Emergency Preparedness: ready.acgov.org

About the Program

Category: Information Technology (Best in Category)

Year: 2015

The strong earthquake that rumbled through Napa, California last year reminded us that it’s time to get serious about emergency-preparedness. An easy-to-follow, step-by-step process to prepare for the next major emergency is what ready.acgov.org provides for local residents and employees in Alameda County. This timely website is a mobile friendly tool designed as “the place to go” when preparing for the next big earthquake, fire or other natural or man-made disaster. The website provides important emergency preparedness information cutting through the clutter and providing the community with a straightforward approach to getting prepared. This app idea won first place in the Alameda County 2014 Apps Challenge Hackathon. It’s the result of several months of research in which County staff poured through disaster preparedness information from numerous sources – emergency services organizations, public safety agencies and community groups. Thanks to a Student Internship Program the County sponsored last summer, a small group of talented local high school and college students were available to work with County IT staff in building this new emergency preparedness mobile website. Ready.acgov.org is a great new tool with the potential of greatly improving the level of safety in our community.