The Australian Fire and Emergency Service Authorities Council (AFAC) 2011 conference will be held at Darling Harbour from Monday 29 August to Thursday 1 September.
On the first day of the conference, Steve Forbes, manager risk & GIS at the ACT Emergency Services Agency, is hosting a professional development program dedicated to showcasing spatial in emergency management.
With the vast variety and extent of natural disasters we have faced during 2010/2011 the Emergency Services sector is experiencing growing demands from public for information in a spatial context and using social media approaches. This forum will showcase examples of the use and the growing potentials of mapping and location technologies to not only support our Emergency Service sector workforce, but also our public information demands.
Major riverine and flash flooding, frequent severe storms, cyclones, major storm surges and even extensive bushfires in Western Australia, 2010/2011 has seen it all and Mapping/Location technologies were at the forefront of decision support and informing our community.
During this professional development opportunity, you will see presentations from those who manage these systems in our Emergency Service organisations from across Australia. We will hear about how their systems held up to demand, what could have been better and what the future holds from an ever increasing demand for spatial solutions.
Hosted by the Emergency Management Spatial Information Network Australia (EMSINA) presentations will also inform on the new public safety training package for the ‘mapping unit’ under AIIMS, common mapping symbology for emergency mapping in Australia and the usage of volunteer spatial professionals in response to major disasters.
Detailed information on the program can be found at http://afac2011.org/images/stories/AFAC_PD8_Session_Flyer_Final.pdf
and more info on, including registration for, AFAC 2011 at http://www.afac2011.org/.
