Pilot Flood Tags Short general project overviewThe Philippines faces frequent floods. In 2014 alone, the Philippine Red Cross (PRC) registered 21 floods in 80 different areas in the country. Realising that Twitter and online news articles contain much useful information on flood alert and situational awareness, the Red Cross currently has personnel manually scanning the internet for information on new floods. However, doing this manually and without cross-checking against other information, much of the added value of the data sources are lost. Instead, when collecting and interpreting the data automatically with our Flood Tag approach:1. The PRC would be able to detect floods earlier: At present, it takes a long time for a new event to be identified, sometimes hours. This while the country is very large and many flood incidents occur. In reference, from Twitter statistics, Flood Tags can help to detect a new flood within seconds.2. The PRC would be able to get better and more frequent updates on the situation on-the-ground (this is called situational awareness). Currently, the PRC receives information from their volunteers each 8 hours in addition to their people scanning the internet manually. By using online media, Flood Tags can produce real-time custom reports that are updated each ten minutes. By combining the data with digital elevation models, databases like Open Street Map and other external data sources, Flood Tags is even able to show immediate flood extent and flood impact.With this new information, the local chapters and national headquarters of the Red Cross Red Crescent National Society will be able to anticipate more quickly and geographically more precise, based on more and aggregated facts from the ground. This will make decision-making on the logistics and resources management more efficient, while involving the 102 chapters of the Red Cross and 2 million volunteers on the ground, spread throughout the country.The goals of the pilot project- The Philippine Red Cross organizes its logistics more effectively andanticipate faster and better to ongoing flood events. As a result, the number of flood casualties reduces and immediate needs are cared for more effectively.- Disaster managers worldwide are interested to adopt the same approach using Flood Tags Initial activities and results of the projectThe outputs of the pilot project are:- The software integrates components into one tool for the Philippine Red Cross. The tool detects new floods based on anomalies in tweet statistics and provides ten minute updates of flood extent, flood damage impact and current flood communication.- New customers can see how the software is used in actual operations (of the Red Cross).- New customers can apply to work with our system and (1) receive a so called API key and work online with Flood Tags as a SAAS (Software As A Service) or (2) download and install the software on their local servers.To achieve the resultThe software integrates components into one tool for the Philippine Red Cross, we propose the next activities:I. Back-end development for the technical integration of components:- Setup framework architecture and technical design;- Implement early detection of floods: set and integrate thresholds that determine the start of new flood events, on the basis of tweet statistic anomalies, in order to set warnings for the user;- Implementation of relevance code: integrate and configure text mining script to train classifiers that determine what messages are relevant, in collaboration with Radboud University – COMMIT;- Implementation of flood extent code: integrate and configure script that determines flood extent in real-time on the basis of tweets and a Digital Elevation Model, in collaboration with Deltares – TKI;- Implementation of flood impact code: integrate and configure script that determines flood impact in real-time, in collaboration with IVM-Vrije Universiteit. Results are plotted on a map;- Implementation of georeferencing: integrate and configure script that determines location of observations and floods detected.II. API and front-end development for an integrated access and graphical representation of the components:- Use cases;- Mock-ups;- Unified functional/graphical design;- Custom reports (infographics, maps, charts);- Export of data;- Responsive templates (for use on desktop and mobile).III. Testing of the software:- Set-up test environment;- Test scripts and test plan;- User tests: Usability test, set-up test collection, review relevant tweets.To achieve the resultNew customers can see how the software is used in actual operations (of the Red Cross), we propose the next activities:IV. Perform impact study Perform impact study together with the Red cross, in which we evaluate the impact of the new information source on effectiveness of the logistical support.V. Distribution of Results Create website and storyboard where the case is presented and demonstrated with the quantified impact + the source code can be downloaded. Secondly, we generate publicity among 250 registrants that have already expressed their interest in the tool + with other potential users, via direct contact and (popular) articles.To achieve the resultNew customers can apply to work with our system by (1) Receive a so-called API key and work online with Flood Tags as a SAAS (Software As A Service) or (2) Download and install the software on their local servers, we propose the next activities:VI. Distribution of the software- Develop access to Flood Tags data via an API key that can be requested for via Floodtags.com;- Publication (based on an open source license) of the software via FloodTags.com;- User documentation (user, installation and development manuals).