Date: 2024-08-16 Page is: DBtxt003.php txt00005547
Initiatives
Ideas Lab
Big Data To The Rescue
Burgess COMMENTARY
Peter Burgess
http://www.ideaslaboratory.com/2013/07/23/big-data-to-the-rescue/
Interactive tools use data to provide awareness and convenience to users.Whether it’s assisting with disaster relief or notifying New Yorkers about the next available subway, big data applications are being utilized in various, significant ways.
Such tools, specifically interactive maps, are made possible by the worldwide expansion of mobile technology, which accounts for a significant growth in data traffic, reports show.“As the use of smartphones becomes increasingly ubiquitous, more people are turning to mobile applications for information on preparing for and responding to emergency situations than ever before,” explains a Brookings Institution paper that focuses on how mobile technology makes data applications possible in a number of situations, including natural disasters and public safety. The paper further argues that as mobile devices become more common worldwide, “policymakers have the chance to provide first responders and citizens with the tools necessary to save lives during threatening events.”The following big data applications have already impacted citizens across the globe.
United Nations crisis map: When destructive Typhoon Pablo struck in the Philippines, the United Nations appointed the Digital Humanitarian Network to monitor the real-time impacts of the natural disaster. A variety of data collections from social networks and other sources were used to construct a customized report for the United Nations Office of the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs as well as a real-time map with indicators such as missing people, deaths and broken bridges.
The map, which used tweets, photos and videos, was the first ever official United Nations crisis map created solely using data from social media.Disaster preparation tools: During Hurricane Sandy, Palantir, a data analytics company, worked with disaster response organizations Team Rubicon and Direct Relief International to create big data tools that helped them “better understand, visualize, plan, and manage for complex emergencies in near real-time,” according to a GigaOM article.
These tools enabled the organizations to donate medical supplies before the storm struck and even offered rescue team members a map that pinpointed fallen trees and other obstacles, which kept them updated and more efficient in their rescue efforts.
Transit times in New York City: Big data is put to use in an interactive tool called Transit Time NYC, which allows New Yorkers to look up an estimate of subway travel times from any point in the city. Lead developer Steve Melendez created the app by breaking New York City into 2,930 hexagons and pulling data from OpenTripPlanner and the public subway schedule, according to a Mashable article. “We built [Transit Time NYC] using open source applications, and then we’ve shared something on our blog on how we went about making it — then people sort of follow our footsteps, and so on,” Melendez told Mashable.
Edible fruit finder: In the mood for a fresh-picked apple? You may just find a hidden apple tree in your neighborhood using the Falling Fruit interactive map. This map pinpoints edible agriculture in urban areas by using public data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and municipal tree inventories. So far, Falling Fruit has compiled a network of 615 kinds of edible foods in more than 570,000 areas. The goal of the tool is to “facilitate intimate connections between people, food, and the natural organisms growing in our neighborhoods,” according to the organization.
In their Brookings paper, Darrell West and Elizabeth Valenti discuss how mobile technology has transformed public safety and disaster relief but also point out some infrastructure and policy challenges to mobile applications. Broadband networks, for example, require adequate bandwidth and reliable sources of power for users to access data applications. “We need resilient networks with sufficient spectrum that can operate during lengthy power outages or massive call volume spikes,” the authors argue.
Their report concludes by acknowledging that it might be impossible to prevent future natural disasters but that we can “make better use of the current mobile technologies and promote future advances.” Such innovation could give people the tools they need to make decisions in emergency situations as well as for convenience.