Disaster informatics

^[1]Disaster informatics or crisis informatics is the study of the use of information and technology in the preparation, mitigation, response and recovery phases of disasters and other emergencies. Disaster informatics or emergency involves increased use of technology to depict how people can react to emergencies and other disasters that require fast improvements on recovery and preparedness.^[2] It began to emerge as a field after the successful use of a variety of technologies in disasters including the Asian tsunami, September 11th and Hurricane Katrina.

Disaster informatics may involve incorporating social media content generated by people in disaster zones into humanitarian response plans based on satellite imagery, early warning systems, and official emergency services procedures. Disaster informatics may involve crowdsourcing, data mining, participatory mapping or citizen science, with members of the public as 'everyday analysts'.^[3]

History

The term Informatics goes back to the 1960s rooting to medical informatics, this defines informatics as a discipline of science that researches the structure and regularities of scientific information. Subsequently, Informatics became reiterated as the broad range of informatics topics and various definitions between 1960-2000. Essentially, this indicates that Informatics is the study of identifying information with the application of information and communication technologies to manage data and analyze humans in a social context. ^[4]

Social informatics has grown tremendously over the past couple of decades, introduced as a stemming discipline to disaster informatics. In the late 1980's online systems became more networked and more portable for the emergence of innovation in information technology. As telecommunications grow globally, the spread of information and risks are very powerful resulting in disaster management.^[5] From the decade of 2000, informatics technologies have evolved and established disaster risk reduction technologies for advanced global disaster response.

The term Disaster informatics was first used in a request for proposal response by D. E. Yarrington after the WTC communications problems were revealed. Subsequently, in 2002, a grant proposal was submitted to the National Institutes of Health/National Library of Medicine to begin the formal study of disaster informatics as it related to public health. This initiative emerged from her library and information science work at Jackson State University.

Crowdsourcing and data mining

Crowdsourcing is the practice of obtaining an overview of all information surrounding a specific situation. Crowdsourcing consists of reviewing information and data by analyzing online communities and this can be done through analyzing social media platforms and other online networks.^[6] Crowdsourcing is a type of data analysis that is used in correspondence with the response mechanisms and mitigation exercises used to find ways to use technologies to react to emergencies efficiently and promptly.

Data methods and analysis

Technologies

Real-life scenarios

Current policy related to disaster informatics

References

^ "Empowering Humanitarian Response Through Crisis Informatics | NetHope". nethope.org. Retrieved 2024-09-19.
^ Murphy, Robin. "A National Initiative in Emergency Informatics" (PDF). Commuting Community Consortium. Version 1 (1): 1–8 – via Computing Research Association.
^ Palen, Leysia; et al. (2010). A vision for technology-mediated support for public participation & assistance in mass emergencies & disasters (PDF). Proceedings of ACM-BCS Visions of Computer Science 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 December 2013. Retrieved 19 August 2014.
^ Ogie, R. I.; Verstaevel, N. (2020-10-01). "Disaster informatics: An overview". Progress in Disaster Science. 7: 100111. doi:10.1016/j.pdisas.2020.100111. ISSN 2590-0617.
^ Stephenson, R.; Anderson, P. S. (December 1997). "Disasters and the information technology revolution". Disasters. 21 (4): 305–334. doi:10.1111/1467-7717.00065. ISSN 0361-3666. PMID 9455005.
^ Reuter, Christian; Kaufhold, Marc‐André (March 2018). "Fifteen years of social media in emergencies: A retrospective review and future directions for crisis Informatics". Journal of Contingencies and Crisis Management. 26 (1): 41–57. doi:10.1111/1468-5973.12196. ISSN 0966-0879.

External links

Crisis Informatics - University of Colorado

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[1] "Empowering Humanitarian Response Through Crisis Informatics | NetHope". nethope.org. Retrieved 2024-09-19.

[2] Murphy, Robin. "A National Initiative in Emergency Informatics" (PDF). Commuting Community Consortium. Version 1 (1): 1–8 – via Computing Research Association.

[3] Palen, Leysia; et al. (2010). A vision for technology-mediated support for public participation & assistance in mass emergencies & disasters (PDF). Proceedings of ACM-BCS Visions of Computer Science 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 December 2013. Retrieved 19 August 2014.

[4] Ogie, R. I.; Verstaevel, N. (2020-10-01). "Disaster informatics: An overview". Progress in Disaster Science. 7: 100111. doi:10.1016/j.pdisas.2020.100111. ISSN 2590-0617.

[5] Stephenson, R.; Anderson, P. S. (December 1997). "Disasters and the information technology revolution". Disasters. 21 (4): 305–334. doi:10.1111/1467-7717.00065. ISSN 0361-3666. PMID 9455005.

[6] Reuter, Christian; Kaufhold, Marc‐André (March 2018). "Fifteen years of social media in emergencies: A retrospective review and future directions for crisis Informatics". Journal of Contingencies and Crisis Management. 26 (1): 41–57. doi:10.1111/1468-5973.12196. ISSN 0966-0879.

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