D6.3.1. First report on recommendations for future research

No longer in its infancy, understanding the contributions of social media in crisis management is a fundamental requirement in the digital era. Starting in April 2013, the COSMIC project, funded by the European Commission under the 7th Framework Programme1, has focused on achieving four aims:

▪ To explore new and emerging communication technologies and applications, and provide insight into the most effective ways to use this media to promote the safety and security of citizens in crisis situations.
▪ To assist better communication and better information gathering for authorities and first responders.
▪ To examine the potential roles and ethics for citizen participation in emergency response.
▪ To produce guidelines that will assist authorities and first responders in deploying new and emerging communication technologies and applications to better protect citizens in crisis situations.

As time has passed, partners have focused their efforts on desk-based research, as well as opportunities to engage with stakeholders through the use of interactive workshops with those involved in using and researching these tools. The project will culminate in a set of two guidelines: 1) Guidelines for citizens for the use of new media in crisis management and 2) Guidelines for governments and corporate actors for the use of new media in crisis management. Stemming from our research and activities during the project is a need to continue investigative efforts within this domain to ensure that as technologies and individual interactions with those technologies develop, so too does our understanding and skills to use them to enhance crisis management.

Accordingly, this chapter contains recommendations for future research that will specifically focus on:

1. Considering how to further develop the COSMIC guidelines, particularly within future policy research
2. Understanding the public
3. Understanding public and private sector organisations
4. Understanding how crisis managers can further their use of social media to gain situational awareness
5. Further understanding the importance of the ‘type’ of crisis on how social media can best be utilised within crisis management
6. Enhancing our understanding and capabilities to respond to the ethical, legal and social issues associated with the use of social media in crisis management
7. Further research into emerging technologies and issues around interoperability, and their role and functionality within crisis management

The recommendations are followed by a concluding chapter.