Difference between revisions of "Summary about Social Media Research in Disaster/Emergency Response Systems"

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Dated: June 7, 2014
 
Dated: June 7, 2014
 
  
 
=Centre for Integrated Emergency Management=
 
=Centre for Integrated Emergency Management=

Revision as of 14:50, 10 July 2014

Related Project

SoCS: Social Media Enhanced Organizational Sensemaking in Emergency Response

Keywords: Social Networking, Emergency Response, Content Analysis, Network Analysis, Organizational Sensemaking, Collaborative Decision Making.

PI/PM: Amit Sheth

Co-PIs: Valerie Shalin, John Flach (Department of Psychology, Human Factors/Industrial Organization Graduate Program)

Collaborator and OSU PI: Srinivasan Parthasarthy, Ohio State University

Funding: This research is funded by the National Science Foundation under award IIS-1111182, 09/01/2011 - 08/31/2014.

Students: Hemant Purohit, Andrew Hampton,Yiye Ruan

See also: Twitris: The Social Brain, Semantics driven Analysis of Social Media, Citizen Sensing, Social Signals, and Enriching Human Experience, Computing For Human Experience

In News:



Here are the summaries for articles posted in news/blogs about research in Disaster/Emergency Response Systems. We update these summaries regularly.

Tweak-the-tweet

This project seeks to build a collaboration network to promote Tweet-friendly hashtag-based syntax to help direct Twitter communications for more efficient data extraction for those communicating about the Haiti earthquake disaster. It modifies tweet pieces dependent on subject to make them more easily machine-parsable. The syntax is constantly evolving. Each tweet counted must have #haiti and only one other key word (need, offering, ruok, trapped, etc.)

Example:

TWEET-BEFORE: Altagrace Pierre needs help at Delmas 14 House no. 14.

TWEET-AFTER: #haiti #name Altagrace Pierre #need help #loc Delmas 14 House no. 14.

Source: http://wiki.crisiscommons.org/wiki/Tweak_the_Tweet

Dated: Oct 1, 2011

Sahana Software Foundation

Sahana is a free and open-source disaster management system in the form of web tools with modules designed to address common disaster management issues, and based on a Rapid Application Development (RAD) platform. The focus is on efficiency, information exchange, and victim care. Modules include organizing contacts, missing person registry, request management, and shelter registry.

Source: http://sahanafoundation.org/

Dated: June 20, 2013

Truthy Project

This project focuses on shared traits of information diffusion via social media sites. They hope to offer real-time analysis of data encompassing millions of posts daily. It will model the data stream as “a series of time-stamped events that represent interactions between actors and memes.” Mood tracking methods cross-validated against stocks, weather and news will be used for meme characterization. This data would let them deduce why certain memes catch on and others don’t.

Source: http://newsinfo.iu.edu/news/page/normal/19178.html

Dated: Nov 9, 2011

Social Media and Disasters

This report focuses on the government’s efforts to use various social media to better manage emergencies by informing citizens of potential danger and allowing communication from citizens to allow for two-way information flow. Very little technical information is given.

Sources: http://www.fas.org/blog/secrecy/2011/09/social_media.html http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/homesec/R41987.pdf

Dated: Nov 9, 2011

eMoksha Projects

Encompasses many smaller projects: VoteReport India- citizen-powered monitoring to track election irregularities during general elections FixOurCity- promotes citizen participation in government Kiirti- platform to allow government, non-government and civic organizations to communicate with citizens through phone, sms, email and web. iDemocracy Camp- “unconference” promoting citizen engagement in government for a day of intense collaboration Sharek961.org- allows Lebanese to send in eyewitness reports of election-related issues/incidents (sms, email or web) Alive in Afghanistan- citizens directly report on their political process Sudan Vote Monitor- effort to increase transparency in elections

Source: http://emoksha.org/projects.html

Dated: Nov 9, 2011

Ushahidi use-case

During a bombing in Mumbai, phone lines were clogged so people turned to social media for coordination and discussion. A Google Docs spreadsheet was created (hundreds of miles away) that allowed communication for people to volunteer their homes for those who needed refuge. Also, a disaster tracker map was used to identify salient locations (shelters, stranded people, etc.) Time-relevance of the information was manually evaluated by time stamp. Very little automation used in any of these outside of publicly available software applications.

