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

TLDR

Emergency management must integrate multiple computer science subfields, leverage grid/cyberinfrastructure and social software, and view citizens as a self‑organizing, collectively intelligent force whose needs and roles are central to crisis response. The paper proposes a vision for future emergency management that enhances inclusion of public activities and information during disasters, moving beyond mere online monitoring to address the needs and roles of citizens. The authors outline research priorities, including measuring dynamic information flows, ensuring trustworthiness and security, aligning informal and formal sources, and applying advanced information‑extraction techniques to support the envisioned public‑centric emergency management.

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.