The Computer Science and Telecommunications Board (CSTB) of the National Academies will be holding a workshop to examine current knowledge and research on social media's role in alerts, warnings, and crisis.  The workshop, organized by the National Academies, is sponsored by the Department of Homeland Security's Science and Technology Division. The workshop will take place February 28-29 at the National Academy of Sciences’ Beckman Center in Irvine, California

Participants in this event will include researchers and practitioners in the fields of risk communication, public response to emergencies, alerts and warning systems, emergency management, and mobile device communication.

Click here for a draft workshop agenda.

For those unable to attend the workshop in person, you can listen to the presentations by dialing 216.703.7052 and enter access code 3625599. 

Registration Fee

In order to make maximum use of time during the workshop, we have arranged for breakfast, lunch, and break snacks to be provided each day at the Beckman Conference Center. However, due to an efficiency initiative of the workshop's sponsor, DHS, we will be unable to directly pay for food served during the workshop.  As a result, we will be asking all attendees to pay a meals charge of $71.68 ( $36.33 if attending a single day) when they register for the workshop, and will provide a receipt detailing expenses.

However, consistent with federal travel regulations, we can reimburse you after the meeting for these meal costs provided you are in "travel status"-- more than 35 miles from your home or office for more than 12 hours.  A travel expense report will be sent to you after the meeting that you can use to request for reimbursement for the meal costs. (Note: Unfortunately, we can only reimburse participants for these meal costs at the Beckman Center paid through this registration site. We do not have the funds to cover other travel expenses, such as hotel, airfare, or car rental).

Background Information

Although alert and warning issues have been extensively studied for some time, relatively less is known about the opportunities and challenges associated with using social media to provide alerts and warning as well as gathering information from the various social media platforms.

Topics to be considered in the workshop include the following:

·     What is known about public response to warnings and alerts? What gaps exist in our knowledge about public response? How much of this knowledge applies to the use of social media during a crisis?

·    How will social media fit into the broader context of alerts and warnings?

·    What are best practices for collecting and analyzing social media data to create situational awareness?

·    What is the responsibility of the social media providers to work with EM in ensuring messages are sent? Are there design decisions that can be made that assist emergency managers during a crisis?

·    In the context of social media, what motivates people to participate in knowledge sharing? What drives self-organizing? What mechanisms exist for self-correction of information?

·    What are the personal privacy implications (perceived or otherwise) that arise from government or other disaster response organizations monitoring of social media?

Workshop Goals:

The materials developed in the workshop and presented in the report will contribute to a better understanding of the current state of research into public response to alerts and warnings with a specific focus on social media, an understanding of the gaps in current research, and an identified pool of experts in the field of alerts and warnings. A summary of the workshop will be prepared and published by National Academies Press.