using cloud based information in disasters
DESCRIPTION
What role does social media play in international disaster response operations? The presentation focuses on Haiti and the Red Cross Red Crescent.TRANSCRIPT
International Federationof Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies
Cloud based information in
natural disastersTimo Luege, IFRC
twitter: @timolue
Dublin, 16. November 2011
Imagine your life suddenly changes from …
this …
to this …
this …
or this.
Imagine you live here …
and the cloud …
looks like this.
How would you send and receive information?
In country
From the country
About the country/disaster
In country
Mobile phones
6 million SMS sent during 7 days disaster preparedness campaign
1.1 million "early warning" SMS ahead of hurricane Tomas
Cholera: 2.1 million public health SMS sent
Tens of thousands of phone calls to free Red Cross hotline
Huge potential for crowdsourced damage assessment.
The likelihood that you will receive information depends on the infrastructure.
The challenges stay the same.
Relevance Is it actionable?
Verification and authentification Is it true?
Duplication Has this already been dealt with?
Access Do the most vulnerable have the
tools? Expectation management
Expectations (in the USA) 69 % say emergency responders should
monitor social media sites.
Nearly half think they are already doing so.
Three quarters expect to receive help within one hour of posting a distress call on Twitter or Facebook.
From the country
Exception: photos!
About the country/disaster
Due to 24 hour cable news and social networking sites news of the earthquake spread rapidly.
Traditional fundraising
Fundraisingtoday
From 12 – 14 January there were 2.3 million tweets about “Haiti” and the “Red Cross,” of which 59 per cent were retweets.
Hurricane Katrina: 120,000 US dollars via SMS
Haiti: 32 millionUS dollars via SMS
How important
… is the cloud?
Convergenceis the key
In disaster zone: Big potential for assessments
From the disaster zone:Can be useful in addition to existing information channels
About the disaster:Raises awareness and funds
International Federationof Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies
Thank you
Dublin, 16. November 2011
Timo Luege, IFRC
twitter: @timolue