Sociala media and emergency response

The project will examine how information in social media can be used by agencies and organizations in emergency situations, accidents and emergencies, with focus on the pre-hospital care. Two specific challenges are identified:

• How can organizations detect and analyze data from a multitude of people to better understand what happened?
• How can organizations detect and verify information from a few individuals during small, critical events to initiate emergency response?

Work will include include mapping of past events where social media played a central role. Interviews will be conducted with managers, communicators and officers about their views on the challenges and opportunities of social media in emergencies. The results will be presented in a final report and a workshop in June 2012.

Status: Ongoing
Working partners: University of Gothenburg, Chalmers Chalmers University of Technology business experts from SOS Alarm and the Regions.
Schedule: 01/01/2012 to 30/06/2012