FAQ

The Workshop

Q: What is the "Great East Japan Earthquake Big Data Workshop: Project 311"?

With the cooperation of our co-sponsors and partners, this workshop aims to transcend boundaries of academia, government, and industry to provide researchers and developers with various types of information transmitted during the earthquake so that they can re-analyze it, discuss what can be done, and brainstorm services that would be useful in future disasters.

Q: Who is behind the Great East Japan Earthquake Big Data Workshop?

Twitter Japan K.K. and Google Japan Inc. are co-sponsors of the workshop, which has been made possible with the cooperation of partner companies who agree with the workshop's goals (the Asahi Shimbun Company, JCC Corp., ZENRIN DataCom Co., Ltd., Japan Broadcasting Corporation, Honda Motor Company, Ltd., Rescuenow. Inc.).

Q: Why are you holding this kind of event?

When the Great East Japan Earthquake struck on March 11, 2011, an enormous amount of information was dispersed through social networking websites and the mass media. However, up until now, there has been no analysis of exactly how this information was transmitted or to whom. There is a tremendous amount of data about the Great East Japan Earthquake available, and if it can be properly analyzed, it should be possible to determine in what manner information was transmitted, what was transmitted (and what was not), and what kinds of services were truly needed--allowing us to prepare for the next disaster.

Shared Data

Q: Why can't I access the data use application page?

Data use applications can only be made after registering for the workshop, and can only be accessed from the account you used to register for the workshop. You can register from this page.

Q: How long can the data be used?

All of the data can be used until the presentation session on October 28. In addition, data can be used for a minimum of ninety days after the presentation session as long as certain conditions are met (notifying the relevant workshop partners, etc.). For details, see the Terms of Use for each partner.

Q: Twitter Japan's Terms of Use contain the phrase "for up to three (3) months." When do the three months start?

"Upon the conclusion of the Workshop" refers to the presentation session, so this means three months after the presentation session.

Q: The Twitter Japan Terms of Use include the following passage:"Upon the conclusion of the Workshop , you may publicly display and/or showcase (e.g., on a blog, website, or at a conference) your Experiment for noncommercial purposes for up to three (3) months; provided, however, such Experiment must rely on derivative analysis of Twitter Content, such as an informational graphic or statistical analysis."

Does this mean that after three months have elapsed, we must delete any reports (graphs, etc.) that we created?

Data provided by Twitter Japan must be deleted three months after the workshop's presentation session. Deleting graphs or other reports created by workshop participants is not required.

Q: How should attribution of project results be handled?

Please see the Terms of Use for each company. Given the goals of the workshop, we strongly recommend that any research or results (reports, theses, programs, etc.) be made publicly available in a way that encourages widespread use. Credit for data used, advance notification to data providers, etc. should follow the Terms of Use for each company.

Q: How should data be handled after the usage period is over?

Please see the Terms of Use for each type of data.

Q: How should data providers be notified?

Contact information for each data provider is included on each company's data use application page. If notification is considered necessary, please confirm that the data provider has received your notification. If you fail to do so, you may be deemed as not having provided any notification.

Q: How can I ask a data provider questions regarding their Terms of Use?

After registering for the workshop, please ask the question on the participants' mailing list. Registration does require agreement to the Terms of Participation but does not require agreement to the Terms of Use. The Workshop Committee will contact you with the discussion mailing list address after registration.

Workshop Participation

Q: Some friends and I would like to participate in the workshop as a team. How should we go about registering?

In the case of groups that are not corporations, each member of the group should register (and apply for any data use) individually. The groups or names used at the presentation session or when releasing workshop results can be freely decided upon by the participants.

Q: I haven't received any communication from the Workshop Committee after registering. What should I do?

The content of each application is individually confirmed by the Committee, so around one business day is required for processing. If more time than this has elapsed and you have still not been contacted, we ask you please check the below items.

• Notifications are sent to the Gmail account used for data access

• The Gmail account used for data access must be able to receive email from the following address: noreply@googlegroups.com

• When you are logged into the Gmail account to be used for data access, the "Allow group managers to direct add me to their groups" or "Allow group managers to invite me to their groups" option under the Google Groups user settings must be checked.

If you have confirmed these items and still have not received any notifications, please send us an email from the Gmail account to be used for data access and let us know. Our address is as follows: project311_staff@googlegroups.com

Q: How can new members be added to the discussion mailing list?

Use the Additional Registration Form to inform us of the email address(s) you want to add. Only workshop participants can access the Additional Registration Form.

Q: Is it necessary to attend all offline meetings?

Attending all offline meetings is not mandatory. We will do our utmost to make online participation possible, including providing streaming video, etc.

Q: Is it necessary to present a complete report at the presentation session?

If your report is not complete, a presentation of in-progress results is fine. Incomplete results or things that did not go as expected may still serve as useful information for the future. The purpose of this project is for participants to share their knowledge in order to see how data is used and how it can be utilized in order to prepare for the next disaster, so we encourage you to share your results at the presentation session.