Geotargeted Alerts and Warnings: Report of a Workshop on Current Knowledge and Research Gaps (2013)
Chapter: Appendix A: Workshop Agenda
FEBRUARY 21-22, 2013
NATIONAL ACADEMIES KECK CENTER
WASHINGTON, D.C.
Day 1: Public Response and Considerations for Geotargeted Alerts and Warnings
Past research has shown that specific and clear information, including which locations are and are not at risk, increases the likelihood that people take protective action. When alerts and warnings are delivered to broader populations than those actually affected by an event, the result may be that an alert or warning indicating more people than are actually at risk should take action. With new technological opportunities to more precisely target alerts and warnings come new questions about public response:
• What degree of geographical targeting is needed to make messages relevant? In what scenarios might greater precision be useful?
• What is known about the consequences of too many messages (e.g., if the threshold for events which trigger alerts is set too low, if alerts cover too large a geographical area, if messages are repeated too often, or if there are too many false alarms)? Is there a threshold above which people will ignore messages or opt out from receiving them?
• What are potential drawbacks of better geotargeting capabilities, such potential for privacy protections?
8:30 am | Welcome Ellis Stanley, Chair, Committee on Geotargeted Disaster Alerts and Warnings Dan Cotter, Geospatial Information Officer, Department of Homeland Security Denis Gusty, Science and Technology Directorate, Department of Homeland Security |
9:00 | Overview of Past CSTB Alerts and Warning Work Public Response to Alerts and Warnings on Mobile Devices Jeannette Sutton, Chair, Committee on Public Response to Alerts and Warnings on Mobile Devices Public Response to Alerts and Warnings Using Social Media Leslie Luke, Committee on Public Response to Alerts and Warnings Using Social Media |
9:45 | Value of Geotargeted Alerts and Warnings Moderator: Dennis Mileti What Role Does Geotargeted Information Play in Effectively Communicating Risks to At-Risk and Not-At-Risk Populations? Tim Sellnow, University of Kentucky What Are the Various Ways that Geotargeted Information Can Be Communicated to the Public? Under What Circumstances Might One Method Be Preferred Over Another? Michele Wood, California State University, Fullerton For What Hazards and Protective Actions Is Geotargeting Most Needed? Brooke Liu, University of Maryland How Do Present-Day Tools Constrain Emergency Managers? Are Some Deployed Capabilities Being Underused? Ken Rudnicki, City of Fairfax, Virginia |
11:45 | Geotargeting Needs and Challenges for Particular Hazards Moderator: Ellis Stanley Wildfire Events Thomas Cova, University of Utah Radiological/Nuclear Incident Steven M. Becker, Old Dominion University College of Health Sciences Transportation Systems Peter LaPorte, Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority |
12:45 pm | Lunch |
2:00 | Data Security and Privacy Moderator: Ming-Hsiang Tsou Mobile Device Privacy and Security Concerns Patrick McDaniel, Pennsylvania State University Personal Privacy Marc Armstrong, University of Iowa Methods for Preserving Privacy While Providing Geotargeted Alerting Darrell Ernst, Private Consultant Legal Questions Surrounding Location Information Kevin Pomfret, Centre for Spatial Law and Policy |
3:30 | Location-Enabled Technologies–Part 1 Moderator: Shashi Shekhar Wireless Location Determination Larry Dodds, TruePosition Indoor Position Technologies Ayman Naguib, Qualcomm |
4:30 | Day 1 Summary and Discussion Ellis Stanley, Chair, Committee on Geotargeted Disaster Alerts and Warnings Dennis Mileti, University of Colorado, Boulder; Committee Member |
Day 2: Technologies and Tools for More Precise Geotargeted Alerts and Warnings
Cell phones and other mobile devices can determine their position using cell tower triangulation, GPS, and nearby Wi-Fi sites and offer ample computing power and high-resolution displays to receive, process, and display alerts and warnings. Similarly, other computing devices such as laptops, desktops, and cable set top boxes can also establish their location and with suitable software provide targeted alerts.
• How can already-deployed and emerging technologies be used to deliver improved geographical targeting capabilities?
• What would be effective strategies for introducing more precise geographic information as systems are modernized and enhanced?
• What technical and operational standards are needed to facilitate the delivery of more precise alerts/warnings?
• How can commercial off-the-shelf technology and commercial services be leveraged to deliver alerts and warnings?
8:30 am | Current and Future Vision for the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System Moderator: Art Botterell Mike Gerber, National Weather Service Denis Gusty, S&T Directorate, Department of Homeland Security Wade Witmer, IPAWS Division, Federal Emergency Management Agency |
9:15 | Lessons from and Opportunities for Traditional Technologies for Geotargeted Alerts Moderator: Helena Mitchell Telephone Alerting Rick Wimberly, Galain Solutions |
Radio Broadcast Technologies John Kean, NPR Labs Weather Radio Technologies Bruce Thomas, Midland Radios (remotely) Cable Television Alerting Ron Boyer, Boyer Broadband | |
10:30 | Location-Enabled Technologies–Part 2 Moderator: Mani Chandy Geotargeted Alerts and Warnings in Streaming Video Hisham Kassab, MobiLaps Geotargeting with Internet Protocols Richard Barnes, BBN Technologies/Raytheon, IETF Geographic Location Working Group |
11:45 | Current and Future Capabilities of Location-Enabled Mobile Devices Moderator: Ramesh Rao Geotargeting of SMS George Percivall, Open Geospatial Consortium Carrier Capabilities John Davis, Sprint Third-Party Application Capabilities J.T. Johnson, Weather Decision Technologies Mobile Location Determination Farshid Alizadeh, Skyhook Wireless (remotely) |
1:00 pm | Wrap-Up Discussion Ellis Stanley, Committee on Geotargeted Disaster Alerts and Warnings Denis Gusty, Department of Homeland Security |
