The National Science Foundation has partnered with the Japan Science and Technology Agency to jointly fund six research projects on the use of big data and analytics to support disaster management efforts.NSF said March 30 the chosen projects seek to address challenges in the collection and processing of disaster-related data and how computer systems deliver real-time analytics in response to disasters.
“Collaborative programs such as this one bring diverse perspectives and expertise to bear in mutually synergistic ways on critical problems that impact all of society,” said Jim Kurose, head of NSF’s Computer and Information Science and Engineering Directorate.
One team from the U.S. and another from Japan will work on each of the projects.
The University of Southern California and Japan’s National Institute of Informatics will work on a human-centered situation awareness platform for disaster response and recovery.
Florida International University and University of Tokyo will research data-driven critical information exchange in disaster-affected public-private networks.
The Missouri University of Science and Technology and Osaka University will study efficient and scalable collection, analytics and processing of big data for disaster applications.
Arizona State University and National Institute of Informatics in Japan will partner on disaster preparation and response via big data analysis and robust networking.
Johns Hopkins University and the University of Tokyo will work on a big data computational laboratory for the optimization of olfactory search algorithms in turbulent environments.
Temple University and Japan’s University of Aizu will study the dynamic evolution of smartphone-based emergency communications networks.
According to NSF, it will provide a total of $1.8 million over three years to fund the U.S. researchers in the project teams.
