Sectors 
Consultancy report to encourage and inform discussion for the National Spatial and Information Management Working Group.
Consultancy report to encourage and inform discussion for the National Spatial and Information Management Working Group.
On 7 February 2009, Black Saturday, thousands of people turned to the Victorian fire authority websites for information about the current fire situation and threats. Across all government services, industry sectors and almost every aspect of our lives, there is an explosion in demand for immediate access to reliable web-based information.
Symbols play a vital role in communicating complex information in a readily understandable format. Well designed and accepted symbols fulfil the adage of “a picture speaks a thousand words”. However, inconsistent use or use of unknown symbols can confuse, and in critical situations, potentially lead to injury, death or significant property loss.
In Australia there are few national symbol standards. More significantly, there is no efficient means for Australian communities of interest to propose, develop and promote new symbol standards.
The National Spatial and Information Management (NSIM) Working Group supports nationally consistent approaches to critical infrastructure protection, counter-terrorism, and emergency management. NSIM recognised the importance to have access to a set of clearly defined and well understood symbology standards and initiated a consultancy to identify the need for a national approach to developing and publishing standard sets of symbols. The consultancy was managed on behalf of NSIM by the Attorney-General’s Department.
Spatial Vision was engaged to undertake a strategic review of national and international approaches to the management of symbology and found that there were no models in place that fully address the identified need in Australia. In addition, there was significant international interest in this Australian initiative.
After consultation with the Attorney-General’s Department and representatives of other key national agencies, Spatial Vision recommended the establishment of a National Symbology Framework to promote a consistent approach to the development and adoption of symbols. Importantly, the Framework would include an Australian Symbol Register, a freely available web resource of digital symbols to be used by government, industry and the public.
The consultancy concluded that a national approach to standard symbology would enable greater consistency in the representation of information, especially geospatial information, making it easier to communicate between organisations for seamless interoperability. The Symbol Register would eliminate many of the costs incurred by industry and government associated with the use of symbols. Most importantly, in times of crisis, greater consistency in symbols used will facilitate the integration of surge staff from other organisations and assist decision makers make optimal judgements.
The final report was delivered to NSIM in October 2009.
Demonstrated Capabilities
• Strong understanding of symbology, geospatial information and emergency management
• Engaging consultation processes
• High quality report writing
• Working in collaboration with client
Resources
Graeme Martin and Michael Black undertook the consultancy for Spatial Vision.
