A vision for technology-mediated support for public participation & assistance in mass emergencies & disasters

  • Authors:

  • Leysia Palen;Kenneth M. Anderson;Gloria Mark;James Martin;Douglas Sicker;Martha Palmer;Dirk Grunwald

  • Affiliations:

  • University of Colorado, Boulder, CO;University of Colorado, Boulder, CO;University of California, Irvine, CA;University of Colorado, Boulder, CO;University of Colorado, Boulder, CO;University of Colorado, Boulder, CO;University of Colorado, Boulder, CO

  • Venue:
  • Proceedings of the 2010 ACM-BCS Visions of Computer Science Conference
  • Year:
  • 2010

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Abstract

We present a vision of the future of emergency management that better supports inclusion of activities and information from members of the public during disasters and mass emergency events. Such a vision relies on integration of multiple subfields of computer science, and a commitment to an understanding of the domain of application. It supports the hopes of a grid/cyberinfrastructure-enabled future that makes use of social software. However, in contrast to how emergency management is often understood, it aims to push beyond the idea of monitoring on-line activity, and instead focuses on an understudied but critical aspect of mass emergency response---the needs and roles of members of the public. By viewing the citizenry as a powerful, self-organizing, and collectively intelligent force, information and communication technology can play a transformational role in crisis. Critical topics for research and development include an understanding of the quantity and quality of information (and its continuous change) produced through computer-mediated communication during emergencies; mechanisms for ensuring trustworthiness and security of information; mechanisms for aligning informal and formal sources of information; and new applications of information extraction techniques.