The contemporary world is characterized by the massive use of digital communication platforms and services that allow people to stay in touch with each other and their organizations. On the other hand, it is also a world with great challenges in terms of crisis, disaster, and emergency situations of various kinds. Thus, it is crucial to understand the role of digital platforms/services in the context of crisis, disaster, and emergency situations. Digital Services in Crisis, Disaster, and Emergency Situations presents recent studies on crisis, disaster, and emergency situations in which digital technologies are considered as a key mediator. Featuring multi- and interdisciplinary research findings, this comprehensive reference work highlights the relevance of society’s digitization and its usefulness and contribution to the different phases and types of risk scenarios. Thus, the book investigates the design of digital services that are specifically developed for use in crisis situations and examines services such as online social networks that can be used for communication purposes in emergency events. Highlighting themes that include crisis management communication, risk monitoring, digital crisis intervention, and smartphone applications, this book is of particular use to governments, institutions, corporations, and professionals who deal with crisis, disaster, and emergency scenarios, as well as researchers, academicians, and students working in fields such as communications, multimedia, sociology, political science, and engineering.

"This book presents recent studies on crisis, disaster and emergency situations in which digital technologies are considered as a key communication element"--

This book explores the management of information in crises, particularly the interconnectedness of information, people, and technologies during crises. Natural disasters, such as the Haiti earthquake and Hurricane Katrina, and 9/11 and human-made crises, such as the recent political disruption in North Africa and the Middle East, have demonstrated that there is a great need to understand how individuals, government, and non-government agencies create, access, organize, communicate, and disseminate information within communities during crisis situations. This edited book brings together papers written by researchers and practitioners from a variety of information perspectives in crisis preparedness, response and recovery. Edited by the author who coined the term crisis informatics Provides new technological insights into crisis management information Contributors are from information science, information management, applied information technology, informatics, computer science, telecommunications, and libraries

Using Social and Information Technologies for Disaster and Crisis Management highlights examples of disaster situations in recent years in which social and information technologies were useful in distributing and receiving information updates. This comprehensive collection brings together research for practitioners and researchers interested in the uses of information technology in crisis management.

Social media is invaluable during crises like natural disasters, but difficult to analyze. This book shows how computer science can help.

Although recent global disasters have clearly demonstrated the power of social media to communicate critical information in real-time, its true potential has yet to be unleashed. Social Media, Crisis Communication, and Emergency Management: Leveraging Web 2.0 Technologies teaches emergency management professionals how to use social media to improve emergency planning, preparedness, and response capabilities. It provides a set of guidelines and safe practices for using social media effectively across a range of emergency management applications. Explaining how emergency management agencies can take advantage of the extended reach these technologies offer, the book supplies cutting-edge methods for leveraging these technologies to manage information more efficiently, reduce information overload, inform the public, and ultimately save lives. Filled with real-world examples and case studies, it is an ideal self-study resource. Its easy-to-navigate structure and numerous exercises also make it suitable for courses at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. From crowdsourcing and digital volunteers to mapping and collective intelligence, Social Media, Crisis Communication, and Emergency Management: Leveraging Web 2.0 Technologies facilitates a clear understanding of the essential principles of social media. Each chapter includes an example of a local-level practitioner, organization, or agency using social media that demonstrates the transformative power of social media in the real world. The book also includes numerous exercises that supply readers with models for building their own social media sites and groups—making it a must-read for anyone who wants to learn more about the communication and information structures supported by social media. Visit the author’s homepage: http://sites.google.com/site/conniemwhite/Home

This workshop summary was produced in the course of a broader study that is exploring how information technology research can foster new and improved government services, operations, and interactions with citizens. This workshop summary examines how this technology can contribute to more-effective response and recovery efforts to crises such as natural disasters or terrorist attacks, as well as to mitigation and preparedness in order to reduce the impact of these events.