Virtual disaster management information repository and applications based on linked open data

In a typical technologically advanced region, data and information critically needed to support disaster preparedness and response decisions and operations are available but may reside not only in sources built by the government for disaster management purposes, but also in information sources owned by other government agencies, businesses, institutions, social media, etc. Making such data and information easily discoverable, available and useable by diverse time-critical disaster preparedness and response applications should be a primary objective of disaster management information systems. This paper presents a distributed framework, called virtual repository, that leverages linked open data and related technologies to achieve this objective. Applications may use a virtual repository (VR) built on the framework to supplement information sources served by it. In addition to the design and implementation of a proof-of-concept VR prototype, the paper also presents two applications, Automatic Disaster Alert System for Tourists (ADAST) and Mobile Assistant for Disasters (MAD), as case studies to demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of VR.