Lise Ann St. Denis, & Amanda Hughes. (2018). Crisis Cleanup: Creating a Virtual Command Post to Support Relief Organizations on the Ground. In Kees Boersma, & Brian Tomaszeski (Eds.), ISCRAM 2018 Conference Proceedings – 15th International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management (pp. 935–941). Rochester, NY (USA): Rochester Institute of Technology.
Abstract: We report on an initial assessment of a grassroots tool developed within the Volunteer Organizations Active in Disaster (VOAD) community to support the coordination of efforts between the diverse network of relief organizations on the ground following a disaster. We look first at the problems that led to its development and the volunteer principles embodied in the tool. We then present an overview of the primary workflows and processes used to capture and manage work orders within this system. We discuss some of the benefits of centralized coordination of work across this network, opportunities for future growth, and some of the barriers that are inhibiting further growth of this tool. Finally, we conclude with opportunities for future research.
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Amanda Hughes, Keri Stephens, Steve Peterson, Hemant Purohit, Anastazja G. Harris, Yasas Senarath, et al. (2022). Human-AI Teaming for COVID-19 Response: A Practice & Research Collaboration Case Study. In Rob Grace, & Hossein Baharmand (Eds.), ISCRAM 2022 Conference Proceedings – 19th International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management (pp. 1048–1057). Tarbes, France.
Abstract: Practice and research collaborations in the disaster domain have the potential to improve emergency management practices while also advancing disaster science theory. However, they also pose challenges as practitioners and researchers each have their own culture, history, values, incentives, and processes that do not always facilitate collaboration. In this paper, we reflect on a 6-month practice and research collaboration, where researchers and practitioners worked together to craft a social media monitoring system for emergency managers in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The challenges we encountered in this project fall into two broad categories, job-related and timescale challenges. Using prior research on team science as a guide, we discuss several challenges we encountered in these two categories and show how our team sought to overcome them. We conclude with a set of best practices for improving practice and research collaborations.
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Amanda Hughes, Fiona McNeill, & Christopher W. Zobel. (2020). 17th ISCRAM Conference Proceedings. Blacksburg, VA (USA): Virginia Tech.
Abstract: The 17th annual conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management (ISCRAM 2020) was scheduled to be held in Blacksburg, Virginia from May 24th-27th, 2020. Unfortunately, due to the widespread impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, the conference organizers and the ISCRAM Board decided to postpone the conference until May 2021. Even though we could not hold the conference as originally planned, all papers accepted for presentation at ISCRAM 2020 are published in the conference proceedings presented here, and the authors of these papers will have the opportunity to present their papers at the 2021 conference. The 2021 conference will once again be hosted at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia, and it will take place during the week of May 23rd, 2021.
The theme of ISCRAM 2020 is �Bringing Disaster Resilience into Focus.� These proceedings seek to highlight resilience in Crisis and Emergency Management and to stimulate discussions that enable the design of crisis and emergency management systems that contribute to more resilient organizations and communities. We are pleased to present the accepted papers for ISCRAM 2020, which consist of excellent contributions on a wide range of topics.
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Apoorva Chauhan, & Amanda Hughes. (2021). COVID-19 Named Resources on Facebook, Twitter, and Reddit. In Anouck Adrot, Rob Grace, Kathleen Moore, & Christopher W. Zobel (Eds.), ISCRAM 2021 Conference Proceedings – 18th International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management (pp. 679–690). Blacksburg, VA (USA): Virginia Tech.
Abstract: Crisis Named Resources (CNRs) are social media accounts and pages named after a crisis event. They are created soon after an event occurs. CNRs share a lot of information around an event and are followed by many. In this study, we identify CNRs created around COVID-19 on Facebook, Twitter, and Reddit. We analyze when these resources were created, why they were created, how they were received by members of the public, and who created them. We conclude by comparing CNRs created around COVID-19 with past crisis events and discuss how CNR owners attempt to manage content and combat misinformation.
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Starr Roxanne Hiltz, Amanda Hughes, Muhammad Imran, Linda Plotnick, Robert Power, & Murray Turoff. (2019). Requirements for Software to Support the use of Social Media in Emergency Management: A Delphi Study. In Z. Franco, J. J. González, & J. H. Canós (Eds.), Proceedings of the 16th International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response And Management. Valencia, Spain: Iscram.
Abstract: Social Media contain a wealth of information that could improve the situational awareness of Emergency Managers during a crisis, but many barriers stand in the way. These include information overload, making it impossible to deal with the flood of raw posts, and lack of trust in unverified crowdsourced data. The purpose of this project is to build a communications bridge between emergency responders and technologists who can provide the advances needed to realize social media?s full potential. We are employing a Delphi study survey design, which is a technique for exploring and developing consensus among a group of experts around a particular topic. Participants include emergency managers and technologists with experience in software to support the use of social media in crisis response, from many countries. The topics of the study are described and preliminary, partial results presented for Round 1 of the study, based on 33 responses.
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Steve Peterson, Keri Stephens, Hemant Purohit, & Amanda Hughes. (2019). When Official Systems Overload: A Framework for Finding Social Media Calls for Help during Evacuations. In Z. Franco, J. J. González, & J. H. Canós (Eds.), Proceedings of the 16th International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response And Management. Valencia, Spain: Iscram.
Abstract: During large-scale disasters it is not uncommon for Public Safety Answering Points (e.g., 9-1-1) to encounter
service disruptions or become overloaded due to call volume. As observed in the two past United States hurricane
seasons, citizens are increasingly turning to social media whether as a consequence of their inability to reach
9-1-1, or as a preferential means of communications. Relying on past research that has examined social media
use in disasters, combined with the practical knowledge of the first-hand disaster response experiences, this paper
develops a knowledge-driven framework containing parameters useful in identifying patterns of shared
information on social media when citizens need help. This effort explores the feasibility of determining
differences, similarities, common themes, and time-specific discoveries of social media calls for help associated
with hurricane evacuations. At a future date, validation of this framework will be demonstrated using datasets
from multiple disasters. The results will lead to recommendations on how the framework can be modified to make
it applicable as a generic disaster-type characterization tool.
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