The utility and potential of big data for emergency management is growing but integration of big data into existing workflows and practices is far from seamless. To fulfill the potential benefits of big data for emergency management, the Big Data & Emergency Management (BDEM) project will share best practices among the project partners in order to build and strengthen research and training that leverages big data and data analytics to transform emergency management for citizens and for society at large. This will result in a more consistent, enhanced and professionalised level of research and education in the domain in Norway.

Sustainable partnership where excellent education is to be fully embedded in excellent research

The project has multiple partners in four countries with the potential to be an extensive network that connects many researchers, faculties and students.

Partners

Western Norway Research Institute (Norway) Coordinator
University of Bergen (Norway)
George Mason University (USA)
Hong Kong Polytechnic University (Hong Kong)
Illinois Institute of Technology (USA)
National Institute of Informatics (Japan)
San Diego State University (USA)
The University of Tokyo (Japan)

Aim & Scope

To share best practices to build and strengthen research and training that leverages big data and data analytics to transform emergency management for citizens and for society at large.

"It wasn't raining when Noah built the ark." - Howard Ruff

Creating professional basis

The BDEM project will draw up annual summaries containing "state-of-theart" descriptions and scenarios for future development. This will be a way to provide professional direction for the BDEM as a whole, but can also act for designing more focused subgroups within the project with a short or long life span.

Shaping new ways for cooperation

Joint grant applications for international research projects will be prepared and submitted to appropriate international research grant agencies. The partnership will also have dissemination activities to ensure that results are propagated and discussed. BDEM will not be static, but will ensure that the activity and involvement of external experts to get new impulses and disseminate results beyond BDEM.

Big Data in Emergency Management

Emergencies are typically complex problems with grave consequences that must be solved in a limited amount of time to reduce possible damage. Massive data sets — referred to as big data — derived from sophisticated sensors (e.g. satellites, drones, videos), social media feeds and data repositories are increasingly being used by emergency services and government agencies to improve citizen services through visualisation and GIS mapping. Big data leads to more confident decision making and better decisions can mean greater operational efficiencies, cost reductions and reduced risk. The BDEM consortium brings diverse perspectives and expertise to bear in mutually synergistic ways on critical problems that impact all of society.

Funding

This project has received funding from the Research Council of Norway (RCN) and the Norwegian Centre for International Cooperation in Education (SiU) through the INTPART programme.

BDEM website

Related website

- Emergent