OpportunityTitle: Operation Dragon Fire  Monitoring, Gathering, and Mapping Social Media and Crowdsourced Information to Improve the Ability to Prepare and Respond to All-Hazards
AdditionalInformationOnEligibility: 1.Eligible Applicants:   National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (National VOAD) - Nonprofit with 501C3 IRS status   2.Justification for Less than Maximum Competition:   Assistance will be provided only to the National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (National VOAD).  No other applicants are solicited.  As the professional association which serves as a forum where emergency service organizations can share knowledge and resources throughout the disaster cycle, the applicant&#146;s unique ability and experience in representing and convening a diverse group of highly competent emergency service organizations across state, territory, local, and regional levels will greatly assist with planning and coordination efforts between cross-sector stakeholders of ODF necessary to achieve project outcome goals.    National VOAD is uniquely qualified to be the recipient organization because of the following:   &#149; Due to the scope of Hurricane Sandy, and considering the ongoing likelihood of other such scalable events, National VOAD has been asked to expand its service role to now provide additional disaster field operations coordination support services, including staff resources and online technology tools (enhanced situational awareness, mobile resource directories, volunteer program management, incident management &amp; reporting) in support of preparedness, response, and recovery initiatives and needs.  &#149; ODF is compatible with National VOAD&#146;s current strategic and operating plans, and complimentary with the above referenced online tools which National VOAD is currently developing and introducing each quarter this year.  To establish a more robust communications technology team to support these initiatives, National VOAD is now recruiting specialized staff - a Program Manager (Technology &amp; Communications Specialist) and a Reporting Analyst.  &#149; National VOAD is comprised of 108 members which represent a diverse group of highly competent emergency service organizations who provide a wide range of skills in service to our fellow man, communities, and nation.   &#149; National VOAD convenes a dynamic combination of faith-based, community-based, academia, and other non-profit, non-governmental, and governmental organizations to represent thousands of professional staff and volunteers with unique skills and resources.  &#149; National VOAD is dedicated to whole community engagement and their core values &#150; cooperation, communication, coordination, and collaboration &#150; providing national leadership and expertise in comprehensive emergency management; serving as a vital information resource for states, territories, and local communities; and forging strategic partnerships to foster more resilient, self-reliant communities nationwide and to advance continuous improvements in emergency management.  &#149; National VOAD promotes whole community collaborative relationships throughout the disaster cycle &#151;preparation, response and recovery &#151; to foster integrated and efficient emergency management planning, response, and response activities.    &#149; National VOAD&#146;s members are actively involved in emergency preparedness and response activities throughout the nation, serving in all 50 states, 4 territories and the District of Columbia.    &#149; National VOAD coordinates and facilitates routine meetings/conferences with members and committees to ensure broad-based issues are discussed and best practices are shared among members.  &#149; National VOAD is the only non-profit organization in the country actively bringing emergency management and public health organizations together with various disciplines and roles and responsibilities in emergency preparedness, response and recovery to foster the sharing of lessons learned and to actively leverage knowledge and resources from an on-the-scene, local perspective.
Description: The purpose of Operation Dragon Fire (ODF) is to create a cloud-based, participatory platform to fill the gap in real-time, local, and accurate information received during the initial phase of an emergency; supporting enhanced situation awareness, informed decision making, and rapid deployment of resources. This innovative system will integrate multiple data sources &#150; crowdsourced information, social media data, and traditional data &#150; and validate information using gold standard surveillance data to provide a single trusted source of publically accessible information and a tool to support two-way communication and dissemination of emergency information in real-time; evaluation of planning, response, and recovery activities; and the implementation of lessons learned and strategies to mitigate all-hazard morbidity and mortality. ODF is establishing the system by leveraging a diverse range of expertise from federal agencies, NGOs, state/local health departments, community groups, and preparedness and information technology experts.
GrantorContactEmailDescription: pgotim@cdc.gov
GrantorContactText: CDC/PGO &lt;br/&gt;Technical Information Management Section  (TIMS) &lt;br/&gt;Phone 770-488-2700