The IA of Emergency Response

We will explore the evolution of technology in emergency response, with a special focus on advances in geographic systems, incident management, social media and policy in New York City since September 11, 2001. What technologies do emergency responders in NYC use? How have events like 9/11 and other incidents influenced technology advances? What effect, if any, has the change from a Law Enforcement Mayor to a Media Mayor had on data policy? What are the challenges and opportunities of open government data? How is social media being used in NYC and elsewhere to engage the public in emergency preparedness and response? And, finally, are app contests and hackathons an effective way to improve public services in difficult economic times? The session will conclude with a Town Hall discussion of how the IA community can support emergency response efforts throughout each of our own neighborhoods.

AGENDA
6:30 - 7:00 Welcome, networking and refreshments
7:00 - 8:00 Presentation
8:00 - 8:30 Networking

WHEN
Thursday, July 12th 2012
6:30pm - 8:30pm

WHERE
Pivotal Labs
841 Broadway
Floor 8
New York, NY 10003

PRICE
Free

IMPORTANT!! Seats are limited, so you must have a ticket to attend. Please only RSVP if you know you can attend.

Cancellations: Please email us (nyc.ixda@gmail.com) as soon as you know you cannot use your ticket. We'll release your seat for one of your fellow practitioners and generate good IxD karma for all involved!

ABOUT OUR SPEAKER
Noreen Whysel is a freelance IA consultant, research analyst and mapmaker. Many of you know her as the Operations Manager of the IA Institute. For nearly twenty years, she has also been an advocate for open data access and sharing through GISMO, a NYC-based geographic information systems community. Her view of the evolution of emergency response technology comes both as an historian and a participant, beginning with her role recruiting volunteer geographers for the 9/11 response and culminating in a retrospective conference NYC GeoSymposium 2001-2011-2021, which was produced with the NYC Office of Emergency Management in November 2011.

ABOUT OUR FOOD SPONSOR
Hot Studio is an award-winning experience design company with offices in San Francisco and New York City. Dedicated to creating elegant solutions for complex design challenges, we collaborate with business leaders, innovative organizations, and emerging companies to create breakthrough products and services that have global reach and local impact. Our diverse list of clients include Cisco, AOL, Warner Music Group, Palm, Gap, eBay, Ancestry.com, Zinio, Blurb, Gilt Groupe, Kiva, SFMOMA, and California Academy of Sciences.

Founded in 1997 in San Francisco by Maria Giudice, a pioneer in the field of information design, we started out small. There are now more than 80 seasoned, multidisciplinary professionals—user experience designers, brand experience designers, strategists, technologists, and producers—who work at Hot. You can learn more about Hot Studio by visiting the website.


ABOUT OUR VENUE SPONSOR
Pivotal Labs is a software develop firm focusing on the consumer, mobile and enterprise space. It is also the creator of Pivotal Tracker, an agile planning tool for software development. Pivotal Labs has developed software solutions for a variety of clients, including Best Buy, Groupon, Salesforce and Twitter. They have offices in Boulder, New York and San Francisco. You can learn more about Pivotal Labs by visiting the website.

ABOUT IxDA
IxDA’s mission is to improve the human condition by advancing the discipline of Interaction Design. To do this, we foster a community of people that choose to come together to support this intention. IxDA relies on individual initiative, contribution, sharing and self-organization as the primary means for us to achieve our goals. IxDA comprises over 10,000 members, and many meet at events like this one in over 80 locations worldwide. If you or your friends are based in the suburbs or further from New York, you can find contact information for other local groups on the ixda.org site.