Technology Trends &Digital Volunteerism

Brandon Greenberg, MPA, CEM

March 10, 2015

3/10/2015 © DisasterNet, Inc.1

@DisasterNet DisasterNet1 +DisasterNetCo1in/DisasterNet DisasterNet

Brandon@DisasterNet.co +1 (571)-314-0880www.disasternet.co

AgendaI. Key Trends

II. Trend Drivers

III. Challenges

IV. Digital Volunteerism

V. Groups

VI. Tools

VII. Question and Answer

3/10/2015 © DisasterNet, Inc.2

Technology Trends

1) Emphasis on user experience and visualization

2) Humans and computers working together

3) More “open” and “geo-based” systems

4) Data/information is the primary commodity

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Technology Trends - Drivers

1) Increasing scale and complexity in operations

2) Networked/net-centric world

3) Citizen participation is alive

4) Data/information availability and access.

5) Technological advancement

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Challenges

1. Defining “valuable” information.

2. Adequacy of existing data/information policies and procedures.

3. Ability to compare unique technologies and groups.

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Digital Volunteerism

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Digital Volunteerism?

Volunteers supporting disaster response

using technical computer or mobile device

skills rather than managerial skills or

physical labor.

Two Categories:*

1. Technical Skills (Novice to Advanced)

2. Location Constrained

*Categories are NOT mutually exclusive

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Groups

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VOST – Virtual Operations Support Team

“Virtual Operations Support Teams (VOST)…is

an effort to make use of new communication

technologies and social media tools so that a

team of trusted agents (VOSTies) can lend

support via the internet to those on-site who

may otherwise be overwhelmed by the

volume of data generated during a disaster.”

Virtual Operations Support Team

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Humanity Road

“Humanity Road delivers disaster

preparedness and response information to the

global mobile public before, during, and after

a disaster.”

Humanity Road

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Standby Task Force

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“The Standby Task Force (SBTF) organizes

digital volunteers into a flexible, trained and

prepared network ready to deploy in crises.”

Standby Task Force

Digital Humanitarian Network“The aim of this network-of-networks is to

form a consortium of Volunteer & Technical

Communities (V&TCs) and to provide an

interface between formal, professional

humanitarian organizations and informal yet

skilled-and-agile volunteer & technical

networks.”

Digital Humanitarian Network

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Red Cross Digital Volunteers“This training is aimed at people who would like

to deepen their commitment to using online

social tools on behalf of the Red Cross. Disaster

Digital Volunteers will report directly to the

National Headquarters social engagement team

during times of disaster and work as part of the

social engagement team to monitor, engage, and

report on activity surrounding specific disasters.”

Red Cross Digital Volunteers

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Tools & Examples

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MicroMappers

“Combine human computing (smart crowd-

sourcing) with machine computing (artificial

intelligence) to filter, fuse and map a variety of

different data types such as text, photo, video

and satellite/aerial imagery.”

www.micromappers.wordpress.com

3/10/2015 © DisasterNet, Inc.15

CrowdMap (Ushahidi)

Create your own crisis maps.

www.crowdmap.com

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Crisis Cleanup

“Open Source Disaster Relief

Mapping and Work Coordination.”

www.crisiscleanup.org/

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Internet Response League

IRL enables and encourages

video gamers to support

response efforts by helping

organize and make actionable

the overwhelming amounts of

data generated by disasters.

www.internet-response-league.com/

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LanternLive

“Lantern Live is a mobile app that allows users

to report the operational status of local gas

stations, find fuel, and look up power outage

maps from local utilities, while also accessing

useful tips and guidelines.”

Google Play Store

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SMS

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Twilio Open Source SMS

“From emergency response to

community organization, Twilio built

the basic [SMS] communications apps

you need so you can spend less time

coding and more time making an

impact.”

Twilio Open Source Rapid Response Kit

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FrontlineSMS

“Frontline builds professional SMS

management tools that help you

reach more than 3 billion people

with the phone already in their

pocket.”

www.frontlinesms.com

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Open Data

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Open Humanitarian Initiative“OHI strives to revolutionize how

information is shared in humanitarian

response by engaging nongovernmental

organizations, academic institutions,

private sector technology companies,

donors and governments in a shared

vision that advocates for open data.”

www.ohi.nethope.org

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OnTheMap for EM

OnTheMap is a free public data tool from

the U.S. Census Bureau that provides an

intuitive web-based interface for

accessing U.S. population and workforce

statistics, in real time, for areas being

affected by natural disasters.

www.onthemap.ces.census.gov/em/

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ShakeMap/ShakeCast“ShakeMap and ShakeCast are post-

earthquake information tools for rapid

situational awareness, using data from

seismic monitoringsystems to help

emergency managers gauge an

earthquake’s impact and plan response

activities.”

www.earthquake.usgs.gov

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Humanitarian Data Exchange (HDX)

The Humanitarian Data

Exchange (HDX) makes

humanitarian data easy to find

and use for analysis.

www.data.hdx.rwlabs.org

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Disaster.Data.Gov

This portal features disaster-related datasets,

tools, and updates.

www.data.gov/disasters/

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Rx Open

Rx Open is an online tool that maps

the location of open pharmacies

during disasters using Google Maps,

and also shows which pharmacies are

closed and those whose status is

unknown.

www.rxopen.org

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Recommended Book

“This book charts the sudden and spectacular

rise of Digital Humanitarians by sharing their

remarkable, real-life stories, highlighting how

their humanity coupled with innovative

solutions to Big Data is changing humanitarian

response forever.”

Digital Humanitarians

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Thank You

Questions?

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