Researchers have launched a new platform that will help researchers make better use of New Zealand’s Disaster Risk Reduction and resilience data.
The collaborative team of researchers, funded by Resilience to Nature’s Challenges Kia manawaroa – Ngā Ākina o Te Ao Tūroa and QuakeCoRE – New Zealand Centre for Earthquake Resilience, developed the platform after identifying a gap in the industry. “Across the country there are datasets from extensive, ongoing research on disaster risk reduction and resilience, but no integrated way to share and search that information” said Dr Joanne Stevenson, team lead for the project.
After running a series of workshops to find out what stakeholders and researchers needed, the team developed the Data Integration and Visualisation En Masse (DIVE) Platform. The NZ Resilience DIVE Platform website gives users the ability to catalogue, discover, share, and use datasets and other information relevant to Disaster Risk Reduction and resilience in New Zealand. “DIVE provides, for the first time in New Zealand, a place where researchers can let others know about the data, publications, and ongoing research relevant to DRR and resilience” Dr Stevenson notes.
The platform can also host unique datasets, as well as being a place where those interested in DRR and resilience in New Zealand can connect and collaborate, forming virtual organisations for sharing information. DIVE also provides access to data literacy tools for those wanting to know more about metadata and spatial data, and why these things are important for a more resilient New Zealand.
The DIVE Platform can be accessed at resiliencedata.org.nz.
Researchers who choose to host their data on the platform can rest assured that it won’t be lost too. Should it be decommissioned, DIVE can be transferred to another host, such as data.govt.nz, as it has been created using the CKAN software platform.
The NZ Resilience DIVE Platform is created and maintained by Resilient Organisations and, ultimately, by New Zealand’s research community. As a sharing platform, this collaborative site provides a tool for transformational research, allowing for innovative new discoveries through the recycling of data. It is also hoped that DIVE can act as a catalogue or repository for information produced in disaster response and recovery contexts and can aid decision making in the wake of natural disasters.
