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Project Geospatial · Monday · 12 min

FedGeoDay 2025 | Demonstrations: Open Source Geospatial Applications for Resilience - Daniel Dufour

Daniel Dufour from the city of Chattanooga discusses the rapid development of a near real-time map displaying reported flooding and road closures during Hurricane Helen. The project focused on gathering data from human reports via public works, 311, and 911 calls, rather than relying on predictive flood modeling. He highlights the critical balance between human effort and technology, utilizing a mix of open source tools like GitHub Actions, GDAL, and OpenStreetMap, alongside proprietary systems. Dufour shares valuable lessons learned regarding rapid deployment, organizational culture, risk assessment, the importance of building internal capabilities, and how open data and open source can accelerate project delivery, emphasizing that proprietary and open source technologies can effectively coexist. • Built a near real-time map of reported flooding and road closures for Hurricane Helen in Chattanooga. • Focused on mapping reported data from public works, 311, and 911 calls, rather than predicted flooding. • Stresses the equal importance of humans and technology; people reporting data were essential. • Used technologies including GitHub Actions, GDAL, OpenStreetMap, MapLibre, SafeMe Workbench, and proprietary systems like Tyler Tech and Google Maps automation. • Discusses lessons learned such as preparation, culture, risk-taking, speeding up the decision-to-delivery timeline, and adopting a capability perspective for long-term growth. • Highlights that open data and open source can lead to faster project delivery. • Emphasizes that proprietary and open source can work together and it's not an all-or-nothing choice. • Notes that humans cannot be replaced for certain tasks like taking citizen calls, contrasting with AI limitations. For more content like this check out www.projectgeospatial.com #Geospatial #OpenSource #FloodMapping #DisasterResponse #Resilience #Chattanooga #HurricaneHelen #GitHubActions #GDAL #OpenStreetMap #MapLibre #SafeMe #GIS #PublicWorks #CitizenReporting #OpenData #Technology #GovTech #FedGeoDay

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Daniel Dufour from the city of Chattanooga discusses the rapid development of a near real-time map displaying reported flooding and road closures during Hurricane Helen. The project focused on gathering data from human reports via public works, 311, and 911 calls, rather than relying on predictive flood modeling. He highlights the critical balance between human effort and technology, utilizing a mix of open source tools like GitHub Actions, GDAL, and OpenStreetMap, alongside proprietary systems. Dufour shares valuable lessons learned regarding rapid deployment, organizational culture, risk assessment, the importance of building internal capabilities, and how open data and open source can accelerate project delivery, emphasizing that proprietary and open source technologies can effectively coexist.


• Built a near real-time map of reported flooding and road closures for Hurricane Helen in Chattanooga.

• Focused on mapping reported data from public works, 311, and 911 calls, rather than predicted flooding.

• Stresses the equal importance of humans and technology; people reporting data were essential.

• Used technologies including GitHub Actions, GDAL, OpenStreetMap, MapLibre, SafeMe Workbench, and proprietary systems like Tyler Tech and Google Maps automation.

• Discusses lessons learned such as preparation, culture, risk-taking, speeding up the decision-to-delivery timeline, and adopting a capability perspective for long-term growth.

• Highlights that open data and open source can lead to faster project delivery.

• Emphasizes that proprietary and open source can work together and it's not an all-or-nothing choice.

• Notes that humans cannot be replaced for certain tasks like taking citizen calls, contrasting with AI limitations.


For more content like this check out www.projectgeospatial.com


#Geospatial #OpenSource #FloodMapping #DisasterResponse #Resilience #Chattanooga #HurricaneHelen #GitHubActions #GDAL #OpenStreetMap #MapLibre #SafeMe #GIS #PublicWorks #CitizenReporting #OpenData #Technology #GovTech #FedGeoDay


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