A Technology Enhanced Approach To The Management Of Emergency Public Information

Several recent large-scale public emergencies have demonstrated that the prevalence of Information Communication Technology (ICT) has impacted the use of new media as a means by which the public seeks connectivity, collaboration and information sharing in the aftermath of a crisis, suggesting potential for the use of ICT and new media in the effective management of emergency public information. The problem, however, is that little of the existing research takes a proactive approach to the incorporation of ICT and new media, such as social networking sites and text messaging, into the formal crisis communication plans of emergency management officials. Therefore, the objective of this research is to explore how the use of ICT and new media can enhance the management of emergency public information and how Public Information Officers have altered crisis communication efforts to incorporate the use of ICT and new media in a public emergency. Two online surveys were conducted. The first was aimed at providing insights into media use and frequency of engagement, as well as media richness expectations in varying emergency situations, among residents in a mid-sized suburb of Minneapolis, Minn. The second was intended to explore Public Information Officers' use of ICT and new media for communication in varying emergency situations. Finally, a set of formal crisis communication plans were obtained from several emergency response agencies across the United States, in order to gather existing best practices for incorporating the use of ICT and new media in the management of emergency public information, as well as existing crisis communication frameworks with the potential for ICT and new media enhancement. The results of this research reveal great discrepancies between public preferences for communication in an emergency situation and the crisis communication efforts of Public Information Officers. Whereas the general public reports most frequently using the Internet and mobile telephones for both calling and text messaging throughout the day, and generally prefers to receive emergency messages through these channels, Public Information Officers have not prioritized the use of these ICT-enabled communication tools in their crisis communication efforts, and 50 percent of the communicators surveyed do not currently make use of phone calling or text messaging in an emergency. In addition, a review of formal crisis communication plans from agencies across the country revealed a lack of ICT-enhanced best practices in the field of emergency information management. Based on these findings, a best practices model for an ICT-enhanced approach to the effective management of emergency public information is proposed.