Abstract

Mapping South Sudan: Data Management challenges for the Humanitarian Community
Track: Aid and Development
Authors: Keera Pullman, Svend Schelhorn

On July 4, 2012, the Standby Task Force (SBTF) was activated in partnership with UN OCHA's Coordinated Assessment Support Section. The deployment's purpose was to collect secondary data for South Sudan to improve situational awareness for OCHA's assessment team.

During a three-day period, dedicated volunteers collected over 15,271 records by searching the internet for reports, articles, and existing datasets.

This project is just one example of several deployments the STBF are engaged in trying to meet the challenge of adapting existing data models, or developing new ones, to help effectively assist the humanitarian community.

This paper discusses the twin challenges of
(1) developing a humanitarian Geodatabase model
(2) using ArcGIS Online to provide a platform to share new ideas and insights via maps and web applications.

Further, this paper evaluates the usefulness of the ArcGIS Online platform for volunteered crowd-mapping efforts to map interoperable data in the humanitarian field.