2011 Social Media + Emergency Management Camp: Transforming the Response Enterprise

Authors: Clarence Wardell III and Yee San Su, CNA. Editors: Lea Shanley and Aaron Lovell, Commons Lab, Science and Technology Innovation Program, Woodrow Wilson Center. Written and published with the support of CNA, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, CrisisCommons, and the Wilson Center.

By harnessing the collective power of citizens and engaging communities in their own response and recovery, social media have the power to revolutionize emergency management. Yet, many challenges—including guidelines for use by response agencies, demonstration of value, and characterization of reliability—must be addressed if the potential of social media is to be fully realized in emergency response and relief efforts in the United States.

CrisisCommons and SMEM Initiative communities provided active feedback and support throughout the process, and the Commons Lab of the Science and Technology Innovation Program of the Woodrow Wilson Center of Scholars in Washington, D.C., reporting on the policy break-out session, providing feedback, helping with the editing and printing of he report, and supporting the report rollout event.