MOBILE APPS AND POST-DISASTER SAFETY CHECK: EXAMPLES OF EXISTING TECHNOLOGY

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1 MOBILE APPS AND POST-DISASTER SAFETY CHECK: EXAMPLES OF EXISTING TECHNOLOGY Mota, L. 1, Sugianto, S 2, Rizal, S. 3 1 Corresponding author: University of Syiah Kuala, Banda Aceh, Indonesia, lsoaresmota@gmail.com 2 University of Syiah Kuala, Banda Aceh, Indonesia 3 University of Syiah Kuala, Banda Aceh, Indonesia ABSTRACT Mobile technology has become easy affordable to purchase, allowing people to send and receive information directly to someone using compatible devices, and also realtime monitoring of events, procedures or even meteorological circumstances. Although communication systems can be struck during a natural disaster, as soon as mobile networks are reestablished people try to use their furthermore devices to report they condition or ask be rescued. Now a days, apps and social networking are commonly used to share moments, feelings and mood states, but it can be used furthermore for postdisaster risk management. Internet search engines were used to find digital applications related to tsunami warnings, and by typing specific keywords such as 'android+iphone tsunami app' the most popular applications were listed for exploring features and postdisaster information. Software runs in different operational systems but all use the same methodology for navigation through different functions and menus. All include an alert message with information stored in cash data updated within a certain time period. The most relevant findings are the Emergency 2.0 Wiki web-site with a list of emergency smartphone apps for Android and ios, focused on global applications, and also for specific countries such United Sates of America, New Zealand, Australia, and Singapore. Furthermore, it includes five apps for people with a disability. The appcrawlr web-site has 14 apps related with earthquake and tsunami alerts, and the facebook safety check application is manly developed for social networking, to inform and check for other in case of a tsunami, earthquake or crisis. Keywords: app, communication, information, post-disaster, social network 39

2 INTRODUCTION The last five years has been revolutionary for the development of mobile applications related with disaster-communication, making it more accessible through smart-phones and tablets digital applications (apps). Information rapidly reaches more people at the same time without the need to be handled by media or a disaster agency. George and Kim (2014) referred the use of social media on post-disaster situation as becoming more common and on demand for useful apps to spread information about a potential threat, communicate the user's current situation or checking on other people. Post-disaster mobile apps have a huge variety of possible application such as help people to find shelter, food, or fuel. Although mobile phones are mainly to talk and messaging, Shih, Seneviratne, and Ilaria (2013) recorded smartphones being widely used for operations including, chatting and acceding to social networks; they can get us further in communication and be quite handy for disasterrisk reduction. Apps allow users to get involved in crisis situations whenever they can connect to their network. George and Kim (2014) studied previous cases related to the 2013 Boston Marathon Bombing, Hurricane Sandy in 2012, the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, have been used for describing the level of use of digital communication by governmental and non-governmental groups to try to find and identify suspicious people. Another case reports to Nepal, where after the avalanche occurred on October 15, 2014, social networking was used by the Annapurna Nepal Avalanche and Blizzard Info Share Community (n.d.), creating a Facebook (FB) page to share updated information about the natural disaster and help Internet users to track hikers. The community site has published a link to a blogspot containing a list of people trekking on the Annapurna at that time, and as well helpful information related to last known locations and status update of the rescue efforts. The objective of this paper is to give examples of mobile apps for post-disaster safety check available for typical smartphones or tablets. Mobile apps work based on server updates to feed mobile devices whenever connected to a network, and usually done through subscribed data pack or Wi-Fi connection. The self-contained program downloaded to the device, the app, is intuitive to allow users to navigate through different menus and use the powerful web browser specifically designed to list selected information. Niroshinie, Seng, and Wenny (2013) has observed some programs requiring location data in order to combine with specific features, and Samantha (2014) described Post-disaster apps as able to triangulate information collected from the user's profile, Internet Protocol address (IP address) from the last login registered, and GPS coordinates from the rescue team or where the disaster has happened. Furthermore, user's profile with a registered phone number might have the possibility to receive notification via SMS with updated information related to the disaster. For more advanced devices, apps can be set to record sound and video to be sent together with GPS location to the server. Once uploaded, the information is resent to local emergency service. METHODOLOGY An extensive research was conducted on-line to expose the three most popular search engines used for finding mobile apps related with post-disaster risk management. Elbel Consulting Services (2014) states Google and Yahoo search engines as the most common to be used, with 50% and 25% of the market share. Web sites get ranked 40

