Comments on: Emergency 2.0 Australia: Geospatial & social media Project

By: Maurits van der Vlugt

Maurits van der Vlugt — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 12:50:25 +0000

All very valid points Jeremy, Michael and Pia. With regard to services that allow citizens to subscribe (or ‘opt-in’) to alerts, there are some examples in this Blog post: http://gov2em.net.au/national-emergency-warning-system-still-has-some-way-to-go/

By: Pia Waugh

Pia Waugh — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 00:21:37 +0000

Hi Michael,

I understand your point, but surely more useful notification mechanisms that people can use according to their personal interests and needs (for instance, they might want to subscribe by mobile, email or Tweets) would I think help people be better informed, and thus better able to make decisions on courses of action. There will be as always when new information is made available more easily a transition period while people learn how to make the information useful to them personally, however ultimately more transparency and access to knowledge can only help people make better decisions for themselves.

Cheers,
Pia Waugh
Office of Senator Lundy

By: michael

michael — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 21:23:32 +0000

Hi, what is the point of having an early warnign system that puts the fear of god in to the community only in the fire season and even if there is no danger at all due to sudden wind changes. We have developed a system that is built and used by the community as a whole where the people manage their business throughout the year build relationships with people in their towns strengthening communication links when they are needed. But i quote from Peter O’Brien , cheif of staff for the Vic Labour party, ” we cannot trust the public in their ability when using this sort of tool’

By: Jeremy Sharp

Jeremy Sharp — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 22:16:55 +0000

My company makes an emergency alerting/notification system called ALERTS. It is used by part of NSW RFS, Vic SES, the AFP and many others, but not the CFA or ACT Emergency Services although it was offered to them. I would like to have a chat to you about this area when convenient to you. PS. I am also sports mad – I sailed the modern 18 footers for 20 years and now sail a vintage 18 footer plus a 1938 wooden yacht.