The three DRIVER partners AIT Austrian Institute of Technology, Austrian Red Cross and Frequentis have recently conducted a field test on the management of unaffiliated volunteers in context of crisis and disaster management scenarios. The event was coordinated by the AIT expert Jasmin Pielorz and took place between 11th February and 12th February in Vienna as part of a series of research efforts in the context of the EU project DRIVER. The aim of the field test was to evaluate the concept of crowdtasking with respect to:
- Its usefulness for coordination of unaffiliated volunteers and improved situation awareness;
- Its acceptance by volunteers and professional relief organisations;
- The usability of the corresponding crowdtasking implementations.
For this purpose, professionals of the Austrian Red Cross were testing the crowdtasking tools at the premises of the AIT Austrian Institute of Technology to interact with volunteers all over Austria (and in parts of Germany). These volunteers were recruited via company mailing lists and a social media call of the Austrian Red Cross. As a result, 200 such volunteers participated in the field test and executed 748 micro-tasks that were distributed through the crowdtasking tools.
For more information about the project, application and the functionality, please visit the "DRIVER Blog".