Yesterday we were called to testify on Capitol Hill about how the social web is changing disaster response.
The Senate Homeland Security Subcommittee on Disaster Recovery and Intergovernmental Affairs (phew – big name!) held the hearing, which you can now watch online if you missed the live version.
Our own Suzy DeFrancis gave testimony along with FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate, Renee Preslar from Arkansas Emergency Management, Google, and Heather Blanchard from Crisis Commons.
We discussed the role of the public during disasters, the role of collaboration, and made some recommendations for moving forward. We discussed our previous research, our Safe & Well site, our shelter map, and explained how social communities have affected our response to the recent tornadoes.
If you’re interested in this topic, we invite you to join us for a continuous conversation and knowledge-sharing on Twitter at #SMEM or #CrisisData.