Get Involved

Strengthening our Nation’s resilience to disasters is a shared responsibility.  Every member contributes, including individuals, communities, the private and non-profit sectors, faith-based organizations, and all levels of government.

Whether you’re a data steward who can unlock information and foster a culture of open data, an innovator who can help address disaster preparedness challenges, or a community member ready to join the movement today, we are excited to work with you.

With the launch of disasters.data.gov, the Administration is announcing new opportunities and ways to get involved:

Data sets relevant to disaster preparedness (including prevention, protection, mitigation, response, and recovery) have traditionally been closed by default to the public.  To help empower technologists, entrepreneurs, governments, volunteers, survivors, and community leaders with information that can improve individual and community preparedness, the Administration is working with stakeholders to open a series of disaster related data sets:

• Locations of schools and childcare centers
• Locations of hospitals and medical care facilities
• Locations of nursing homes
• see more ideas and share yours

If you are a data steward interested in joining this Call to Action, please contact the White House Innovation for Disaster Response and Recovery Initiative at disastertech@ostp.gov.

To build compelling solutions for disaster preparedness, we need to engage with all members of our innovation ecosystem and focus on the “real world” needs shared by first responders, emergency managers, survivors, and other stakeholders.  The first challenge asks innovators across the nation: “How might we leverage real-time sensors, open data, social media, and other tools to help reduce the number of fatalities from flooding?”

In addition to showing support for our Call to Action for Data Stewards and our first Innovator Challenge, there are many other ways to get involved:

• Share your tech and innovation news, ideas, and more on social media with #disastertech
• Consider how technology and innovation can support building a kit and making a plan
• Download free apps & tools that can help with disaster preparedness
• Learn how you can participate in America’s PrepareAthon! and visit Ready.gov for tips and updates
• Share an Innovator Challenge statement or any ideas where innovations in technology can be applied to improve disaster preparedness by emailing disastertech@ostp.gov
• Check out even more ideas for developers, tech entrepreneurs, government officials, first responders, disaster survivors, and volunteers