Framework for real-time, all-hazards global situational awareness*

The rst condition is that members of this network should be able to share data and information with one another without any proprietary restrictions. The reality, however, is that the sharing of information is usually limited by license agreements. As a result, some members may only have access to hard copies of results and not the actual data and/or models. This restriction hinders the true benets of the network. Emergency responders can base their decisions only on credible information to minimize false alarms. If they cannot obtain such information from credible sources, they are limited in what they can do and/or provide during an emergency. This tends to unnecessarily prolong disaster response time and recovery. To remove this restriction, the question then is, “Can infrastructure data be built from open content sources so that it is amenable to sharing among credible organizations or members of the network?".