Rise of Digital Humanitarian Network (DHN) in Southeast Asia: Social Media Insights for Crisis Mapping in Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR)

Abstract

Digital technologies and big data speedily change humanitarian crisis response and transform the processes from traditional to digital. Digital Humanitarian Network (DHN) for disaster risk reduction (DRR) using crisis mapping of the vulnerable population is becoming increasingly common during any disaster response process. To get the information and provide in time support, the critical Source of data is social media. In Southeast Asia, Facebook is the most used social media platform. Communities often rely on social media to seek in time assistance and guidance. Emerging social media and networks are remarkably well-compatible with intelligent data-centric systems, which foster an effective disaster management plan under disaster scenarios. During previous disasters in Southeast Asia, it was believed to be the fastest response medium. However, validation is essential to obtain important data, and after years of research, there are still many undiscovered features of social media that can be used in emergencies. This paper aims to determine Southeast Asian countries' readiness to utilise social media for DRR activities and understand the criteria of DHN by integrating crisis mapping. A qualitative research design is applied to gain an insight into the humanitarian disaster network for disaster risk reduction. Data were collected through document analysis. I argue that digital humanitarians can offer a unique combination of speed and safe access while escaping some of the traditional constraints of the aid-media relationship. The study concluded that DHN provides a collaborative environment for the organizations to collaborate and act fast to assist.