To this impressive array we now add a compilation of work by academics, government employees and professionals who are using GIT in an innovative way. Geographic Information Technologies in Urban Hazard/Disaster Analysis is soon to be published by Springer, but none of the work described is useful if not effectively communicated to decision-makers and the general public. Carefully compiled reports often lie on a shelf gathering dust. Recent innovations, such as the worldwide web, Google Earth, mobile phones with camera/GPS and navigation systems, may help to create an audience of non-professionals who continue to familiarise themselves with products such as aerial and satellite imagery. However, access may be a double-edged sword, a bewildering array of websites that begin to interact when disaster strikes. Following Sichuan earthquake, Google Earth quickly posted a note on the ‘World Wide Help Group' blog directing readers to post-earthquake satellite imagery of the area that precipitated considerable debate. In the face of a frightening event people seek additional information. But which site is best? How to choose? How can each provider ensure correct interpretation within the proper context? The GIT community should address these issues of non-professional access to our data.

GIT is still in its infancy in terms of being used and supported at the broad levels necessary (e.g. federal government) for managing hazards and disasters. Rapid developments in software and hardware push us to add more variables; write more complicated algorithms and push the modelling envelope in the hope of saving more lives and reducing damage. This techno-hyperactivity comes at a cost. Our struggle to ‘keep up' leaves little room for looking back and examining how well our models worked.

We will certainly reach a level of maturity or ‘critical mass' that encourages more ‘retro-casting', engaging in hindsight to ensure that the foundations for our models are of bedrock and not shifting sands. Rather than waiting, perhaps we should ‘carpe diem'. Recognising that seemingly inexhaustible hardware and software advances will continue to push at the frontiers of GIT, a fertile area of research might be just this retrospection, if only to further cement our foundations.