Feature

A Common Vision for Homeland Security

From ESRI''s ArcUser Magazine, January-March 2002 issue

Homeland security is a proactive approach for preventing terrorist attacks, especially attacks made by non-state actors. These attacks, designed to disrupt society and incite fear, may be made to get attention for a cause or exact political concessions. Homeland security focuses on protecting lives, property, and critical infrastructure.

 Figure 1
The data sharing, analysis, and graphic representation available through enterprise GIS speeds understanding of events and improves decision making.

Although concerns about terrorist attacks against specific areas of society, such as agricultural, public health, and transportation, are not new, putting these concerns in the context of a coordinated effort to protect all domestic assets has developed as a result of the attacks in New York City and Washington, D.C., on September 11.

Implementing homeland security necessitates understanding the systems, infrastructure, organizations, and vital interactions necessary for the well being of communities. GIS is critical to this effort because it integrates all types of information and relates that information spatially. The data sharing, analysis, and graphic representation available through enterprise GIS speeds understanding of events and improves decision making. These strengths make GIS the best backbone technology for homeland security.

Emergency managers have recognized this and many now use GIS to enhance the emergency management planning cycle, a comprehensive approach for dealing with disasters, both natural and man-made. See the accompanying article, "Supersizing Emergency Management with GIS," for more information on homeland security applications of emergency management planning that use GIS.

The Challenges of Homeland Security

For government leaders used to thinking of security in terms protection against conventional attacks by other nations and threats to United States forces and allies overseas, the shift to homeland security will call for some adjustment. Domestic preparedness is both information intensive and multi-jurisdictional.

Many government agencies and other organizations have been creating and maintaining spatial data for decades, making the United States the most geodata rich country in the world. However, much of this data is trapped in information silos isolated within departments and organizations. To implement homeland security without costly replication of data will require the type of data integration provided by GIS as well as agreements that inventory and allow access to data by many jurisdictions in a controlled manner.

The unpredictability of terrorist acts makes homeland security challenging in ways that typical emergency management is not. Natural disasters, and some emergencies, can be predicted to some degree. The risks and hazards presented by natural disasters have been studied. Emergency managers learn from the experiences of others in dealing with similar threats and base strategies for planning, mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery on this knowledge.

A Common Vision for Homeland Security Continued…

In contrast, terrorist events are random and somewhat unique. The timing and targets are relatively unpredictable. Although some obvious targets can be identified, locking down all the targets attractive to terrorists for an unspecified time period is generally not feasible. After an initial strike, communication from or information about the terrorist organization responsible may narrow the field of targets. However, without proactive work in the areas of mitigation, planning, and response, even more specific information will probably not prevent, or at least limit, additional strikes.

Homeland Means Geography

Homeland describes a place and geography is the definition of place. To effectively address threats to homeland security requires understanding many types of geography--physical, natural, cultural, social, and economic. Knowledge of all these geographies is prerequisite for homeland security. For example, dams, airports, and bridges--all part of the built environment or cultural geography--are components of a community''s infrastructure. Understanding this geography is critical to the process of identifying vulnerabilities and formulating mitigation and preparedness measures.

GIS is by far the best technology for this task. In the process of identifying these critical spatial features, GIS helps uncover chokepoints. A chokepoint is a place where several types of critical infrastructure converge. For example, a bridge could carry power and telecommunication lines as well as providing the only egress for a populated area. An event at a chokepoint, such as an explosion on that bridge, would have multiple effects.

Once chokepoints have been identified, mitigation can be devised and applied. Mitigation can be a policy, such as limiting access to an area, or physical action, such as posting armed guards, or a change in operational procedures, such as limiting traffic. Mitigation can also mean making changes that eliminate a chokepoint. Using the bridge example, mitigation in this case could mean building another bridge.

It''s All About Data

Important questions, about the data describing hazards, risks, and values, need answers before an event. Who owns the data? Who are the stakeholders? How will the data be secured and shared? Before pertinent spatial and tabular data can be analyzed for formulating mitigation procedures, as well as other steps in the emergency management process, it must be assembled.

 Figure 2
The GIS capability to model a potential attack lets policy makers truly understand the consequences of the attack and legitimizes the need for mitigation and preparedness expenditures.

This data should not only be readily accessible but in a compatible format. A central data repository, whether physical or virtual and the development of data standards makes this possible. The g.net architecture, the foundation of the Geography Network, supports remote access to datasets in a secure, shareable, and distributed fashion.

Managing access to geodata promises to be one of the most challenging social aspects of homeland security. Jurisdictional differences in policies and procedures regarding the use of geodata, intellectual property rights issues, competitive considerations, and privacy and security concerns create obstacles to making data sharable. Overcoming these obstacles may require a combination of legislative and administrative actions.

It is important to understand difference between shared data and sharable data. With GIS, each organization can completely control access to its data but maintain data in a form that can be shared in an emergency. In the event of an emergency, the first priority should be controlling the event, not rounding up data for analysis.

The experiences of those responding to September 11 events in New York City illustrate the validity of this point. Although the City had good GIS data, it was in different locations with no central administration. An integrated GIS had to be quickly built before good response and analysis could be produced.

Developing Relationships

GIS encourages consensus by helping individual stakeholders understand how their data relates to data from other stakeholders. Consensus is essential for marshaling support so that the recommendations derived from analyses can be put into action. Benefits can only be realized if funds are spent, policies changed, and processes modified. GIS can be the catalyst for these changes. The GIS capability to model a potential attack lets policy makers truly understand the consequences of the attack and legitimizes the need for mitigation and preparedness expenditures.

Data coordination and emergency response planning efforts have an added benefit. These activities build relationships between people in agencies, departments, and organizations. An old bromide of emergency management is that "people at the scene shouldn''t be exchanging business cards." The process of gathering data develops relationships between people who would not necessarily have any reason to interact except in an emergency.

GIS is the primary tool that allows people with different missions come to together and develop a common plan to address an event. GIS allows people to have a common vision. With this common vision, they can work effectively for homeland security.

ESRI''s goal is to help communities deal with threats to homeland security using technology that gets the right information to the right people at the right time. For more information on the use of GIS for homeland security, visit the ESRI Homeland Security Web site or contact Russ Johnson, ESRI public safety solutions manager, at russ_johnson@esri.com or Lew Nelson, ESRI law enforcement solutions manager, at lnelson@esri.com.