November 05, 2010 -- iMMAP (Information Management and Mine Action Programs) has used the TatukGIS Developer Kernel component for the GIS engine of its OASIS (Operational Activity Situational Information System) information management platform for enhanced information sharing and analysis. OASIS is used in the areas of humanitarian and emergency information management by United Nations agencies, non-governmental and international organizations, and various government departments in a number of countries.  

About iMMAP.  Formed in late-1998 as an international non-profit, non-governmental organization (NGO), iMMAP is a pioneering humanitarian organization that for more than a decade has led the way in the effective use of information management practices and principles in service to the world’s most vulnerable populations. iMMAP applies appropriate information management practices and new information technologies in service to the humanitarian community, enabling them to solve pressing global humanitarian challenges.

Today the iMMAP team is the leading humanitarian information management NGO working the areas of humanitarian crisis response and development, with a broad focus encompassing the areas of public health, emergency response, security management, public works and infrastructure reconstruction, water and sanitation, environmental issues, disarmament and demobilization, landmine and unexploded ordnance remediation, electoral planning, peacekeeping operations, and civil governance. iMMAP customers include local and international non-governmental organizations (NGOs), many United Nations agencies, and governmental institutions in nearly 40 countries.

About OASIS.  Since the late 1990s, attacks on humanitarian relief and development workers have grown in frequency. Contributing factors include increasingly unstable environments, larger numbers of relief and development workers deployed, and the erosion of humanitarian neutrality and independence. This increase has been difficult to quantify due to a lack of coherent security incident data as well as other contextual information such as disaster events and mine related data. There is a general consensus that the humanitarian relief and development arena is more dangerous than ever. This information gap hampers relief and development efforts by the United Nations and other national, international, and non-governmental organizations because they lack a sound basis on which to make operational and policy decisions. OASIS strives to fill this gap by compiling information in a way that can be used by non-technical personnel (project manager, logistics officers, security managers, field workers), that have to make daily decisions that affect agency operations.

OASIS is used (amongst many other agencies) by the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, UNDP, UNICEF, CARE, World Vision, Red Cross, Independent Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES), United Nations Mine Action Centers, EUPOL, Mine Action NGOs, and various government departments in Afghanistan, Colombia, Iraq, Georgia, and Pakistan.

The OASIS client is broken down into 5 functional areas.

• Toolbar Docking Area
• Activity Tools Area
• Working Area
• Activity Buttons Area
• Status Area

What makes OASIS unique is the near real-time update capability. Authorized users can enter data through custom interfaces, and that data is then automatically updated via a server to other OASIS users working in other regions, thereby providing real information sharing capabilities. Users are also able to work on-line or off-line, so that information is always available, even when working in remote areas.

OASIS delivers user-friendly information tools for data entry, analysis, mapping, reporting, and data sharing. Users can quickly and easily create custom filters, maps and reports on specific datasets.  OASIS breaks complex tasks into easy-to-understand guided steps using software wizards that minimize errors, reduce training requirements and encourage users to interact with the system. Some highlights of OASIS are:

• Perform complex hazard analysis;
• Customize analysis to focus on specific sector, method of operation, and location;
• Produce analysis reports and maps without specialized skills;
• Create custom data tables without writing queries;
• Requires very low bandwidth for updates, as data is transmitted via small text files;
• Does NOT require heavy information technology infrastructure.

Some of the reasons why iMMAP chose to use the TatukGIS DK component for OASIS include:

• The best GIS SDK offering support for most data formats;
• Through the TatukGIS DK’s flexible functionality, OASIS manages to synchronize geometries over low bandwidth with field based solutions;
• Extensive SDK API allows for a multi angled approach (complexity levels) to different solutions;
• Seamlessly integrates with most GIS industry standard formats with a superb performance on large datasets;
• Easy distribution, with no complex licensing issues or runtime licenses;
• The free TatukGIS Viewer represents an easy-to-use Map Project Viewer that complements our client deployments.

For more information about iMMAP or OASIS, refer to:   www.immap.org

For more information about TatukGIS or the  TatukGIS Developer Kernel, refer to:   www.tatukgis.com