ah, well the Panamap has since been afforded the full strength of the illustrious USPTO. And it's not paper, but alas...
re: FOIA, "FOIA first, questions later" is my motto. under the previous administration there was an explicit mandate to sit on records, so this administration is doing a better job, but it's still government...The default position of government (national, local, etc...) has been to deny/reject as it's easier than doing anything special. slowly that is starting to change, but one cannot change the culture of government overnight. this specific case sounds similar (not the same) to the ESRI-geodata.gov-arcgis.com<http://ESRI-geodata.gov-arcgis.com> fiasco, where a public good has (effectively) been locked up in a private resource *with* federal $$$. now THAT'S something worth wanking about! == Ian White :: Urban Mapping Inc 690 Fifth Street Suite 200 :: San Francisco CA 94107 T.415.946.8170 :: F.866.385.8266 :: urbanmapping.com/blog<http://urbanmapping.com/blog> On 15 Jun 2010, at 12:11, Brian Russo wrote: Bit of both ;) I liked your "GIS on paper" but I thought the 'patent pending' bit was rather played up. Getting back on topic.. if someone wants to submit FOIAs to the relevant agencies I think that'd be much more useful than posting blogs or emails about it. They are supposed to respond within 20 days and there are appeals/etc you can do after that. While I'm not surprised that BP would want to take over the COP for this operation I'm hesitant to cast too much criticism without knowing more - in any case going on about it on a mailing list doesn't accomplish much. I know for a fact that there is at least some data being disseminated - and while I'm not naive I'm skeptical that BP would actually destroy evidence at this point given that they already have criminal inquiries into them. It's really just about PR control for them. More useful would be specific first-hand accounts from someone that actually needs the data and can't get to it rather than vague blogs about BP it people 'taking over' . - bri On Tue, Jun 15, 2010 at 8:56 AM, Ian White <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: not sure if that's a dig or a complement, so pls elaborate == Ian White :: Urban Mapping Inc 690 Fifth Street Suite 200 :: San Francisco CA 94107 T.415.946.8170 :: F.866.385.8266 :: urbanmapping.com/blog<http://urbanmapping.com/blog> On 15 Jun 2010, at 11:53, Brian Russo wrote: Coming from someone who patented an existing map design, I'll be sure to think heavily on your opinion.. - bri On Tue, Jun 15, 2010 at 8:34 AM, Ian White <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: you are kidding, right? if there was ever a need for open geospatial data, this is most definitely not it. much as it would be nice to have, there's nothing you can 'do' with it to change the state of affairs. contrast this with access to transit, crime, base map, environment, etc........ == Ian White :: Urban Mapping Inc 690 Fifth Street Suite 200 :: San Francisco CA 94107 T.415.946.8170 :: F.866.385.8266 :: urbanmapping.com/blog<http://urbanmapping.com/blog> On 15 Jun 2010, at 11:15, gis pundit wrote: This is very disturbing. If ever there was a need for open geospatial data, this is it. I wonder what possessed the Federal & State Agencies to agree to upload their only copies of the location data their responders are collecting in the field to a BP-controlled GIS server? If it wasn't so illegal, I'd say that BP corporate firewall was just begging for a few good hackers to "fix" this problem :) -------- Original Message -------- Subject: FW: Letter on BP Oil Spill GIS Appears, Disappears Date: Tue, 15 Jun 2010 09:17:14 -0400 TO: NWCG GIS Task Group FYI http://www.scientificblogging.com/chatter_box/bp_gis_and_mysterious_vanishing_open_letter http://seminal.firedoglake.com/diary/54563 Introduction: Andrew Stephens and Devon Humphrey, both Geographic Information Systems (GIS) professionals with 40 years combined GIS experience, were the primary architects of the GIS Unit and lab at Incident Command Post (ICP) Houma. Mr. Stephens has 20 years GIS experience, teaching GIS to organizations worldwide, and is an expert in GIS deployment, start-up, training and workflow design. Mr. Humphrey has 20 years background in Oil Spill GIS with Texas General Land Office, where he was on the development team of an award-winning oil spill GIS. He has also been an instructor since 1994 at the National Spill Control School at Texas A&M University, Corpus Christi. The ‘Spill School’ is named in the Oil Pollution Act of 1990. **----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------** Deepwater Horizon GIS Data Concerns From: Andrew Stephens and Devon Humphrey Date: June 9, 2010 Subject: BP control of GIS data To Whom It May Concern: Executive Summary This letter is being submitted to make it known that several key factors of the National Incident Management System (NIMS) and Incident Command Structure (ICS) are not being met in the Unified Command process of the BP Deepwater Horizon Incident. Specifically regarding the treatment of Geographic Information System (GIS) data, current configuration and process limit, or exclude completely, the flow of information about the extent and status of the disaster to government entities, emergency responders, and the public. GIS is essential to the oil spill response effort and to the recovery of public resources. Almost every map and geographic display representing the Deepwater Horizon Incident is sourced by GIS data. Current GIS management processes indicate that BP is treating GIS data as proprietary information, and these data are currently being stored behind the BP corporate firewall. It is our understanding that public agencies, for example, The US Fish and Wildlife Service and The Louisiana National Guard, are literally submitting the only copy of agency field data, via wireless-enabled mobile GPS devices, directly to a BP GIS server behind the corporate firewall in Houston. Examples of these data are; dead bird and fish locations with photos, boom placement, engineered construction barriers, including dates, and other descriptive information and photos. State Emergency Operation Center (EOC) staff, Parish EOC staff, and other Emergency Responders and Recovery Specialists do not have access to these GIS datasets, contrary to all NIMS guidance, protocols and principles. Per NIMS, redundancy of incident information is to be managed jointly, and fully accessible by the Federal On Scene Coordinator (FOSC), the State On Scene Coordinator (SOSC), and the Responsible Party. Technology allows implementation of this design to occur instantaneously and automatically (see attached diagram). The intent of this letter is to inform The President, the National Incident Commander, the FOSC, the SOSC, and the public, of the need to establish and enforce NIMS compliant access policies over all Deepwater Horizon oil spill GIS data. The Geospatial Intelligence Officer (GIO) and the GIS Unit Leader, who proposed NIMS-compliant GIS architecture to Unified Command, and supported access to these GIS data, have been removed from the Houma ICP by BP IT department managers. <ATT00001..txt> _______________________________________________ Geowanking mailing list [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> http://geowanking.org/mailman/listinfo/geowanking_geowanking.org -- Brian Russo / (808) 271 4166 -- Brian Russo / (808) 271 4166
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