Source: http://www.economist.com/blogs/babbage/2011/07/online-crisis-management

Dated: Nov 9, 2011

Decoding our Chatter

Want to monitor an earthquake, track political activity or predict the ups and downs of the stock market? Researchers have found a bonanza of real-time data in the torrential flow of Twitter feeds.

Source: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204138204576598942105167646.html

Dated: Nov 9, 2011

Twitcident

This graphic software allows for filtered searching on a large corpus of tweets. It also provides analytics that let users get an overview and analyze what is being reported about an incident in the social web stream. Information relevant to a particular incident is automatically filtered and sorted for easy reference. The data is continuously reevaluated to create a real time profile of the incident. This is accomplished by first aggregating social media data, then applying semantic techniques such as classification, linkage, and metadata extraction, and lastly filtering patterns that emerge to provide usable and searchable data, which in turn feed back in to the incident profile.

Source: http://wis.ewi.tudelft.nl/twitcident/

Dated: Nov 10, 2011

The Link Between Community Activity and Role Composition

This study defines the actors in a digital community by the amount and type of participation. The divisions are based on how often users initiate conversation, participate in existing threads, and how often others respond to their contributions. Correlations are tested for the eight types among one another revealing how often they overlap or coincide. Community characteristics are also taken into account for various concentrations of the types eventually revealing beneficial ratios. The findings generally indicate that a healthy community should contain more active participants, including initiators and contributors, and fewer ignored members.

Source: http://www.matthew-rowe.com/?q=node/68

Dated: Dec 14, 2011

Pandora Crisis Managers Training

This project is a simulation of a disaster scenario to train and evaluate the reactions of those tasked with managing resources. The system builds a Crisis Knowledge Base (CKB) which is comprised of the trainer’s knowledge of the exercise, “events” within the simulation usable by the crisis planner, interactive structure with the Pandora system (so that decisions made impact subsequent data), and a record of events. Researchers developed two ontologies to model the information, one for timeline based information, and one for the Pandora system in general. Certain external, publicly available knowledge sources are made available to the trainees to supplement the basic data provided by the trainers in order to provide more realism.

Source: http://lttf.ieee.org/issues/january2011/IEEE-LT-Jan11.htm#_Toc284801662

Dated: Dec 20, 2011

Digital Humanitarianism

The potential for disaster response in a "hyper-connected" world revealed itself in the wake of the earthquake in Haiti. Crisis Mappers, OpenStreetMap, and other programs layered information from SMS across the country to organize and facilitate aid going to the places where it was needed most. Digital volunteers helped convert the raw data into a form usable by aid organization. Trilogy Emergency Response Application (TERA) is an SMS based system used to facilitate communication to specific communities and population centers, spreading valuable information expeditiously. The emerging software is largely user generated and controlled, tailored to the needs of the community, and rapidly evolving.

Source: http://www.ted.com/talks/paul_conneally_digital_humanitarianism.html

Dated Feb 29, 2012

Alert4All

Based on the premise that social media is an effective way to detect emergent crises as well as gain ground knowledge during the event, Alert4All aims to assess and improve official entities' communication with the general population. To this end, EU researchers have created a Screening of New Media (SNM) tool which gathers data from Twitter, blogs and other privately operated and publicly available data which it then analyzes and redistributes appropriately through official channels. This new input creates a continuous feedback loop for the duration of a given event, with the official message traffic impacting newly generated social media information.

Source: http://www.csis.pace.edu/~ctappert/dps/EISIC2012/data/4782a189.pdf

Dated Sept 25, 2012

Twitter Political Index

This capability available directly from Twitter attempts to measure the political mood of a country by analyzing message traffic. Messages containing mentions of a politician or issue are measured and subjected to sentiment analysis creating a score reflecting the percentage of positive regard relative to the entire population of Tweets. For example "A score of 73 for a candidate indicates that Tweets containing their name or account name are on average more positive than 73 percent of all Tweets." Accuracy of the process has not at this time been empirically tested.

Source: http://venturebeat.com/2012/08/01/twitter-political-index/

Dated Sept 25, 2012

Digital Operations Center

Jointly founded and operated by The Red Cross and Dell, this project aims to provide information, both generic and targeted, to communities in need. Additionally, workers aggregate public needs into trends and respond to individuals, through social media, in real time. Once operational, The Red Cross will accept digital volunteers as needed to provide accurate information to calls for help made via social media. The model is based on Dell's customer service software, in use for nearly three years.

