eTech: Disaster Tech: What is working and what is coming

Disaster Tech: What is working and what is coming
Jesse Robbins (O'Reilly Radar), Mikel Maron (Mapufacture)

Twitter and Google Maps are being used in mainstream emergency management, and projects like InSTEDD will push them even farther. This session shows you what is working, what isn’t, and what’s next in Disaster Tech.
...

pattern: disaster tech innovation
1. disaster
2. ad-hoc adaptation
3. championship
4. iterative improvement

<breathe>

- Katrina
jesse g robbins
worked with world shelters
was in hancock county Mississippi
all street signs were down, etc.
ad-hock adaptation: relied on google maps - bad because the main bridge was out

Jesse Robbins:
Problem: Google Maps isn't realtime
bridge out, then not
works with openstreet map (OSM) - uses RESTful interfaces
working with UNJLC
UN considering using OSM
lots of stuff done on the fly in disaster, tech needs to be able to rapidly adapt

San Diego fires:
- 900k evacuees
- 500k acres burned
- 1500 homes destroyed

phone went down, but SMS worked
Nate Ritter's Twitters, twitter.com/ritter
hashtags.org
ARC now using twitter twittger.com/redcross
Champion: InSTEDD - SMS ReoChat
twitter is a tool of first resort because it it there
InSTEDD, working with traditional Disaster Agencies to build new tools

Tsunami:
225k dead
Ad-Hoc Adapation:
JRC tsunami model
1. usgs georss earthquake feed
2. eu commission lightweight tsunami propagation model
3. georss polygons republished
Champion:
GDACS.org: global disaster alert & coordination
they went with GeoRSS as a solution
Iteration:
Pending.
- will it work and apply to publishing alerts

savings lives means losing lives
shouldn't be scared away by the fact you can't save everyone, must take risks

ANTI-Pattern:
the search for Jim Gray
Champion: none.
public now believes that this is easily repeatable
next iteration:
Steve Fossett search
- inadequate trainging
- many false positives
- people called SAR teams directly which hindered search (- no feedback to people when they submitted a 'hit')
- didn't have new and old imagery to compare
Maj Cynthia Ryan (air patrol) to paraphrase - this didn't work

need to actively learn lessons and apply them and create champions
New group stood up:
www.internetsar.org - helping with search and rescue on the internet
[email protected] - mike maron
[email protected] - jesse robins