EAGER: Crowdsourced Decision Support for Emergency Responders

George Mason University, Fairfax VA

Investigators

Abstract

Real-time citizen interaction is transforming society's response to crisis situations. George Mason University (GMU) is working with MITRE Corporation to conduct the Citizen's Emergency Response Portal System (CERPS) Simulation Experiment (SIMEX), which is investigating the hypothesis that citizen participation in crisis response decision-making can improve crisis outcomes. The research is also establishing a baseline for future research to examine the factors leading to successful crisis outcomes and supporting the design of tools and processes for using crowdsoucing for crisis response. GMU student volunteers play the role of citizens impacted by the emergency. Participants use crowdsourcing technology to view a map depicting incident reports, send reports about their situation to the operations center, participate in Twitter-like message exchanges, and experience the unfolding situation through a simulated sensory environment. The experiment is measuring how citizen inputs contribute to crisis outcomes and generating a research agenda on crowdsourcing in decision support. Research questions include: (1) how to fuse citizen-provided information with other available information to compensate for biases and improve accuracy of situation assessment; (2) understanding the new planning space and designing new planning processes to capitalize on the benefits of crowdsourcing; and (3) how to provide timely and useful information to citizens while preventing panic and chaos. This research has potential for broader impact on society's ability to respond effectively and efficiently to disaster scenarios. The project lays a foundation for a program of research to address the effective use of citizen interaction for disaster response decision-making.