Then there was a move to provide more content and we started moving all our plans and files to websites. These were loaded up with documents,but still static. Public education was perhaps one of the biggest users since people were starting to search for disaster preparedness information online.
In later years I've seen a move toward combining social media on organizational websites as a way to push out information to where people are hanging out in their digital lives.
In emergency management I've not seen much in the interactive world. There have been some nifty infographs and the Seattle Office of Emergency Management had a site that let you look at natural hazards around your home or workplace (just thinking now, it would not be that hard to have Tier II reports for extremely hazardous materials added).
So what is the Next Big Thing? Check out the linked article from Government Technology. Digital services are becoming more common here in Washington state where I live. I've been renewing my car tabs online for years. They finally stopped asking for drivers license numbers, which had nothing to do with car tabs in my opinion. The goal is to bring more and more of the citizen and government interaction online to lower costs and make it more efficient for the user. No need to find the government office and take time to go in and stand in line if you don't have to.
But, technology is changing rapidly. Apps were the rage for a number of years, but just making websites mobile friendly seems to dominate the development thrust in recent years. The next big step will likely be voice. Coincidentally, I had read an article on a start-up team of developers working on voice programming for developers. How that all works out remains to be seen, but Siri seems to be here to stay.
Lastly, I was thinking about this "interactive" aspect of websites and how we might make an emergency management website interactive. I don't know how hard it would be, but why not let people enter the number of people, ages, pets into a program and it will print out the list of things and quantities that are needed for disaster preparedness. Yes, people could do some simple math, but having them walk through the inventory of needs--school-aged children--would help them cover all their needs. Two cars? Two car kits needed!