Source: http://mashable.com/2012/03/07/red-cross-digital-operations-center/

Dated Sept 25, 2012

Disaster 2.0

Run by Aston University and the University of Warwick, D2.0 is a 2-year project exploring how EU governments currently and can potentially use Web 2.0 applications and Semantic Technologies in disaster response. The project aims to establish the role of Web 2.0 platforms in mitigating damage to critical infrastructure (CI) and building resilience in the public. It also aims to establish the scope for semantic web (Web 3.0) technologies in emergency management.

Source: http://repository.disaster20.eu/frontpage

Dated Oct 1, 2012

Humanitarian eXchange Language (HXL)

The HXL is a general linguistic domain model, created from the bottom up and intended to facilitate data exchange within the humanitarian arena. Examining systems currently in use by various humanitarian organizations, the researchers aimed to find the smallest common denominators and in so doing identify language factors underlying the entire domain. The Humanitarian eXchange Language is defined as a set of classes and properties, using the Resource Description Framework (RDF) as underlying technology, allowing other organizations to extend the framework into application- or organization-specific models.

Source: http://hxl.humanitarianresponse.info/ns/

Dated Oct 4, 2012

Visualizing PolySocial Reality

This theoretical framework of a multi-faceted social experience contradicts the idea that a clear distinction can be drawn between physical and online interaction. Internet based communications have enabled the expansion of creative and cultural possibilities, while simultaneously bringing previously disjointed or inaccessible cultures within reach. PolySocial Reality (PoSR) describes the multiple, sometimes overlapping, network transaction spaces that people traverse synchronously and asynchronously with others to maintain and use social relationships. One research goal is the integration of real-time data streams and the interoperability between physical and digital contexts.

Source: http://jitso.org/

Dated Dec 11, 2012

Red Cross University: Disaster Digital Volunteer Training

The American Red Cross has created a National Headquarters Social Engagement Team designed to allow ordinary citizens to aid in information management during disaster scenarios. A training course, open to registered members of the official American Red Cross learning management platform, takes two hours online. After completion, participants are qualified to aid in emergency management in conjunction with the Red Cross by monitoring social media traffic in four hour shifts.

Source: http://blog.redcross.org/disaster-digital-volunteer-training/

Dated Dec 11, 2012

The Disaster Management Initiative

Carnegie Melon Silicon Valley is developing a system wherein citizen volunteers geo-locate micro blogs relevant to disaster scenarios which are then integrated into a Common Operating Picture (COP) software, aimed at providing emergency responders with fast and accurate information. In addition, the project hopes to be able to alert the public to potential dangers through the same channels. They gathered data from a number of past events, such as the Haiti earthquake, but also from monitoring Twitter traffic during an evacuation drill at Stanford, thus imposing a degree of experimental control.

Source: http://www.cmu.edu/silicon-valley/news-events/news/2011/novel-social-networking.html

Dated Jan 25, 2013

Center for Emergency Response Technologies

CERT, based out of the University of California Irvine, aims to build technological systems to "convert large-scale, multi-modal information into actionable information upon which decisions can be made." The CERT team is composed of computer scientists, engineers, social scientists, and disaster scientists working together to control information flow and dissemination. Research projects include the Responsphere simulation software, situational awareness for firefighters, and the Responding to Crises and Unexpected Events (RESCUE) project.

Source: http://cert.ics.uci.edu

Dated Jan 29, 2013

Innovative Support To Emergencies Diseases and Disaster

InSTEDD focuses on health and safety worldwide through technological advancement and distribution of information. The initiative brings together governments, humanitarian NGOs, private industry, universities, and local communities and facilitates communication and exchange. Projects have included appointment reminder programs to HIV patients in Cambodia and text messaging vital health information to mothers in Mexico. They also advise the UN, WHO, and CDC on health information systems worldwide.

Source: http://instedd.org/about-us/guiding-principles/

Dated Jan 29, 2013

Twitter tribal languages

Researchers from Royal Hollway, University of London, and Princeton University analysed 75 million tweets from 189,000 Twitter users and identified words used by certain communities and unlikely to be used by anyone outside of them. Groups were not predefined, but instead arose as a function of language characteristics. Researchers claim classification accuracy at up to 80%, depending on the group. Groups ranged from common interests, careers, political views, or ethnicities.

Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/twitter/9933177/Twitters-tribes-have-their-own-languages.html

Dated March 15, 2013

Management of a Crisis (MOAC)

MOAC is a disaster management vocabulary, enabling practitioners to relate different relevant objects and concepts into Linked Data. Various humanitarian and crowd sourcing volunteering communities are used to continually update and validate the vocabulary in terms of functionality, usability, and structures. The study is based out of the University of Münster, Germany.

