Social media and semantic technologies in emergency response (SMERST 2013)

This conference aims to bring together researchers and practitioners in Emergency Response and Humanitarian Disasters who are interested in Social Media and/or Semantic Technologies. We seek both academic studies as well as practical applications and use cases across both areas of interest.

The last few years have seen an explosive growth in the use of social media in all kinds of disasters (Fukushima, Australian Floods, Haiti, to name but a few). Most recently and dramatically has been the use of social media as well as a wide collection of Web 2.0 systems in the response to Hurricane Sandy. While a great deal has already been written on the use of social media in disasters and emergencies there is a continuous flow of new developments, further creative ways that people are using these technologies to help themselves in disasters. Equally, there is a growing use by emergency managers of social media to communicate in real time with the public and in some cases to establish two way dialogues. There is still much to be learnt in terms of best practice and in terms of the effectiveness both for authorities and the public in using these technologies.

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to the following:

• The use of social media technologies to communicate and engage with the public during a disaster, including case studies on the use of these technologies for responding to emergencies and disasters.
• Building resilience and protecting critical infrastructure through social media
• Qualitative and quantitative studies on the use of social media for responding to emergencies and disasters.
• Understanding trust and the veracity of communication using social media
• Policies and guidelines for the use of social media technologies for responding to emergencies and disasters.
• The barriers to adoption of new technologies for responding to emergencies and disasters.
• The potential for Web 2.0 technologies to support disaster and emergency response.
• The use of Geodata:
• use of OpenStreetMap
• use of LinkedGeoData
• Other Geodata and related applications

How to register

Register online.