Crowdsourced Geographic Information (CGI) represents a new era in how we gather information, moving away from individual professionals to efforts involving the wider public regardless of qualification. CGI is of interest to both academics and spatial data users because it produces information at a rapid rate, and can be engaged to respond to events which require information from a changing environment. Naturally, this data is of considerable interest to disaster response agencies dealing with sudden events with a significant impact on known variables, such as where people live, or which infrastructure remains functional. At the time of writing, research in this field has been largely directed at overseas events, often in countries which have experienced events that completely overwhelmed their capacity for response. To this end, this study aims to fill that gap by focusing on crowdsourced research for New Zealand disaster response efforts, and investigates whether CGI can be beneficial here.

This research uses interviews with key experts in the field of disaster response, and uses thematic analyses of these responses to generate an understanding of how CGI can be implemented in disaster response. Through engaging with experts from Civil Defence and Emergency Management, Geospatial Intelligence New Zealand, South Island iwi Ngāi Tahu, and the New Zealand Red Cross, this study provides a broad view of CGI in New Zealand disaster management and how it is understood and implemented by these agencies.

Key findings of this study include: a need to find sources of information that can be updated with changing conditions; the need for a unified crowdsourced campaign to help deal with events; and how crowdsourcing can act as a support network for people after a disaster. This study presents a series of recommendations informed by expert opinions in this field and available literature, and which can be used as a guide towards implementing crowdsourced data in New Zealand. This study proposes a Citizen Response Network (CRN) framework, developed through the course of this research, which outlines how CGI can be successfully used to inform response and recovery. The CRN is designed with community engagement in mind to ensure the integrity of crowdsourcing as a product of citizen science.

This thesis adds to a growing body of work examining how we engage with CGI at a variety of levels, and through understanding how CGI has been perceived, and used, in New Zealand an objective assessment of its effectiveness can be made.