Emergency management information systems : evolution of the communication paradigm through new media

Nowadays, the importance of communication in the management of emergencies has emerged as a core function that if effectively practiced, it can lead to significant enhance of timely decision making, action response, interoperability, organization, and public awareness and engagement. In this work, the complex elements of the communication process are analyzed through three case studies of different disasters in Mexico, focusing in the evolving role of traditional media and new media including social networks, and the interactions between Mexican government, civil protection authorities and public through these channels of communication. In this work, we model the evolution of information sharing flow underlining the new modalities of information exchange. The newly proposed Emergency Communication Model shows the public as a potential information producer suggesting a new system of emergency communicators in which stakeholders feeds each other with individual and collective knowledge. This approach will help the emergency managers not to become masters and possessors of nature, but owners of advanced technology which can provide powerful knowledge. A final conceptualization of the Emergency Management Information System contents is presented in a comprehensive Ontology that may be used further as a unique platform for emergency managers in designing their communication processes.