33 G I S S U P P NGOsN G O s GIS O R T S and A nongovernmental organization (NGO) is a legally constituted organization that does not include any participation or representation by a government. NGOs have successfully used GIS technology for many years to help the environment and society. GIS technology enables organizations of all sizes in both the public and private sectors to take advantage of their geographic data—including NGOs that provide services and analysis at the local level as part of the civil society. Conservation: GIS enhances NGOs’ effectiveness with data collection, science-focused modeling, conservation planning, and the creation of maps and visualizations that support various efforts to conserve nature and manage natural resources. Sustainable development: GIS supports many sustainable development efforts throughout the world, providing policy makers and planning agencies with visualization tools to manage growth and change. Disaster response: NGOs actively use GIS to support their response to earthquakes, floods, hurricanes/cyclones, wildfires, and other disasters. Social programs: For humanitarian, health, peacekeeping, and other social programs, GIS technology helps NGOs leverage limited resources and multiply the positive impact of benefits to individuals, families, and society. Map of villages in Mareko Woreda (district), Ethiopia, showing villages in two colors (red: communities traveling more than 1,500 meters to fetch drinking water; green: communities within the government water-fetching distance standard, 1,500 meters). Maps such as this are used by the NGO International Rescue Committee to identify gaps in safe drinking water coverage. This map shows that roughly half of the communities in Mareko District need additional water points (courtesy: International Rescue Committee). fully committing the funds and enforcing the concomitant requirement that data be made public in a secure, timely way that drives outcomes across our missions. Notable exceptions include USAID’s PREDICT project, for example. Here, through engaging University of California, Davis, and leading experts in wildlife surveillance, including the Global Viral Forecasting Initiative, the Smithsonian Institution, Wildlife Conservation Society, and Wildlife Trust, USAID is funding a program to monitor, and provide the foundation for a response to, the emergence of new infectious diseases in geographic hot spots. Collaboration and the public sharing of geographic information within the PREDICT project are a central component of its information management strategy. Beyond support from the technology industry, for BINGOs to successfully transform some of their collected data into a public good, donors will need to facilitate a change that will see information sharing being transformed from a poorly specified contractual clause to an outcome-driven, fully funded activity within a project. So what is the future role of big international nongovernmental organizations in contributing to the world’s wealth of geographic information as a public good? There are many reasons to be hopeful and many challenges ahead. Geographic information has a critical role to play not only because of the intrinsic nature of the challenges facing both the man-made and natural worlds but also because it far more easily aggregates, or meshes, into a meaningful story. The signs are strong that we are rising to the challenge of finally consigning to the historical dustbin any suggestion that contributing knowledge and information for the broader public good is beyond our collective capacity. With the continued support of our donors and technology partners, we, as BINGOs, can increasingly move from primarily being consumers of free information goods to taking the lead on contributing to the public information capital that is essential to the success of all our missions. About the Author Jonathan Palmer is the Wildlife Conservation Society’s director of global information communication technology (ICT). Palmer has a strong professional interest in strategically aligning technology with business objectives. His outstanding technical and analytic skills have enabled him to deliver a range of solutions— from online collaboration and mapping tools for the WCS Global Avian Influenza Network for Surveillance project to the NetHope ICT Database, engaging 30 international NGOs in sharing strategic ICT information. Palmer lives with his wife in northern Tanzania. More Information For more information, contact Jonathan Palmer (e-mail: jpalmer@wcs.org) or Carmelle Terborgh, Esri (cterborgh@esri.com).