Internet and social networking : a chance for avalanche education ?

C'est le titre de la session que je présenterai à l'International Snow Science Workshop d'Anchorage, en septembre.

Je suis très content que ma présentation ait été retenue, entre autres car cela prouve que les sujets que je vais aborder ont été jugés intéressants ! Et ça c'est une très bonne nouvelle.

Je vous livre ici le résumé du sujet qui a été retenu :

Internet and social networking : a chance for avalanche education ?

Community websites about backcountry skiing are the places where avalanches are discussed. Beginners can learn, experienced people and professionals can improve, and trainers can see people’s issues. And last but not least, young people are present on social networks, so we can communicate with them.

Discussions are fine. But we also need facts and measures. Accuracy and scientific rigor. And these data must be public and available to illustrate the words of specialists. Not only available on web sites, but also “open”, usable to build smart applications. Since we have everything we need to achieve them :
- data : avalanches, snow and weather measurements, maps, routes, etc. but also stories of accidents, told by those who were caught up in them
- technologies at low cost : cloud computing, multimedia terminals (with gps, camera, etc.)
- methods : agile methods allow us to develop simple and focused applications
- legal framework with Creative Commons licenses, for example
- and... people : a large community, with an incredible variety of skills. As in the mountains, the most important in software development is the human factor.

So, let’s collaborate! For the benefits of everyone.

An example - just a draft of the future : www.aleaski.info. This application is focused on “Where will I go skiing tomorrow?”. It uses a lot of data, to show a unique and simple map : backcountry outings and avalanches over the last few days, avalanche danger forecast,  real-time observations of experts and hut staff, weather forecasts, webcams, meteorological stations.
Thanks to camptocamp.org, skitour.fr, data-avalanche.org, etc. who share their data.

All we need is imagination...