EVENT - Connecting Grassroots to Government for Disaster Management: A Policy Roundtable

On behalf of the Commons Lab of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars (The Wilson Center), the National Alliance for Public Safety GIS Foundation, the International Association for Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management, ESRI, TechChange, NetHope, and Project EPIC, we are honored to invite you to participate in a LIVE WEBCAST of the policy roundtable “Connecting Grassroots to Government for Disaster Management."

Live Webcast

Unfortunately, the workshop itself is now full, but we will be making the majority of the panel discussions available live over the web from this Wilson Center webpage on: 

• Thursday, September 13^th from 8:30 AM to 5:35 PM Eastern, and
• Friday, September 14 from 9:30 AM to 3:00 PM Eastern

Click here and scroll to the bottom of the page to download copies of the agenda and background materials.

Abstract

By harnessing the collective power of citizens and engaging communities in their own response and recovery, new technologies and methods, like social media, crowdsourcing, and “crowd-mapping,” have the potential to transform disaster management. Yet many challenges – including characterization of reliability, guidelines for use, and demonstration of value – must be addressed before federal agencies can take full advantage of these approaches. Early uses of social media and crowdsourcing methods in disasters have raised a number of questions: Can citizens generate inputs to critical decisions faster and perhaps more accurately than traditional methods? What is the research telling us, and how are the best ideas being translated into practice? How have agencies successfully navigated potential roadblocks to the use of citizen-generated information, such as privacy and procurement or the Paperwork Reduction Act? When and how is it possible to innovate through open and participatory design with citizens and communities? This event will bring together members of the research, practitioner, policy, and “digital volunteer” communities to discuss the questions posed above and expand the list, as needed. The objectives are to build a community of interest, prioritize key issues, and identify possible solutions.

Go to:

Webcast Day 1: Connecting Grassroots to Government for Disaster Management: A Policy Roundtable

Webcast Day 2: Connecting Grassroots to Government for Disaster Management: A Policy Roundtable