How Publicly Available Information Can Help Stop Fires Spreading Out of Control (on the Internet)

During a recent high school fire, it was interesting to see how social media played a part where citizen journalists were posting information that was being picked up by mainstream media and agencies responsible.

Social media users were updated in real-time as students and bystanders gave live updates of the blaze as-it-happened, including photo and video footage.

First responders had been alerted, so posts on social media were further informing the emergency response for increased situational awareness. Posts were also providing updates to the public at the speed of the Internet, however, these important announcements could well have been spreading misinformation.

Photo and video footage is not only useful for pinpointing where the blaze started, but also as future reference.

Attempts at pinpointing the fire's location played out online – some accurate and some not:

There is a lot of information flowing online every time a disaster happens, and it is critical to make sure you are aware of what is happening. What is your team doing to follow it?

Tsunami Threat Highlights the No. 1 Issue for Disaster Response Units

During the tsunami warning  that hit Japan in November 2016, the top issue facing disaster response teams was  (surprisingly) having to manage the impact of social media trolls. These trolls were masquerading footage from the 2011 disaster as if it was real-time, creating confusion within the online community.

Misinformation is not just a problem for Japan. New Zealand has had similar struggles surrounding tsunami warnings issued after a significant earthquake hit the country earlier in the same month and Australian emergency management teams also have combating trolls as a top priority.

One NZ  Signal customer told us:

“Monitoring social media during emergencies such as a tsunami threat is important in order to obtain critical information, identify potential impacts and limit the spread of misinformation. This helps us respond to emergencies more effectively.”

Another from Australia said:

"Signal has been used to investigate fires when we weren’t quite sure what the exact location was. It has allowed us to debunk new footage from the old and clarify misinformation surrounding the location of fires."

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How do you spot Trolls in a sea of information?

Running a search on the tsunami warning in Japan to showed how open source intelligence can be used to stop the spread of misinformation and trolling when natural disasters strike.

Over 500,000 mentions found:

• 283,246 tsunami-related mentions in 24 hours. (Source: Signal)
• 303,512 posts tagged with #tsunami hashtag (Source: Signal)

How do you cope?

As you can see, it would be impossible for a even a large disaster response team to sift through over 500,000 mentions during a 24 hour period, and accurately identify and act upon trolls and misinformation.

However, with the right software you can automate a number of tasks to make this task manageable and efficient, allowing your teams the time to concentrate on saving lives.

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What does this trolling look like?

Here are some of the examples of misinformation during the recent Tsunami warning:

Is your team doing all it can for public safety?

You need to have your eye on the internet to effectively put Trolls in their place while stopping and preventing the spread of misinformation.

To see how Signal can help you, watch the short demo or request a full demo from one of our team.

8 Use Cases for Social Media During a Hurricane

During Hurricane Sandy, more than 20+ million tweets were posted about the disaster.

iRevolutions calculates that "Even if only 0.001% of these tweets were useful, and only half of these were accurate, this would still mean over 1,000 real-time and informative tweets, or some 15,000 words. That is the equivalent of a 25-page, single-space document exclusively composed of fully relevant, actionable intelligence.”

So, how can monitoring social media data help during a hurricane?

Technology: What public safety can learn from the NFL

The NFL were crunching stats before the buzz phrase “Big Data” even existed (think the film, Moneyball).

From installing RFID data sensors in players’ shoulder pads and NFL arenas, to using statistics to gauge the success of specific plays, the NFL are ahead of the game when it comes to implementing new technology. It doesn’t stop there. In the 2014 Pro Bowl, sensor-fitted footballs measured precisely how far they were thrown. The data being collected from these initiatives is staggering, and the influence it will have on both the game and the industry is still yet to be determined. Areas like instant replay and digital content – and how fans interact with it all – are part of the package.

So what can public safety learn from the NFL?


1. Hire the right people

In a bid to change with the times, the NFL appointed Michelle McKenna-Doyle as Chief Information Officer. 

She says “If you look at how the game was played 10 years ago and how it’s played today, it’s evolved and changed … There’s a merger happening between the evolution of technology and the evolution of the game. It’s a very exciting time to be at the NFL.”

CIO is a position that has grown in importance and scope over the last few years. “Companies are hiring for the skills of a strategist, marketer and brainstormer as much as, if not more than, a tech wiz. And that’s reshaping the power dynamic, and salary structure, in executive suites across corporate America.” says the Washington Post.

2. Capture data for better tactical operations & decision-making

According to InformationWeek, “Officiating is a hot button issue for the NFL, and complaints have even crashed the league’s voicemail and email systems, McKenna-Doyle admits. The NFL has just voted in a new system that will instantly upload replays from all angles to league headquarters in New York, where central command will help on field officials make the right calls. The cloud technology required to process and transmit all this information in a timely way was either not available or not cost effective just a few years ago, she said.”

Capture and analyse data in a way that allows you to make ‘better calls’. Utilise data for actionable insights and incorporate these insights into day-to-day operations.

Public safety has its own set of sensors, such as aerial and body cameras, bringing in hoards of data every day … not to mention the ocean of Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) available online. Reference geolocated data for maximum situational awareness and understanding of what is happening in real-time.

 

3. Choose interoperability over rivalry

Put inter-departmental rivalries aside to share resources for the betterment of all.

All NFL teams, regardless of rivalries, have their data centralised into a statistical database that covers every game, every player, and every play in the history of professional football, complete with linked video footage (you can click on any stat and see the related play). Rather than focusing on boosting individual teams, the NFL is utilising this shared data and information to focus on what’s best for fans’ overall experience.

Public safety agencies can follow suit by sharing data between departments and agencies, as appropriate.

A congressional report released in 2015 suggested that public safety agencies were improving how they shared information in the wake of the Boston Marathon bombings. But it goes on to imply that stronger improvements need to be made in order to prevent further attacks.

“The threat to the homeland from abroad and from homegrown self-inspired radicals calls for agility, and strengthening the web of relationships that exists between state, local and federal partners to form a nationwide enterprise where state and locals collaborate and complement federal counterterrorism capacity,” the report says.

Signal encourages interoperability by allowing multiple users to interact via sharing flagged content and setting up alerts for one and other.