Uses of Social Media to Inform Operational Response and Recovery During an Airport Emergency (2017)

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10 CHAPTER TWO STUDY METHODOLOGY SCOPE OF STUDY The objective of this research is to compile experiences and effective practices on how, by whom, and where social media information is collected, analyzed, and disseminated to inform incident responders at airports. It seeks pertinent information from both aviation and non-aviation organizations. This final report presents data compiled from the six case examples and reports on existing practices, proven tools, and challenges to using social media to inform response and recovery. Audiences for this synthesis are incident first responders, airport operations and facility managers, those responsible for public informa- tion, and C-level leadership who will need to support and approve staffing and other resource commitments. The application of social media data extraction and analytical methods to law enforcement and national security applica- tions lies outside the scope of this study. The primary reason for this exclusion is that including intelligence and surveillance applications of social media as applied to airports would get into plans and procedures that are security-sensitive information and therefore impossible to include in a publicly accessible report. However, the all-hazards perspective espoused by all six case examples in this study means that criminal and terrorist threats may be detected through social media for emergency management (SMEM). In such cases, response will be led by the organization’s law enforcement partners, with their emer- gency operations centers (EOCs) as liaisons. METHODOLOGY Early on, it was determined that a survey would not be utilized in the research effort. Fully realized SMEM programs with at least 2 years’ experience were too uncommon or were too closely tied to law enforcement and intelligence agencies to allow for an adequate number of SMEM programs to survey for this study. The research team sought suitable case examples—non- law-enforcement organizations that have used SMEM for at least 2 years—from among airports and non-aviation examples. Based on a preliminary literature review, direct contacts with candidate airports and other organizations, and discussions with experts in the field, more than 200 candidate entities were identified as potentially meeting the criteria and were con- tacted by telephone or e-mail. The candidate entities included airports, airlines, large shopping centers, large retailers, sports venues, state agencies, universities, public school systems, hospitals, and nursing homes. Approximately 20 entities were selected for further screening. Of these, eight were selected for fuller development for this study. A questionnaire (Appendix A) was provided to each case example, and then a telephone interview was completed to clarify questionnaire answers and give the respondents an opportunity to expand on their organizational philosophy and intentions for the future. Six complete case studies were examined as well as two more limited cases that use a different approach: 1. Edmonton International Airport 2. Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport 3. New York City Office of Emergency Management 4. Southwest Airlines 5. University of North Dakota Police Department, which provides SMEM to the entire university 6. Vancouver International Airport

11 7. Two entities that use volunteers to stand up social listening operations ad hoc during emergencies The eighth entity, a very large retail operation, completed the questionnaire and the interview but subsequently withdrew, saying that its social media operations and SMEM gave it a significant commercial competitive advantage and would therefore remain proprietary. The research team noticed that for-profit organizations are apparently less accustomed to sharing informa- tion on emergency procedures than are public entities and highly regulated entities such as an airline. PREVALENCE OF CANADIAN AIRPORTS IN A SOCIAL MEDIA STUDY During the interviews with the airports in Edmonton and Vancouver, the research team asked the airport managers why Canadian airports appear to be more advanced in use of social media (SM) in general and SMEM in particular. The managers suggested four possible reasons that this may be true: • Canada is a very wired nation, so citizens and customers expect airports to communicate better through all available channels. • Canada’s geography and population distribution encourage telecommunications innovation, dependency, and early adoption. Internet and SM are just the latest manifestations. • Canada’s self-funding airport system forces/encourages greater airport engagement in the community. • Early successes with SM have fed further use and innovation.