Resilience Scanner

Crowdsourced Disaster Reporting Platform for Emergency Response

Solution Overview

This crowdsourced disaster reporting platform aggregates real-time citizen reports and multi-source data to support emergency response coordination across Indonesian cities. The system enables residents to submit observations of flooding and other hazards through social media and mobile applications, which are then verified and disseminated to government agencies and humanitarian organizations for rapid response efforts.[1][2]

Technical Components

The platform gathers point reports from multiple data streams including Twitter, Qlue (a citizen reporting platform), and Ditik (crowdsourced news reports from Indonesia).[3] Jakarta's emergency management agency built its own feature called the Risk Evaluation Matrix (REM), which collates reports from multiple sources, verifies them, and then disseminates the information through the portal.[1] The collected data were used by BPBD DKI Jakarta to cross-validate formal reports of flooding from traditional data sources, supporting the creation of information for flood assessment, response, and management in real-time.[2]

Implementation Details

During Tropical Cyclone Seroja in April 2021, residents of East Nusa Tenggara province used the platform to report collapsed bridges, washed away homes, and power outages.[1] When massive floods inundated the city of Jakarta for weeks in early 2021, news media cited data from the system to keep residents informed.[1] The gathered data and alerts are shared among government agencies, NGOs, and other stakeholders that use the platform for rapid response efforts.[1]

Benefits and Impacts

The system enabled BPBD DKI Jakarta to cross-validate formal flooding reports from traditional data sources in real-time, supporting flood assessment, response, and management operations.[2] During the April 2021 tropical cyclone event, the platform facilitated citizen reporting of critical infrastructure damage including collapsed bridges, destroyed homes, and power outages across East Nusa Tenggara province.[1] News media organizations utilized platform data to maintain public awareness during the weeks-long Jakarta flooding event in early 2021.[1]

Climate Adaptation Relevance

This approach addresses extreme precipitation and flooding hazards by enabling real-time citizen reporting and multi-source data verification during disaster events. The system supports rapid emergency response coordination when tropical cyclones, monsoon flooding, and other climate-related hazards impact Indonesian communities.

Sources