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EMDS User Forum on April 16, 2019

EMDS FREE Users Forum - in less than a week, April 16 at 8:00 am USA Pacific Time, 4:00pm GMT. “EMDS- Going Forward Forum”.
This forum will feature presentations by:

Steve Paplanus – Mountain View Business Group, LP
Keith Reynolds – US Forest Service
Bruce Miller – Rules of Thumb, Inc.
Philip Murphy – InfoHarvest, Inc.
Clive Spenser – Logic Programming Associates, Ltd. Marek Druzdzel – Bayes Fusion, LLC

The goal of this User Forum is to update users on the latest features in EMDS and discuss future development directions.

Forum will utilize ADOBE CONNECT. If you have never attended an Adobe Connect (free download) meeting before:
Test your connection: https://usfs.adobeconnect.com/common/help/en/support/meeting_test.htm
Get a quick overview: http://www.adobe.com/products/adobeconnect.html

To join the meeting:
https://usfs.adobeconnect.com/ry02hm6nongr/
Conference Number(s): 888-844-9904
Participant Code: 5965307



For more Forum information, please email info@mountain-viewgroup.com, reference 2019 Forum.


Agenda for EMDS User Forum on April 16, 2019

  1. Welcome – Keith Reynolds & Steve Paplanus
    1. Introduction
    2. Where to find more information
  2. Introduction to EMDS – Steve Paplanus
    1. Introduce overall system on technical side
    2. Discuss how engines integrate
    3. GIS Integration
  3. Introduction to latest features of EMDS for version 7– Keith Reynolds
  4. Introduction of NetWeaver – Bruce Miller
  5. Introduction of CDP – Philip Murphy
  6. Introduction of LPA – Clive Spenser
  7. Introduction of BayesFusion – Marek Druzdzel
  8. Demo and discussion of end-to-end solution built leveraging the 4 technologies – Steven Paplanus
  9. Open discussions with user group to see if there are questions
  10. List current additions planned for EMDS – Steve Paplanus and Keith Reynolds
  11. Open discussions with user group about EMDS, its future directions,etc

EMDS History - February 19, 2019

Over the past 20 years, EMDS (Ecosystem Management Decision Support) was a system of tools for Land and Resource Management. The application framework is designed for maximum flexibility and extensibility. The knowledge-based decision support is organized for evaluation and planning to help the resource manager and analysts, and is scalable for any geographic area.

Since 2015, EMDS has continued to evolve with the creation of the EMDS Consortium. The EMDS Consortium is a partnership with Mountain View Business Group, USDA Forest Service, Rules of Thumb, InfoHarvest, LPA, and BayesFusion to extend EMDS. Mountain View Business Group is the primary developer and architect for EMDS expansion.



EMDS Components - February 18, 2019

The EMDS Project environment consists of an add-in to ArcMap whose components consist of the EMDS Framework and its four primary engines: NetWeaver, CDP, LPA, BayesFusion. For practical purposes, the EMDS Project Environment can be thought of as a supervisory component of the add-in that manages the activities and interactions of the other components within the ArcMap environment. The EMDS Project Environment also is the primary component of the add-in with which a user interacts to set up various assessments, analyses, scenarios, and workflows. This data is organized within a tree view of project structure.

The engines of EMDS are:

  1. NetWeaver from Rules of Thumb allows for the evaluation of data against a logic model that provides a formal specification for interpreting data and synthesizing information. The model can be thought of as a type of meta-database, allowing for the evaluation of ecosystem states.
  2. CDP from InfoHarvest assists users with developing strategic priorities for management activities in landscape elements of the assessment area. This MCDA component rates management units not only with respect to their condition, but also with respect to logistical factors important to resource managers, such as the feasibility, efficacy, or social acceptability of choices.
  3. VisiRule from LPA allows for the implementation of Prolog-based decision trees. These decision models are particularly useful to support tactical planning decisions for selecting optimal actions in specific management units, given the state of the unit, and managers’ and scientists’ understanding of the effectiveness of potential actions in specific contexts.
  4. GeNIe from Bayesfusion allows for the creation of Bayesian networks. Bayesian networks have been particularly popular among wildlife biologists for decision making related to wildlife habitat suitability and population viability.