Trainings, incident response simulation, FOSS4G UK + more
Two week's worth of updates, since we missed last week.
Emergency Response simulation #
One of us travelled to Scotland to join an incident response simulation run by the Scotland Emergency Response team. We made maps on the fly in response to the scenario and the needs of the other participants.
Off the back of this, we started a prototype map template app so Emergency Response teams have a self-service tool to create a printable map with custom layers visible for when they are called to an incident.
Designer-led review of web app #
One of the team joined a review session for users of a web app we maintain, facilitated by a colleague from the Service Design team. The users did a walkthrough of how they use the app, which generated a lot of useful feedback.
This has led to us starting a prototype of an improved tool with additional data sources that can provide context (such as traffic, flooding, weather), improved styling for existing laters, and removing unnecessary/confusing elements for greater clarity.
Trainings #
One of the team completed the IFRC's IMPACT training (a rather clumsy acronym for "International Mobilization and Preparation for Action"). The course is designed to prepared staff for working in an international context with colleagues from other National Societies and ICRC.
We also had a kick-off meeting to prepare for running a Humanitarian Information Analysis Course in Abuja, to run in March 2025.
More info on both trainings in the IFRC Surge Training Catalogue.
Security map #
We continue working on a webmap for the BRC Security Unit, bringing together relevant data from different sources. The goal is to support the understanding of risk in different countries.
Troubleshooting Overseas British Territories on IFRC GO #
We looked into an issue for colleagues wanting to submit reports on British Overseas Territories to the IFRC GO platform. OSBs aren't currently represented as separate entities on GO, so have no way to submit reports. (One of the endless complications in building a model that copes with the many and varied forms of soveriegnty). We've flagged with the GO team to investigate further.
GeoCall: Kenya Red Cross #
On the latest Red Cross/Red Crescent Geo call we had an excellent presentation from a colleague at the Kenyan Red Cross on using GIS for flood risk management. They presented on community mapping in OpenStreetMap to model flood risk, and mapping flood impacts using optical and radar imagery together with field data collection.
FOSS4G UK #
One of the team went to the FOSS4G UK event in Bristol. There were a wide range of presentations on using open source geospatial software to solve problems in different domains, from mapping ancient woodland to monitoring shipping.
Two of the most interesting from a technical point of view were a look at the Overture Maps datasets (PDF) and using DuckDB to load geospatial data.
Maps in Excel #
In recent weeks at our drop-in sessions we've had a lot of discussion of using ArcGIS in Excel which has led us to explore what's possible or not for different types of users.
Recent observations include:
- It's not possible to change locations of labels
- printing maps from Excel is no longer possible (a workaround is to load the document in Excel Online and use the “expand map to fullscreen” button, then take a screenshot of that)
- Showing users how to add boundary data published by the Office for National Statitics from the ESRI Living Atlas
- Custom boundary datasets need to be created by a user with an ArcGIS account, but can then be accessed by other users who don't have a license.