Completed Projects
Listed below are projects which EPC project teams developed or co-developed in the past and are now considered complete.
Information about current projects, some of which have been underway for over a decade, is available on the individual Project Team pages, this section.
HSEM Geographic Information Systems Capabilities Review
2008 - After receiving a request from Homeland Security and Emergency Management (HSEM) Director Kris Eide, a select group of individuals from the EPC visited the state EOC and reviewed geospatial capabilities of that facility and the state's Emergency Management community at large. Out of those efforts, the Minnesota Governor's Council on Geographic Information issued an eight page report of the EPC team findings and recommendations for how the state's emergency management community could improve situational awareness through employment of geospatial technologies. Submitted to Public Safety Commissioner Dana Badgerow in September 2008, "Review of Geographic Information Systems Capabilities - Minnesota Emergency Management Community" lead to HSEM hiring its first individuals with any substantial geospatial training. The report was "For Official Use Only" and not released to the public.
Republican National Convention Support
2008 - In recognition that in 2008 the state had only a limited capability to leverage geospatial technologies in the event of a major disaster in Minnesota, the EPC undertook development of a "Go Team" comprised of individuals with both GIS and Emergency Management training. Existence of this team resulted in the Go Team being invited to man a station in the United States Secret Service Multi Agency Communication Center (MACC) during the 2008 Twin Cities Republican National Convention. This was the first time in the history of a National Special Security Event (NSSE) that a local geospatial team was included in the MACC. Based on the performance of the Go Team, that model has been used ever since for national political conventions.
Red River Valley Flood Mapping Support
2009 - During spring of 2009, the Red River Valley of the North once again experienced near record flooding as a combination of heavy rain and rapid thaw of a substantial snow pack began in melt in March. Leveraging experience gained from support of the Republican National Convention, Go Team members and other GIS personnel from across the state used web services to remotely support local responders and planners, and HSEM EOC operations.
As HSEM developed its own in house geospatial staff in the years following, this would be the last time the EPC Go Team would be called upon to provide service to the state and its citizens.
Minnesota Structures Collaborative
2010 - In 2008, at request and in cooperation with the EPC, the Minnesota Land Information Management Center applied for and received a Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) Cooperative Agreements Program grant to develop methods for building and maintaining state sponsored data sets of select critical infrastructure. This was a first in the nation effort to create methodology whereby accurate local structures information could be efficiently collected, maintained and then shared with state and federal response partners. Due to state funding restrictions in the years immediately after its successful development and implementation in 2010, the project became dormant until being reactivated by the Critical Infrastructure Assessment Project Team in 2020.
Twin Cities Geospatially Enabling Community Collaboration Work Shop
2011 - In collaboration with the Geospatial Information and Technology Association, SharedGeo and MetroGIS, members of the EPC were instrumental in developing and managing the largest Geospatially Enabling Community Collaboration (GECCo) event ever sponsored by the Department of Homeland Security. The event which spanned two days at Fort Snelling and the Metropolitan Emergency Services Board building, brought together over 100 individuals representing the GIS, utility, response, and decision maker communities to hear presentations and participate in a table top exercise focusing on disaster response.
Damage Assessment Standard
2017 - In recognition of the need to have structured way to geospatially tag data used in FEMA's damage assessment process, an EPC project team was created to review and evaluate existing federal and commercial options. Focusing on gap analysis which could potentially result in delayed federal disaster reimbursement, the team developed a comprehensive but succinct state standard which was officially published in 2020.