Introduction to the communication and information systems technology for emergency management minitrack

The world spends annually between 16 and 23 billion US dollars in disaster assistance. In 2010 an estimated 373 natural disasters occurred, causing 296, 800 victims and affecting more than 207 million people. By 2050 the number of people living in areas especially prone to natural disasters will probably double (from 680 to 1500 million). Communication and Information System Technology is profoundly changing the management of disasters and emergencies. Mobile devices and social media are being used by citizens in innovative ways to help them manage the consequences of disasters for themselves, families, and communities. The trend of increasing traffic flow originating from affected citizens poses many research challenges. This minitrack, which is ´new´ in that it was established in Spring 2012, attracted a satisfactory number of submissions from which eight were selected to be presented at the conference. The first session of four papers deals with data collection to aid better management. The second session comprises papers about lessons learned, decision support and evacuation modeling.