iRevolutions: AIDR: artificial intelligence for disaster response

 Social media platforms are increasingly used to communicate crisis information when major disasters strike. Hence the rise of Big (Crisis) Data. Humanitarian organizations, digital humanitarians and disaster-affected communities know that some of this user-generated content can increase situational awareness. The challenge is to identify relevant and actionable content in near real-time to triangulate with other sources and make more informed decisions on the spot. Finding potentially life-saving information in this growing stack of Big Crisis Data, however, is like looking for the proverbial needle in a giant haystack. This is why my team and I at QCRI are developing AIDR.