Debunking #smem myths and the future of digital volunteers in EM

I usually give people the benefit of the doubt. I assume that most professionals know what they are talking about. Sadly, that's not always the case. 

Here's an example: 

Virtual EOC @VirtualEOC

Reliance on volunteers has become a fatal flaw in the evolution of the #VOST concept. #smem

The logic (or lack thereof) totally escapes me in that tweet. The whole point of the VOST concept is to offer surge capability to EOCs and municipal EM agencies. Most (if not all), have no ability to efficiently monitor social media during incidents/emergencies. 

Here's more from their misguided interpretation of the role of digital volunteers: 

Virtual EOC @VirtualEOC

Defined partnerships & service agreements btwn professionalized orgs can reap benefits of #VOST model w/o risks that come with volunteers

Again, my counter-argument is based no the capability factor but also on the implied notion that "only" professionals should get involved in emergencies. That's pure BS ... doesn't correspond with today's reality ... and is a remnant of a long-ago discredited notion that the only people who belong at the EM table (or in the EOC) are first responders, municipal or other government officials, etc. 

Well, in fact, anyone with a stake in dealing with an emergency belongs in the EM sphere: private sectors, NGOs and now, digital volunteers ... and citizens who contribute by sharing how a disaster is impacting them.

Virtual EOC @VirtualEOC

Trust, authority & clearly defined responsibilities are key to any extension of EOC functions outside the traditional EOC.

Trust and authority are growing in the digital volunteer world. Organizations (from UNOCHA and other UN agencies), to FEMA and US government agencies and now in Canada ... all acknowledge the contribution of digivols. It's simple ... virtual volunteers are motivated, they care, they are tech savvy and offer expertise that is often terribly absent from the official realm. 

Virtual EOC @VirtualEOC

#SMEM should be considered a mission-critical element of EOC information management. Yet SMEM still a hard sell to many EMDs.

I agree with the first part of that statement. As for the second part, that's changing as the recent #dvsroe/#cause3 experiment showed. And that applies for the growing number of VOSTs around the world and certainly to our own CanVOST north of the border.

Virtual EOC @VirtualEOC

#VOST built on volunteer corps has a hobbyist sensibility that justifiably makes many EMDs & PIOs nervous.

 

Here's the proof that whoever is behind the @virtualEOC account knows little about digivols ... a great many VOST members are actually professional emergency managers. 

The creators of the concept (Hello Jeff, Scott, Cheryl and all the others) are top notch EM people in their own right ... CanVOST itself includes professional EM, first responders and other municipal officials ... 

Hobbyists my ass ! We do it because we care and because we saw a gap in our collective response capabilities ... something that the "professional establishment" didn't foresee or even realized.

Virtual EOC @VirtualEOC

Expanded EOC #smem capability could be a #VOST-like, distributed solution that relies on nwk of professionals functioning in partnered orgs.

 

Virtual EOC @VirtualEOC

Opportunities of #smem in EOCs justifies fully professionalized solution (with fallback to volunteer corps if needed for defence in depth).

 

Another illustration of their poor grasp of the technology front and expertise in most EOCs across the country (and I'm sure it applies to the US too) ... The simple fact is that there is very little capability in municipal (and even provincial) EOCs to effectively monitor social media during a large-scale (and small ones too ! ) emergencies. 

The networks already exist ...they're called VOSTs, or Standby Task Force, or any of the other excellent and dedicated groupings of digital volunteers ... What's needed in most EOCs is not to recreate what's already in existence ... but a greater openness and realization that IT"S NO LONGER YOUR EMERGENCY  ! ... 

We all have a role to play ... from witnesses who share pictures/videos/comments on social networks ... to digivols who monitor/aggregate/analyze social data to support efficient EOC decision-making ... to EM officials who realize the full benefits of having a firmer grasp of how an incident is evolving based on crowdsourcing.

What do you think ? 

 

#SMEM learnings from the Cause3 and DVSROE events of last week

A few days ago, I wrote about lessons learned specifically for Virtual Operational Support Teams (or VOST) during a large-scale bi-national Canada-US emergency management exercise. This was for a good reason since a great part of the event dealt with the role of digital volunteers. But there are lessons to be learned for the broader Social Media in Emergency Management (SMEM) sphere as well.

It's easy for those of us who have been promoting a greater use of socially-convergent tools in emergency management for a few years now, to forget that there are still many obstacles that remain before more widespread acceptance. In no particular order, here are some challenges that remain within the emergency management community, particularly for government.

1- most civil servants still don't have access to social networks (or have limited access), nor do they have access to monitoring platforms ... yep, five years after this issue should have been resolved ... it's still an obstacle. Some governments, like in the UK have a more progressive approach. Others (such as our federal government) while they profess openness ... are slow to adopt their own, less restrictive policies: 

Even with the above policy in place, there are still numerous public servants that don’t have access and numerous gate-keepers that could use an update on effective management of this area. (from Mike Kujawski's blog)

 This makes it hard to convince key senior and other officials that SM can be good if they're still prohibited (for whatever reasons) to access it themselves at work.

