The value of the Common Operating Picture for Emergency Response
J. Siermann, B. Hulshof, D. Slack · International Petroleum Technology Conference · 2015
Abstract Managing the effect of a serious incident requires access and understanding of many types of information. For an effective and coordinated response to an incident a shared, common picture of the situation is essential. A common picture of reality is required by various organizations that look with different lenses to the incident so they all can collectively respond to it, in order to safe lives, environment and reputation. A Common Operating Picture (COP) is a computing platform based on Geographical Information System (GIS) technology that provides this single source of data and information for situational awareness, coordination and communication to support emergency management and response personnel and other stakeholders involved in or affected by an incident. The situational awareness provided by a COP is fundamental in the understanding of the relevant social, economic, environmental and logistic aspects of the (potential) incident. This paper explains how Shell is currently implementing a COP for all its major operations.