Esri working with FEMA to help in coronavirus fight

Esri, a company that makes geographic information system (GIS) software, is working with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to help fight against the COVID-19 coronavirus.

Specifically, Esri will provide its mapping and analytics technology in support of a multi-agency geospatial platform for supporting COVID-19 response. FEMA and its partners at the local level can now obtain free Esri software and SaaS solutions to support their COVID-19 response. This includes Esri’s ArcGIS platform for visualization, analytics, and geodatabase management. Further, Esri is also making available on-call technical support services, virtual training, and a library of geospatial applications that are developed specifically for responding to the crisis.

It’s part of an agreement Esri has with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to make its platform available to all FEMA partners during “incidents of national significance.”

“While it has always been our policy to support impacted communities during incidents of national emergencies, this crisis is special,” Jack Dangermond, president of Esri, said. “More than ever it is requiring an integrated multi-organizational response. Our partnership with FEMA will help provide its partners with an integrated multi-agency platform for data sharing and supporting a host of mapping and geospatial applications. We appreciate this opportunity to serve and are hopeful our collaboration will result in a more effective response.”

Using Esri’s cloud-based platform, ArcGIS Online, FEMA has created a GIS hub site for data sharing and collaboration among its partners. It is not public but can be accessed by all of FEMA’s federal, state, local, tribal, private sector, and NGO partners.

The platform includes information on coronavirus testing locations, measures to mitigate the spread, locations available for healthcare, where to find PPE (personal protective equipment), and free and reduced-price food availability, among other features.