To view this site you need Adobe Flash Player and your browser must allow javaScripts. Go here to get the latest Flash Player. SOCIAL NETWORKS TO THE RESCUE tion or to provide accurate information through public diplomacy. “It’s good to track these conversations, especially in a natural disaster crisis that occurs over such a big area that no news organization can realistically deploy journalists, especially in an area like China, where a big news organization would have only a few reporters. They could not realistically cover what is happening,” she commented. Indeed, not only did social media play a big role in the response to an earthquake in China in May 2008 but it plays a role in ongoing recovery efforts for Hurricane Katrina,as well. In both areas,bloggers and others have posted information on areas that remain devastated by the disaster, drawing scrutiny of government recovery actions. “I don’t think that governments are engaging in those conversations and listening to them right now, but they should,” Mishra said. “We don’t want to create new messages. We want to support the messages of others in a larger communications model,” Shea commented. FEMA also has prescribed concepts of operations it must follow. When a disaster occurs,the agency has a checklist to follow,depending upon the nature and scope of the disaster. “It takes a lot of time for somebody to say, ‘Yes, go out and communicate about it,’” Shea pointed out. “So as public affairs officers, it’s very hard to get information to individuals who need it about what we are doing in a timely way. We have to wait for cycles to happen before we can put out any kind of information. “Social media involves more immediate communications,” he continued. “We want to be able to put out valuable information and not just a lot of fluff to keep people pacified.” The speed of government The US federal government is not renowned for the speed with which it generally communicates, FEMA’s Shea said at the social media forum. Many communications require the input of stakeholders in a disaster and sometimes approval by federal lawyers, while communication via social media occurs instantaneously. Still, FEMA has moved relatively aggressively to decentralize communication via social media in order to make disaster information local and more effective. “We wanted to make sure that, when we set up social media into our communications plan, they have the ability in the field to do these kinds of communications and that it wasn’t several people sitting in cubicles in DC doing everything,” Shea stated. “The idea was that they need to be empowered in the field. When we started off with Twitter and we started off with YouTube, we wanted to make sure that it could be expandable.” As a result,each of the 10 FEMA Regions has its own Twitter accounts,as does the US Fire Administration. FEMA headquarters gave them all common branding so that the public could recognize them as official government channels of communication, but the regions reached out to local media and local communities to build their networks. FEMA officials also want to be careful not to clutter the conversation in a disaster,Shea cautioned. Often, state and local authorities already are putting out emergency information—and FEMA has nothing to add to it. The same is true with other federal agencies. If good emergency information already is coming from other sources,FEMA might provide the best service possible by staying out of the conversation or “re-tweeting” information from those sources. Join the FusionX CORE launch at the Microsoft booth at the ESRI® User Conference Public Safety Showcase. July 13 – 17, 2009 San Diego your Fusion Center capabilities Have you always wanted your Fusion Center to improve its information sharing capabilities and security? Introducing Microsoft® FusionX CORE — a ready-to-go hardware and software solution that can help any Fusion Center produce actionable intelligence — quickly and easily with enhanced security. Whether your center requires rapid intelligence and information management, data visualization, or cutting-edge geospatial capabilities, FusionX CORE seamlessly manages the information you need now — from intake, to analysis, to dissemination. FusionX CORE is also designed to take advantage of your existing IT investments and does not require you to rip and replace your current applications. Now your analysts can have a comprehensive, consolidated view of critical intelligence and information, with granular user access control with FusionX CORE. Learn more: www.microsoft.com/fusion Register online today for exclusive online content and eNewsletters Homeland Security Today Magazine | June 2009 45