2- A correlation of the item above, for many, especially those in government agencies, social networks are still just one more one-way communications tools to TALK AT audiences ... instead of engaging in dialogue ... Far from there minds, is the NEED TO LISTEN. Hey folks ... the era of "message control" is over ... dead ... We're in an era of "message competition" where the need to get your message out there (via social networks and fast) using mobile devices ...is THE ONLY WAY you'll stay relevant.


3- That mistrust of social media carries into how digital volunteers and crowdsourced data are often viewed by EOCs and other official bodies. While many emergency management organizations have good relations with various VOSTs and international agencies often rely on digital volunteers who perform crisis mapping ... there's still some hesitation at the local level. That is strange ... because the same officials work hand-in-hand with ham radio operators and NGOs like the Red Cross ... most often volunteers themselves. 

The only solution more exposure to the benefits of #smem ... more training, more exercises like Cause3 and the DVSROE where the role of digital vols can be highlighted.

4- Another obstacle or excuse often heard: no validation of social data ... Well, that's changing ... Most VOSTs are getting pretty good at validating the results of their social listening activities. More and more tools are now available to do this quickly and efficiently. From TweetCred to Verily (@patrickmeier has been a pioneer in this effort). 



5- Crunching the data ... Big data is great ... just not in the EOC ... incident commanders and EOC managers need actionable info/intel to make better informed decisions about their response and allocation of strategic resources. All the crowdsourced data in the world is of no use if it doesn't fulfill that simple role. 


Whether it's crisis maps, or crowdsourced data gathered from a mobile app, the primary function is to add to the situational awareness of emergency managers and first responders. NO OTHER CRITERIA MATTERS. It's a simple as that. 

The truth is that social data visualization is the most important "social output" in the EOC. Making sense of the chatter is critical. Requirements are fairly common:

• validating an organization's emergency info
• detecting rumours that threaten public health or safety
• isolating and appropriately routing calls for help
• identifying reputational threat that can impede the response
• adding to the situational awareness

In the end, a simple report to command or the PIO (or anyone else in the EOC) might suffice. 

When technology surrounds us, when we still have to convince many in the EM community ... the low tech option often offers more bang for the buck.

Ebola, crisis communications and social networks ... diverging views

I've had the pleasure to work with a fantastic group of people at the Canadian CBRNE Collaborative. 

 Here's a little bit about what they're about:

This collaborative is for Health Care Providers professionals, learners and volunteers who may be called to assist in the event of a public health emergency due to a CBRNE event.

One of the collaborative’s goals is to transform the meaning of CBRNE. Why?  Those letters represent greater threats when natural and accidental events are included.

The collaborative has recently made available a series of webinars focused on everything from hospital preparedness (in dealing with possible Ebola cases), best practices on PPE, psycho-social casualties in CBRNE events and more. You can find the videos here.

I've worked on the communications aspect of CBRNE readiness focusing on crisis comms planning and the growing role of social networks. I'm extremely fortunate to have been able to bring into the conversation, two reputed crisis management experts: Melissa Agnes from Agnes + Day in Montreal ... and Gerald Baron from Agincourt Strategies in the US.

Those who read this blog know that I consider Melissa and Gerald among the top experts in the application of social convergence in crisis communications and friends/colleagues to boot ... 

My first conversation with Melissa Agnes focused on social networks as crisis management tools in the healthcare/public health sectors: 

 
The second conversation involved Gerald Baron and looked at ways of using rumours shared/transmitted via social networks to your advantage: 

In addition, a former CBC reporter did a fantastic webinar on crisis comms ... all about the age-old "who's in charge?" question and what makes a good spokesperson ...well worth watching ... 

Finally, I read a blog post which drew conclusions about the impact of social convergence (mobile tech + social networks) in the Ebola crisis that I completely disagree with. Here's an excerpt:

Most of these tweets are retweets of inaccurate information or intend on spreading fear. It has proved effective in doing so. So fearful, it has impacted the foreign policy of three nations that historically never cut off humanitarian aid; Australia, Israel, and Canada by halting all humanitarian operations and travel visas to and from the region.  

Really, those rumours on Twitter changed the foreign policy of three first-World countries? 

Here is another paragraph from the blog post ... I'm not quite sure where these conclusions come from ... when many indications are that tech tools such as What's App, SMS and social networks are being used effectively to combat rumours on Ebola ...

Social media is not read in West Africa. Little do they know, it is hurting the regions ability to recover with resources that traditionally send aid in times of need. Social Media is destroying humanitarian aid to all three nations affected.

While I certainly don't believe social convergence is a panacea for humanity's troubles during uncertain times and in disasters ... I do know that mobile devices and social networks offer tools to help improve response capabilities, speed up recovery, boost community resilience and help fight dangerous rumours. 

Frankly, I wait for stronger arguments to change my mind !