus has always been about helping first responders, emergency managers, government and non-government entities alike to bring geospatial technology to life, giving them a capability set that improves decision-making.
In 2005, when NAPSG was first formed, our mission was aligned with the federal mission. However, countless disasters later the federal mission has changed a bit. It recognized “Whole Community” -that everyone needs a plan and should be part of the solution. At NAPSG, we made that adjustment over the years, but we never changed our mission statement to reflect that change. So, NAPSG went through a period of self-reflection and strategic planning recently in an effort to see if the mission statement needed to be adjusted. Think of it as resetting our compass to align with the change in magnetic north. We were always going in the right direction; we just needed to account for the federal change in mission.
We at NAPSG have always been focused on bringing geospatial technology and capabilities to the public safety community, but we felt it important not to drive or dictate these technologies. You, the practitioner, have a stake and should have a voice in helping NAPSG develop these capabilities.
It is our role to help foster the adoption of these tools and capabilities for daily use. You have heard the phrase, “Train as you fight.” What good is GIS if you only use it once in a while or only during disasters?
Bridging gaps. Our role is to help connect public safety and emergency managers with mapping professionals. Connecting people across agencies and even disciplines. Connecting is protecting.
Lastly, NAPSG strives to do all this at no cost to you. Resources like Best Practices, education and training materials, and event materials are just a few of the items you can access for free on our website. You can also attend any one of our virtual events for free, including our annual InSPIRE conference — the Innovation Summit for Preparedness and Resilience. This has always been a core fundamental benefit to all. We do this through partnerships and grants, focusing on you the practitioner.
I encourage you to read the entirety of the mission statement on our website found at About Us and to learn more about NAPSG Foundation.
Thank you for your continued support and dedication to our joint mission!
View the Key Findings and Action Plan for NRMS 2021. Access the Report
As communities nationwide face incidents of increased complexity and scope, they require resources from across agency and jurisdictional lines to save lives, stabilize the incident, and protect property and the environment.
The National Resource Management Summit (NRMS)—held in April 2021 and co-hosted by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Science and Technology Directorate (DHS S&T), and NAPSG Foundation—provided an opportunity to collaborate with the community in defining mission-critical requirements for resource management preparedness technology and tools to maximize value and increase use among state, local, tribal, and territorial agencies, and other partners.
Through ongoing collaboration and engagement, we can collectively address key challenges and mature resource management and mutual aid coordination across our nation. This report and the recommendations identified therein provide one step toward that solution.
This effort was made possible through a partnership with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Science and Technology Directorate (Agreement #70RSAT18CB0000041).
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National Alliance for Public Safety GIS Foundation
5335 Wisconsin Avenue NW, Suite 440, Washington, DC 20015
NAPSG Foundation is a 501(C)(3) charitable non-profit. Taxpayer Identification number: 20-5376630
