Web 2.0 Disaster Relief Effort

September 13, 2005 7:24 AM

Apparently there is an effort to rethink the role of the internet (and other communications technologies) in disaster relief. The idea is that a well-thought out information consodlidation and distribution would not require government and could be done cheaply and rapidly. Does anyone know more about this and where I could go to help? I believe there may even be a conference later this year.
posted by kingfisher, his musclebound cat to Computers & Internet (5 answers total)

Response by poster: Well one example would be missing persons. Currently there are multiple lists and no data standard. So you would want a way for people to go to any site enter their information, and be assured someone on another site could search it.
Right now there are multiple sites with multiple lists and no easy way to consolidate that data.
posted by kingfisher, his musclebound cat at 7:38 AM on September 13, 2005

Response by poster: I see where you're coming from, but I think of a bureaucracy as a set of departments and behaviors to control the exchange and processing of information within an institution (and perhaps among set institutions). Interestingly enough a lot of what we take to be bureaucracy arose around railroads and the need to regulate traffic and prevent accidents.
This is more a case of individuals and small entities all wanting to help but having no standards to ensure the best possible exchange of information. So there is a parallel to bureaucracy, but in the context of rapidly exhanged and processable data.
posted by kingfisher, his musclebound cat at 8:02 AM on September 13, 2005

Response by poster: and once I get the answer maybe I will make an FPP
posted by kingfisher, his musclebound cat at 8:03 AM on September 13, 2005

Another problem with the missing persons lists is that most of them were filled out when people were in shelters over a week ago. Hopefully they have moved to more transitional housing at this point, or are being reunited with family in other locations. Some way to keep track of that. Or, some sort of non-internet based way to contact people once they move on. I know many were being given free voicemail, both here in Dallas and in Houston, but those plans came into place a couple of days later than would have been ideal.

I'm also interested in more about this conference.
posted by LeiaS at 8:08 AM on September 13, 2005

Response by poster: OK. This is kind of sad, but I answered my own question. I suddenly remembered I heard about this on "On the Media"

Lots of info here:
Early proposal on buzzmachine

On the Media
posted by kingfisher, his musclebound cat at 8:15 AM on September 13, 2005