The purpose of the research is to demonstrate the feasibility of using social media to improve situational awareness and support decision making, pre-emptive response, and predicted outcomes for operational response by first responders. Through customer discovery and literature research, a selected set of Meaningful Events will be identified that, if supported by corroborated data, would provide improved operational responses. Specific social media and computer aided dispatch (CAD) feeds will be identified. The broader factors/triggers supporting and validating Meaningful Events will be discovered. Research the availability of tools and technologies that may support correlated data analytics. Research and document the ways in which correlated data may support operational response(s). Results of this research will include Meaningful Events, validated and supported by potential customer interviews. Once the Meaningful Events are defined, the broader factors and triggers enabling correlation between CAD data and social media data would be identified. The correlated results that support operational response capabilities will be determined. Potential use of correlated data by command and control for operational response, situational awareness and decision making will be documented. First responder, public safety and other organizations would have a tool that could quantify, validate, correlate and present supportive, action-oriented decision support tools around Meaningful Events. This process could enable first responders to modify and enhance the way they respond to mass casualty incidents, and other emergency situations using social media to expand their visibility into events as they occur, in real-time.