Source: http://observedchange.com/moac/ns/

Dated March 27, 2013

Humanitarian eXchange Language (HXL)

The Humanitarian eXchange Language is a set of classes and properties, using the Resource Description Framework (RDF) as underlying technology. This enables HXL to publish humanitarian data as part of the Linked Open Data cloud. It uses linguistic templates and a constantly evolving vocabulary to identify and categorize sentences of use to humanitarian organizations. URLs and relationships between classes are also defined to give a "smallest common denominator" in the problem space. The study is based out of the University of Münster, Germany.

Source: https://sites.google.com/site/hxlproject/

Dated March 27, 2013

Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)

OCHA is a United Nations organization aimed at bringing together different humanitarian groups efficiently in the event of a disaster. In a paper published at the end of 2011, they detail lessons learned from operations so far. Key lessons included the critical nature of data preparedness and pre-planning, volunteer management, sustained dialogue with volunteer and technical communities, and preparedness for around-the-clock efforts from volunteers.

Source: https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B90Y9gPUymOmYzYzY2JmMjEtYjBhMC00NmE5LTgzZjYtNzdlODkwNDIwYmMz/edit?pli=1

Dated March 27, 2013

SparkRelief

This website and mobile application is essentially a matching system for those in need after a disaster with those willing to provide help. The volunteer-built website offers a user-friendly interface for resource matching, available for disasters all over the world simultaneously.

Source: https://sparkrelief.org/#!/about

Dated: June 20, 2013

Splunk4Good

Splunk4Good offers sentiment analysis in social media relating to major events. This offers a social perspective on everything from disasters to elections, facilitating a different kind of analysis.

Source: http://splunk4good.com/

Dated: June 20, 2013

Recovers.org

This website takes a preventative approach to disaster management. Recovers.org provides software to allow communities anywhere to prepare for emergencies by focusing on mitigating risks and matching resources with needs locally. This is a paid service, available in yearly or multi-year contracts, with training and support optional.

Source: https://recovers.org/

Dated: June 20, 2013

Aidmatrix

The Aidmatrix foundation is a non-profit organization with offices in the U.S., Europe, and Asia that focuses on supply chain management. The foundation uses technological advances to assess need worldwide and direct distribution of monetary resources.

Source: http://www.aidmatrix.org/aboutus/index.htm

Dated: June 20, 2013

Artificial Intelligence for Disaster Response

Combining human and machine intelligence, AIDR filters and classifies as many as thousands of microblog messages per minute during humanitarian crises. The platform is free and open-source.

Dated: November 14, 2013

MicroMappers

MicroMappers supplies a machine-filtered social media stream to a worldwide volunteer network of "Digital Humanitarians" who manually assess extent and location of damage or need and contribute to an interactive map for use by formal emergency response bodies.

Dated: November 14, 2013

Virtual Social Media Working Group

The VSMWG includes 23 practitioners of various emergency response or social media related fields from private, non-profit, municipal, and federal backgrounds. The group meets monthly to develop recommendations to the emergency response community regarding social media use. It is organized by the Department of Homeland Security's Science and Technology Directorate.

Dated: March 2, 2014

HelpBridge

Microsoft's HelpBridge is a free mobile phone app leveraging social media platforms and email to link users with friends and family in the wake of a disaster, allowing them to update status and location easily and in one step. Users can also link to worldwide disaster relief agencies to donate money, goods, or time.

Dated: May 24, 2014

CrisisNET

CrisisNET allows users to find, filter, and organize crisis information from social media based on customizable search parameters denoted via a simplified, multi-language coding input. Output is displayed graphically and easily converted into a presentable format.

Dated: June 7, 2014

Centre for Integrated Emergency Management

Based out of the University of Agder, Norway, CIEM is an interdisciplinary and multifaceted approach to emergency management, conducting several research projects simultaneously involving "networks, mobile devices, human-centered sensing, social media, sensemaking, visualization, decision support, collective intelligence and technology adaption". It is the top research priority at the university.

Dated: July 10, 2014


eVACUATE

eVACUATE aims to facilitate fast and safe evacuation of mass gatherings (e.g. football games) by combining sensor, geospatial, and contextual information with complex simulations and predictions of crowd behavior in confined environments. Recommendations for action are then passed to emergency or security personnel on site.

Dated: July 10, 2014