—Erwin Villiger, University of Maryland, Baltimore
Geospatial tools can provide significant value supporting humanitarian operations. However, timely and accurate data are critical especially for crisis situations and timely action. This presentation outlines a process adopting the principles of spatial data infrastructures applied to international humanitarian operations and disaster response. A Humanitarian Spatial Data Infrastructure (HSDI) relies on identifying areas of greatest need, developing framework data, standards-based database models, and tools and web services that ensure interoperability.