[Air-L] call for papers: SMERST 2013: Social Media and Semantic Technologies in Emergency Response

[Roser Beneito Montagut]

*SMERST 2013: Social Media and Semantic Technologies in Emergency Response *

*15-16 April 2013, University of Warwick, Coventry, United Kingdom
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*http://www.disaster20.eu/smerst2013<https://mail.aston.ac.uk/owa/redir.aspx?C=bHiVPvfy106jX4zFM5k7rfA_5voCm88I4W0_FZ9iOLZ5_k5orIXYlBevoxeit7OFyp78bFmZSzA.&URL=http%3a%2f%2fwww.disaster20.eu%2fsmerst2013%2f>
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This conference aims to bring together researchers and practitioners in
Emergency Response and Humanitarian Disasters who are interested in Social
Media and/or Semantic Technologies. We seek both academic studies as well
as practical applications and use cases across both areas of interest.

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*Social Media: *The last few years have seen an explosive growth in the use
of social media in all kinds  of disasters (Fukushima, Australian Floods,
Haiti, to name but a few). Most recently and dramatically has been the use
of social media as well as a wide collection of Web 2.0 systems in the
response to Hurricane Sandy. While a great deal has already been written on
the use of social media in disasters and emergencies there is a continuous
flow of new developments, further creative ways that people are using these
technologies to help themselves in disasters. Equally, there is a growing
use by emergency managers of social media to communicate in real time with
the public and in some cases to establish two way dialogues. There is still
much to be learnt in terms of best practice and in terms of the
effectiveness both for authorities and the public in using these
technologies. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to the
following:



   - The use of social media technologies to communicate and engage with
   the public during a disaster, including case studies on the use of these
   technologies for responding to emergencies and disasters
   - Building resilience and protecting critical infrastructure through
   social media
   - Qualitative and quantitative studies on the use of social media for
   responding to emergencies and disasters
   - Understanding trust and the veracity of communication using social
   media
   - Policies and guidelines for the use of social media technologies for
   responding to emergencies and disasters
   - The barriers to adoption of new technologies for responding to
   emergencies and disasters
   - The potential for Web 2.0 technologies to support disaster and
   emergency response

*Semantic Web and Structured Data: *The explosion of data in semantic web
formats since the introduction of the Linked Data principles, and the
corresponding growth of open data initiatives in the UK, US and now in many
other countries both point to an opportunity for emergency and disaster
systems to be built which integrate structured data, build on semantic
technologies and provide new services for emergencies and disasters. Data
silos currently exist between organisations who share responsibility for
emergency response and the opportunity now arises to reduce these barriers
in view of the technologies available. Topics of interest include, but are
not limited to the following:



   - System Interoperability:
      - the use of open source software, including the compatibility of
      different systems
   - Data interoperability:
      - exchange and sharing of information between organisations
   - Ontologies and schemas:
      - modelling of the disaster domain
      - ontology-based data integration of heterogeneous data
      - evaluation of ontologies for disasters and emergency response
   - Data Sets for emergencies and disasters
      - Data set requirements and practical experiences
      - Linked open data design.
   - The use of Geodata:
      - use of OpenStreetMap
      - use of LinkedGeoData
      - Other Geodata and related applications

*Key Dates*

   - Academic papers* – 20 January 2013*
   - Practical applications and use cases* – 27 January 2013*
   - Decision for acceptance* – 20 February 2013*



Roser

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Dr. Roser Beneito-Montagut
D2.0 Research Fellow
Aston Business School
Aston University
Birmingham

http://www.disaster20.eu/<https://mail.aston.ac.uk/owa/redir.aspx?C=bHiVPvfy106jX4zFM5k7rfA_5voCm88I4W0_FZ9iOLZ5_k5orIXYlBevoxeit7OFyp78bFmZSzA.&URL=http%3a%2f%2fwww.disaster20.eu%2f>
twitter: @roserrr

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