Crowdsourcing Disaster Relief
ARTICLE SPOTLIGHT: Crisis response
An article in Gigaom highlights an interesting combination of crowdsourcing plus data analytics to identify solutions during crises. Waze is a GPS app that uses crowdsourced data from its users to edit maps, track traffic and road hazards, and more. In the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, FEMA asked Waze for help in deciding where to send gas trucks in New Jersey. Users used the app to report which gas stations had power, how long the lines were, etc. and the data went to FEMA while simultaneously helping other residents.
gigaom | November 6, 2012