Integration of crowdsourced information with traditional crises and disaster management information using linked data

Dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Science in Geospatial Technologies.

This paper reviews to what extent linked Data can support information management in the humanitarian decision making processes during the early stages of a disaster response. On the immediate onset a disaster there is little or no reliable information, especially about the effected population and the presence of relief agencies including their services. At the cost of time and people in need of help, decision-makers are faced with uncomfortable choices where they must act on less reliable information or wait longer for additional verifications. This study proposes to link data using specific semantics vocabularies crowd generated content as well as information extracted from humanitarian agency specific assessment reports.