Knowledge Engineering Center develops Web site for Hurricane Ike registry

Citizens who were affected by Hurricane Ike can now share their ideas, suggestions and lessons learned with decision-makers through a Web site developed by TEEX’s Knowledge Engineering Center (KEC) for the Texas A&M Health Science Center School of Rural Public Health.

The Web-based Hurricane Ike Registry, dubbed “HikeR,” will be used by the USA Center for Rural Public Health Preparedness to improve hurricane preparedness, response and recovery. Over the next five years, the USA Center will invite members of the public who have registered to participate in activities and studies concerning ways to improve public health response efforts.

“The USA Center was managing the registration process manually, and given the number of citizens affected by Hurricane Ike, the project quickly grew larger than they could handle,” said KEC Program Coordinator Aimee Barnes. “The Web-based system has eased that burden by allowing citizens to self-register. The reporting tools allow the USA Center Administrators to identify participants for studies and track their response rates.”

Diane Cornwell managed the KEC project, while Vince Riggins and Van Trinh handled design, development, testing and deployment. KEC is also hosting the HikeR system, which is the latest in a series of IT-related collaborations between KEC and the School of Rural Public Health.