PEERS: A Community-based Geo-social Information Collaboration Framework for Public Safety and Security

Presented is a framework for Public-awareness, Early-warning and Emergency-Response system called PEERS, an information and team collaboration support platform rolled into one developed purposely for public safety and security. PEERS is an ICT-based support system platform designed to address various public safety- and security-related issues which include but are not limited to the following: how the general public should gain awareness of their environment and the threats around; how they will be warned of impending disasters like outbreaks, power/water/transportation disruptions, etc.; how one will be notified of an incident that just happened nearby; how one would ask for help or how one can possibly help; and on how communities and responders should organize and collaborate, especially on reporting about, validating and responding to an emergency situation. Discussed are the framework’s features and architecture including how the whole system with its components should work. A prototype of the framework is currently being developed and initial testing of already implemented features shows promising results. Future directions include a full-blown development and a demonstration of the system’s operation and significance to a local government unit (LGU) preferably, to General Santos City LGU and its communities.