Project ACT: Social Media Analytics in Disaster Response

Abstract: In large-scale emergencies social media has become a key source of information for public awareness, government authorities and relief agencies. However, the sheer volume of data and the low signal-to- noise ratio limit the effectiveness and the efficiency of using social media as an intelligence resource. We describe Australian Crisis Tracker (ACT), a tool designed for agencies responding to large- scale emergency events, to facilitate the understanding of critical information in Twitter. ACT was piloted by the Australian Red Cross (ARC) during the 2013-2014 Australian bushfires season. Video is available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-1rtNFqQbE