TY - JOUR

T1 - Seeing through the clouds: Processes and challenges for sharing geospatial data for disaster management in Haiti

AU - Clark, Nathan Edward

AU - Guiffault, Flore

PY - 2018

Y1 - 2018

N2 - This article examines the ways in which the production and sharing of geospatial data for disaster management purposes have evolved in Haiti, within the context of the 2010 earthquake and 2016 Hurricane Matthew. The conditions for these developments are traced through the institutional and operational dynamics among key stakeholders at international, State and local levels. The article is presented as a case study and is based on reports, field observations and interviews with relevant stakeholders. Overall, the article finds that the increasing recognition, use and value of data for disaster management activities since the earthquake, is contributing to a number of interrelated economic, technical and legal processes and challenges for data sharing among stakeholders in the country. Economic findings are primarily centered around the impact which donor funding, project based work and “new market” dymnamics are having on data sharing. These issues feed into technical findings, where the increasing number of stakeholders and geospatial based projects has led to data access uncertainty and quality concerns among stakeholders. Lastly, legal findings are generally concerned with uncertainty regarding license conditions. Underlying each of these findings is the increasing value and implication of open data. The article concludes with an analytical discussion which frames these main findings within broader developments taking place in the global disaster management sector.

AB - This article examines the ways in which the production and sharing of geospatial data for disaster management purposes have evolved in Haiti, within the context of the 2010 earthquake and 2016 Hurricane Matthew. The conditions for these developments are traced through the institutional and operational dynamics among key stakeholders at international, State and local levels. The article is presented as a case study and is based on reports, field observations and interviews with relevant stakeholders. Overall, the article finds that the increasing recognition, use and value of data for disaster management activities since the earthquake, is contributing to a number of interrelated economic, technical and legal processes and challenges for data sharing among stakeholders in the country. Economic findings are primarily centered around the impact which donor funding, project based work and “new market” dymnamics are having on data sharing. These issues feed into technical findings, where the increasing number of stakeholders and geospatial based projects has led to data access uncertainty and quality concerns among stakeholders. Lastly, legal findings are generally concerned with uncertainty regarding license conditions. Underlying each of these findings is the increasing value and implication of open data. The article concludes with an analytical discussion which frames these main findings within broader developments taking place in the global disaster management sector.

U2 - 10.1016/j.ijdrr.2018.02.019

DO - 10.1016/j.ijdrr.2018.02.019

M3 - Journal article

VL - 28

SP - 258

EP - 270

JO - International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction

JF - International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction

SN - 2212-4209

IS - june

ER -