Steve Peterson
Steve Peterson is an Emergency Manager employed in U.S. federal sector. He served as the Chair of the Department of Homeland Security' s (DHS) Social Media Working Group for Emergency Services and Disaster Management. Over the past 18 years his professional specialization has focused on emergency communications policy development in both the public and private sectors. He has spoken to local, national, and international audiences exploring various dimensions of social media phenomena. His conceptualizations address not only the current state of social media, but its unrealized potential to significantly impact the effectiveness of emergency operations. Steve is a member of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences Best Practices Working Group for Special Institutional Review of Disaster Related Research. Steve developed a training curriculum for the National Library of Medicine's Disaster Information Management Research Center titled Social Media Analysis During Disasters. His papers and posters have concentrated on the benefits, for both researchers and practitioners, of near real-time collaborative efforts to more effectively harness social media. He has also served as president of the Montgomery Community Emergency Response Team (CERT). Under his leadership this team received international recognition for its efforts in providing surge support in determining situational ground truth for Cyclone Pam damage to the Republic of Vanuatu and the notorious 7.9 Nepal earthquake. Steve is a former member of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy Interagency Steering Committee on Improved Information Sharing for the Whole Community Disaster Response Program. Additionally, Steve personally provided on-site secure-data communications recovery support for Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
At the 2019 International Conference for Information Systems in Crisis Response and Management Steve was the keynote speaker and shared practitioner experience with disaster social media analysis. At the same conference, Steve and his co-authors presented a paper pertaining to the development of a methodological framework to assist emergency responders to more effectively use social media data in disaster evacuations.
Steve received his Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Studies from the University of Maryland, and attained his Certified Emergency Manager designation from the International Association of Emergency Managers.
Phone: 3014961985
Address: Bethesda, Maryland, United States
At the 2019 International Conference for Information Systems in Crisis Response and Management Steve was the keynote speaker and shared practitioner experience with disaster social media analysis. At the same conference, Steve and his co-authors presented a paper pertaining to the development of a methodological framework to assist emergency responders to more effectively use social media data in disaster evacuations.
Steve received his Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Studies from the University of Maryland, and attained his Certified Emergency Manager designation from the International Association of Emergency Managers.
Phone: 3014961985
Address: Bethesda, Maryland, United States
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Attention then turns to the research around social media in times of crisis. This research investigates public activity (citizen reporting, community-oriented computing, and collective intelligence and distributed problem solving) and demonstrates how social media have shaped—and continue to shape—perceptions around how members of the public can participate in an emergency. We then look at research that studies emergency management organizations as they seek to understand how social media might be used in their practice. We conclude with descriptions of future research directions and next-generation tools for monitoring and extracting information from social media.
Finally, we discuss the differences between practice and research perspectives and discuss how these differences can make it difficult to reach consensus regarding social media’s role in emergency response. We advocate that as practice and research work together expanding the research agenda, understanding roles, building relationships, considering organizational fit, and developing best practices, they will advance knowledge about the potential and realities of social media and move toward envisioning how social media may be used as a resource in emergency management.
(VOSTS), and organizations of the Digital Humanitarian Network (DHN). These resources offer unique qualities and skill sets that can be beneficial to the emergency management community.
Attention then turns to the research around social media in times of crisis. This research investigates public activity (citizen reporting, community-oriented computing, and collective intelligence and distributed problem solving) and demonstrates how social media have shaped—and continue to shape—perceptions around how members of the public can participate in an emergency. We then look at research that studies emergency management organizations as they seek to understand how social media might be used in their practice. We conclude with descriptions of future research directions and next-generation tools for monitoring and extracting information from social media.
Finally, we discuss the differences between practice and research perspectives and discuss how these differences can make it difficult to reach consensus regarding social media’s role in emergency response. We advocate that as practice and research work together expanding the research agenda, understanding roles, building relationships, considering organizational fit, and developing best practices, they will advance knowledge about the potential and realities of social media and move toward envisioning how social media may be used as a resource in emergency management.
(VOSTS), and organizations of the Digital Humanitarian Network (DHN). These resources offer unique qualities and skill sets that can be beneficial to the emergency management community.