GEM1

One of GEM’s central initiatives is to develop software and online tools as required to achieve its overall goals. As the first step in GEM development, a prototype for GEM software and models will be built, with the working name of “GEM1.” 

GEM1 is a focused pilot project to generate GEM’s first products and develop GEM’s initial IT infrastructure, that started in January 2009 and will end on 31st March 2010. GEM1 will provide core capabilities for the present and key knowledge for future development of the full GEM computing environment and product set. We will build GEM1 largely using existing tools and datasets, connected through a unified IT infrastructure, in order to bring GEM’s initial capabilities online as rapidly as possible. 

More information about the current progress of the GEM1 project can be found on the GEM1 wiki: http://gemwiki.ethz.ch/wiki. The GEM1 effort is carried out by  five core institutions: ETHZ,  EUCENTRE ,  GFZ,  NORSAR and the USGS. In addition, GEM1 will  issue subcontracts to data and software providers. 

The lessons learned during GEM1 will be an integral part of future GEM development. For example, by using existing hazard and risk codes, we will evaluate which may be suitable as a basis for the full GEM hazard and risk computational engine. Both GEM and GEM1 will be global projects, necessarily involving scientific and technical development teams around the world. During GEM1, we will adapt current best practices in software development and project management (e.g., central systems to store source code, test software, and track project issues and progress) to the GEM environment. GEM1 also will provide the first Web based interfaces for GEM’s computational systems; user testing and feedback will help us focus GEM’s future interfaces for user-defined practical problem solving. Taken together, all these aspects of GEM1 will help target GEM’s IT infrastructure and accelerate its development significantly. 

However, the entire GEM problem cannot be solved in fifteen months. GEM1 will help us define the needs for GEM software, but will meet only the most critical needs that we understand at present. We do not anticipate the creation of new, uniform global catalogues of earthquakes, databases of building inventory, or vulnerability functions during GEM1, even though certain aspects of GEM1 will require these kinds of information. Rather, we will use data already freely available in an appropriate form while parallel efforts under the broader GEM umbrella move forward to create the new datasets for later use.

GEM1 should therefore be viewed as a pilot project (an ‘80% solution’, in the words of one attendee at the June 2008 Zurich GEM meeting), providing critical functionality for the present and key knowledge for future development of the full GEM IT infrastructure and product set.