3 according to their users preference, visibility and clicks. Also different operational systems equipping mobile devices, tablets and personal computers were analyzed based on Internet reviews to find relevance and usability for suitable apps related to subject in study. RESULTS Post-disaster mobile apps At the time of this research, and based on Internet reviews, the three most popular search engines used to find post-disaster mobile apps were Google, Yahoo and Bing, and from a list of four relevant operational systems running digital applications only Android and ios for iphone/ipad were found relevant by user's preference. Windows Operational System for phone and tablets, Blackberry Operational System for the same brand company name, and web Open Source (webos) a Linux kernel-based operating system used by Hewlett-Packard, Palm, and now LG were not relevant for the study. To reduce bias when typing the keywords 'android+iphone tsunami app', each search engine was tested on three different days and on three different computers using different IP address. Although they were tested four different operational systems, the list revealed interesting links only for Android and ios. Their play store called Google Play and itunes was also listed among interesting pages such as Emergency 2.0 Wiki apps, Appcrawlr, sites directed to inform the public about preparedness, response and recovery from natural disasters. Another interesting site was the new application developed by FB, called Facebook Safety Check which was launched right when the avalanche in Nepal has occurred. Emergency 2.0 Wiki apps The site is a global source for users of new technologies and social media applied to emergencies allowing user's interaction with software using web 2.0. The general overview is divided in general apps and some other specifically designed for countries like United States of America, Australia, New Zealand, and Singapore. Seven global apps developed for ios related with disaster alert can be downloaded for earthquake, tsunami, storm surge, emergency SOS, crowd sourcing and emergency recovery, and only three for Android. Regarding individual countries listed, apps give alert for first aid, emergency awareness and preparation, hurricane, emergency recovery, emergency SOS, bus-fire, and volunteering. An interesting fact is that Emergency wiki 2.0 has four apps for people with disability where in some cases apps have a screen reader suitable to visual disability, and assists to navigate through the different functions to give relevant information, apps for deaf and hearing impaired users. There is one app specifically designed to assist individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) and communicate in case of emergency. Appcrawlr The website is an app discovery engine and a keyword filter can be applied to be more specific on the type of applications users are looking for. The best key-wording to find apps related with post-tsunami safety check is simply writing 'tsunami alert' and 14 apps were displayed with print-screens and some information about individual features for each app. For indecisive users, there is the possibility to compare different apps and a new table will be displayed with key points for comparison, such as price, users rating, the number of reviews each app has, and even a popularity trend is shown for appreciation. 41

4 Facebook safety check October 16, 2014 was the official day for FB to launch a new digital application for natural disaster or crisis information. The safety check is an application included on facebook, and can be acceded on-line though the FB personal page or in any mobile device with web browser or FB app. The tool uses personal information and location from the user's profile, and in case of a natural disaster, or crisis, FB sends a notification to the user asking if he/she is safe. After answering this question, the whole personal network can be immediately informed about the status. The FB tool is set for post-quake, post-tsunami or post-bush-fire checking, and based on the last login information, IP address, and local updates, FB issues a notification asking if the user is safe, and only after receiving an answer is then generated a feed to the user's personal friends list linked to the tool. In case the user is not in the affected area, there is an option to inform that he/she is outside the affected area. The use of social networks has reference to the 2011 Japanese earthquaketsunami and, when people tried to communicate and tell about their situation. Three simple functions give chance to check notifications, say they are safe and check on others. For sure during natural disasters, communications go down, although as soon as users manage to have reception on their phones or connect to the Internet, he/she can start the feed. CONCLUSION New technologies can be very handy for users seeking safety and also be a good asset for post-disaster risk management, the actual demand for mobile apps shows the interest on safety and what concerns have become more common. Currently, software developers design apps suitable to provide precise information about a certain subject, for example alerts can be displayed on smarphones and users can share the same message by adding a feed in their social network. Information spreads very fast and is able to reach more people at the same time, although since the moment the mobile device is not connected to a network, or does not have data pack service, the apps is not accurate, or does not work, requiring connection for data update from the server. Likewise on Chan's (2012) study, there are also concerns about failure to communicate in case networks are down due to a disaster, forcing users to relocate to coverage areas to communicate and report their situation. Although, there are also apps able to provide information to mitigate impacts and provide guidance to find shelters or deliver first aid to someone in the need. Apps can also be educative. ACKNOWLEDGMENT This article is part of the EXPERTS4Asia post-doc consortium grant # at the University Syiah Kuala, in Indonesia, with the research permit # 281/SIP/FRP/SM/IX/2014 to conduct research for tourism development on post-disaster affected areas. REFERENCES George, H., & Kim, H. (2014). Disaster Communications in a Changing Media World. Waltham, MA, USA: Butterworth-Heinemann.. Shih, F., Seneviratne, O., Ilaria L., Evan, P., Patrick, M. & Carlos, C. (2013). Democratizing Mobile App Development for Disaster Management. In Sebastian B., Anika S., Stephan S., Freddy L., Biplav S., Zaiqing N., & Christian G. (Eds.). Joint 42

5 Proceedings of the Workshop on AI Problems and Approaches for Intelligent Environments and Workshop on Semantic Cities (AIIP '13), ACM (pp ), New York, NY, USA. The Annapurna Nepal Avalanche and Blizzard Info Share Community (n.d.). In Faebook [Fan page]. Retrieved from Avalanche-and-Blizzard-Info-Share/ Niroshinie, F., Seng, L., & Wenny, R. (2013). Mobile cloud computing: A survey. Future Generation Computer Systems, 29, pp doi: /j.future Samantha, R. (2014, November 16). An App for everything; But can Apps for Disaster save lives? Risk Management Magazine. Available: Elbel Consulting Services, LLC (2014). Retrieved November 14, 2014, from Chan, Wen Kai (2012). Operational effectiveness of smartphones and app s for Humanitarian Aid and Disaster Relief (HADR) operations a systems Engineering study. (Master s thesis, Naval postgraduate school, Monterey, California). Retrieved from 43

United Nations/Abdus Salam 2014 Workshop on the Use of Global Navigation Satellite Systems for Scientific Applications

United Nations/Abdus Salam 2014 Workshop on the Use of Global Navigation Satellite Systems for Scientific Applications Location Based Social applications and crowd sourced efforts future role in disaster management scenarios Presentation for the United Nations/Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics Workshop