Hi everybody!
As you remember, an May 5th I testified before the U.S. Congress at a hearing entitled, “Understanding the Power of Social Media as a Communications Tool in the Aftermath of Disasters.” It is pretty common for Congressman to request follow up questions which could enhance the testimony based on the discussion during the hearing. This is a written document we return back to the committee staff. So of course I need your help! We want your input!
Here are the questions which they are asking. As many folks know I did not work for FEMA as an agency, but I did work for the agency which they are apart of, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. In those roles I worked on the Ready Campaign and helped connect the technology and telecommunications sectors to the Department for lots of programs, including emergency management. I was also deployed out for a few disasters, including Hurricane Ike and contributed to documents like the National Response Framework and the National Disaster Recovery Framework. So I think that is what they mean by working with FEMA. I’ll clarify more there, but just want to share.
Questions for the Record:
- You mentioned in your testimony that it is important to move toward more participatory crisis management. Can you elaborate on what that means and why it is so important?
- You have direct FEMA experience. Can you share your perspectives on working with FEMA during and after disasters? What missions and functions within FEMA could be enhanced by social media tools and information?
- Do you believe the necessary liaison role between volunteer organizations and the government can be fulfilled by an existing position at DHS, or would this necessitate the creation of a new position? Please provide a recommendation for where this position should be housed and what the reporting structure should look like.
This request for input has BEEN EXTENDED to July 1, 2011. As always, anyone can submit input that is constructive. We will add input as an attachment to the request similar to the process we conducted for the Statement of Record.
Just in case you missed the final Statement for the Record you can see it on Scribed here: http://www.scribd.com/doc/56209161/CrisisCommons-Statement-for-the-Record and all the comments received by the community were submitted as an attachment here: http://www.scribd.com/doc/56209157/CrisisCommons-SoR-Attachments
We strive to include as much input as is provided, but there may be times where it won’t be included. If this is the case we will get in touch with you.
If you would like to be identified as the writer of the input, you must submit your name, organization/affiliation (if applicable).
If you missed the hearing you can see it all here: http://hsgac.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Hearings.Hearing&Hearing_ID=e928effc-4bfd-4024-9017-130bb45b4ed4
Thanks for participating!
Heather
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