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Centers of Excellence

Using Technology to Coordinate Disaster Assessment and Response

Allegheny County’s distinctive three rivers have played a major role in the development of the region; however, these rivers
have also been the cause of natural disaster and hardship. Often the region’s numerous local governments and aid agencies
have struggled to coordinate response to flooding and other large-scale emergency events.

The Interactive, Intelligent, Spatial Information System’s (IISIS) Laboratory, designed by GSPIA Professor Louise Comfort and
Pitt’s Department of Computer Science, has developed a prototype decision support system that will enable communities to
increase their capacity for coordinated action to emergencies. Using the prototype IISIS, communities in the Pittsburgh
metropolitan region will be able to make decisions about the vulnerability of infrastructure, the degree of threat to local
residents, and the capacity of local emergency services to respond effectively to disaster situations. This fall, IISIS will be on
display at the Annual Conference of the International City/County Management Association (ICMA) in Pittsburgh. Conference
attendees will have an opportunity to tour many affected areas of the Monongahela Valley and witness a demonstration of
coordinated disaster response.

“IISIS is consistent with GSPIA’s goal of serving as a regional asset, in this case, assisting municipal managers with the
daunting responsibility of ensuring public safety,” said Interim Dean David Y. Miller. Thanks to the capabilities of the IISIS
Laboratory, local municipal leaders now have more options to manage their resources and implement effective response
strategies during natural disasters.

Community Revitalization Takes Shape

In spite of the difficulties in revitalizing older communities in Pennsylvania, officials and citizens are willing to make the effort,
according to Leon Haley, Nonprofit Clinic director and professor of public and urban affairs.

Twelve local communities received technical assistance from GSPIA’s Nonprofit Clinic, which served as the coordinator of
teams of faculty and students from GSPIA and other colleges and universities throughout Pennsylvania. The technical
assistance projects, carried out as part of the Federal Home Loan Bank’s Blueprint Communities Initiative, assessed major
issues facing these local communities such as residential housing demand, crime reduction, strategic planning, commercial
revitalization, and community and business needs.

Haley said that each of the 12 communities receiving technical assistance had measurable civic participation and strong lo cal
leadership. “They simply refuse to give up hope on the communities and neighborhoods they and their ancestors have called
home for many generations,” he said.

Students gained invaluable experience by getting directly involved in the communities and helping to initiate neighborhood
improvement. “Our students get a real feel for the dynamics of community development…we’re working with the people who
want to make a difference to turn their communities around,” said Haley.

Five of the 12 communities identified housing demand as one of the top priorities for study by the technical assistance project
teams. Haley believes that determining the housing needs of at-risk communities is important for helping developers make the
right choices--choices, he says, that will bring more families, more businesses, and eventually greater economic viability to the
neighborhoods.

New Publication Explores China’s Rise

China's Rise and the Balance of Influence in Asia, the latest volume in The Security Continuum: Global Politics in the Modern
Age series, is now available from the University of Pittsburgh press. Edited by Matthew B. Ridgway Center Director William
Keller and University of Pittsburgh Economics Professor Thomas G. Rawski, this installment adds a new perspective to the
Ridgway Center's continuing studies of international security, counterterrorism strategies, and demographical trends around the
globe.

"China is rising – will the rise be peaceful?" says Keller, stating the major theme of the book. As a significant world economic
power, this Asian nation is making great strides, especially in the technology sector: It is a leader in semiconductor produc tion
and has graduated an estimated 951,000 engineers from its universities, a figure that outpaces the number of newly graduated
American engineers by approximately 886,000. In the book, China's continuing economic and political developments are
examined from a number of angles, including technological advances, immigration rates, trade, and the policy-making of other
major nation-actors on the world stage relative to China.

Publication Examines Human Trafficking

A new publication from the Ford Institute for Human Security, Human Trafficking, Human Security and the Balkans, was
released in mid-September. The book, co-edited by Simon Reich, director of the Ford Institute and H. Richard Friman,
professor of international studies at Marquette University, features new research on human trafficking in the Western Balkans ,
including Kosovo, Macedonia, and Serbia. According to Reich, the book explores “what happens to human trafficking in the
aftermath of a civil war.” He adds, “Human security, as we characterize it, is really about direct threats to the human
population.”

Last updated on November 19, 2007

Graduate School of Public and International Affairs

3601 Posvar Hall, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15260
Phone: 412-648-7640 E-mail: gspia@pitt.edu