Towards a Dedicated Social Media and Groupware for Effective Communication during the Nyiragongo Volcanic Crisis

Abstract

The issue of natural disasters, their management, and their prevention, requires good communication among stakeholders and between stakeholders and the population. The Nyiragongo volcanic crisis was a traumatic experience for those who were in Goma city in 2021, on 22 and 23 May. It was characterized by insufficient communication, demonstrating the lack of cohesion between stakeholders. In order to prepare a possible implementation of dedicated social media and groupware for effective communication during the Nyiragongo Volcanic Crisis, this paper presents a survey conducted among Goma citizens and proposes a possible architecture of a dedicated social media integrating text mining, which would help develop a flexible evacuation plan. Based on the results obtained, it appears that the establishment of a single information system related to the volcanic crisis can reduce the challenges related to social media where the volcano observatory, political authorities, different partners and citizens can share alert messages, locations of danger, and more comments. This unified information system would help to gather, discuss and disseminate accurate information on volcanic activities and associated hazards and risks.