NORTH SUFFOLK PROJECTS FINALISTS IN AWARDS
North Suffolk can lay claim to three finalists in the 2012 Governor's Technology Awards, which recognizes the success of public sector technology projects.
In one of the trio of projects, a team of researchers at Old Dominion University's Virginia Modeling, Analysis and Simulation Center is developing a simulation and modeling tool for public policy planning.
"What we're trying to address here is the difficulty, usually in urban planning roles, in the amount of information that you have to deal with," said Dr. Saikou Diallo, a research assistant at the center.
A handful of master's and doctoral students are working on the project inspired by an ODU initiative to study the effects of sea level rise on Hampton Roads, he said.
"The original idea was to look at, in the next 20 to 30 years, if sea levels continue to rise, what do we need to decide to protect land? What areas do you need to invest in?" Diallo said.
The project's next step is to partner with a city on a trial implementation of the system, he said.
"In term of the decision makers, what we will do is focused on emergency planning," he said.
Award winners will be announced at the Commonwealth of Virginia Innovative Symposium on Sept. 6.
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