Collaborative Geo-Decisions

Spatial Decision Support for the Open Knowledge Network

We're transforming how convergent organizations engage in collaborative decision making
as they tackle major issues facing our communities and environments

Imagine a world... which we harness the innovations of information technology and social learning to solve humanity’s existential challenges. Current internet search tools are not designed to support local or regional spatial decision-making. Yet it’s at these scales that most community decisions are made. Our work addresses this gap by integrating 3 technologies: geographic information systems, knowledge graphs, and collaborative workspaces.

What are the semantic web and knowledge graphs?

And how can they be combined with geographic data to help organizations better coordinate their decision making? Semantic spatial searches are more likely to return specific and relevant results for decision-makers, instead of the hundreds to thousands of mixed results returned by a normal internet search.

What is spatial decision support?

Many of our critical decisions as a society rely on geospatial data and analysis, including managing infrastructure, social services, emergency response and natural resources. In Phase I we gathered over 300 user needs from multi-stakeholder groups that are confronting water quality issues in the Puget Sound, wildfire management in California, and biodiversity conservation in the Oregon/Washington Cascades to coast region. In Phase II, we will expand to six regional collaboratives, and we will deploy and refine our geo-semantic tools and techniques for supporting convergent decision making.