WASHINGTON - The National Alliance for Public Safety GIS (NAPSG) Foundation Board of Directors is pleased to announce Joshua Dozor of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and Stephen Lai of the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services, as recipients of the 2018 Award for Excellence in Public Safety GIS. Awards were presented at a special reception during NAPSG Foundation’s annual National Geospatial Preparedness Summit on December 3, in Boulder, Colorado.
NAPSG Foundation receives nominations for award recipients each year, and the Board votes on awards in all or some of three categories “ local/regional, state, and national/federal.
“The NAPSG Foundation Board of Directors is honored to acknowledge the unprecedented progress that both of this year’s awards recipients have made within their agencies and among the community at-large,” said Chief Rand Napoli, Board Chairman of NAPSG Foundation. “This year’s recipients are recognized for their perseverance in changing the organizational culture within emergency response agencies, towards the use of geospatial-enabled analysis and toward increased collaboration. This year, NAPSG’s Board was able to recognize two individuals who represent our aspirations for the entire public safety community. In Stephen and CalOES, we recognize a technologist’s tremendous coordination and operational efforts. In Josh, we recognize an operation leader’s passion and dedication to the use of geospatial technology. NAPSG’s Board of Directors hopes to see more of these examples each year.”
Concurrently, the 4th annual National Geospatial Preparedness Summit, held December 3-5, at the University of Colorado in Boulder, brought together more than 200 public safety and homeland security leaders, first responders, and GIS professionals representing 32 states and 150 agencies. The summit was co-hosted with the Natural Hazards Center, in partnership with the US Department of Homeland Security Science & Technology Directorate, International Association of Fire Chiefs, International Association of Emergency Managers, National Association for Search & Rescue, the National States Geographic Information Council, and other partner organizations.
The summit is the only national training and preparedness exercise forum dedicated to advancing the use of geospatial information system technology and data by our nation’s first responders. This year’s programming featured a series of Disaster Innovation Talks by our nation’s most prolific leaders in technology innovation and emergency management, a national roundtable on emerging technology, a live field simulation, and hands-on technical GIS training. This year’s summit culminated in a functional exercise focused on implementing and sharing core operational information prior to, during, and after a major winter storm.
The National Geospatial Preparedness Summit is always hosted at no cost for public sector participants from federal, tribal, territorial, state, and local governments.
About NAPSG Foundation “ www.napsgfoundation.org
The National Alliance for Public Safety GIS (NAPSG) Foundation is a 501(C)(3) not-for-profit organization dedicated to equipping first responders and leaders with the knowledge and skills in applying technology and data to change the outcome for survivors. The vision is achieved through the development and delivery of cutting-edge education, training, exercises, technical assistance, tools, and national policy and guidance. For more information on NAPSG Foundation contact Peter O’Rourke, Executive Director, at 202-895-1711 or porourke@publicsafetygis.org.
