Design and development of an intelligent emergency state reporting system for Puerto Rico: Secure mobile application development

Abstract

Puerto Rico currently faces a critical shortfall in its emergency response framework—the absence of a comprehensive Emergency Management Application managed by government agencies. The government could leverage this widespread connectivity to crowdsource real-time emergency reporting but currently does not. This research project is predicated on the conviction that citizens, armed only with a smartphone, constitute the most immediate — and often underutilized — layer of emergency response capability. The core of creating an emergency reporting system is civilians. There are no reports if civilians don’t have a practical way to send them. Therefore, it is necessary to provide a simple way for emergency reports to be made via a mobile application. This mobile application will serve as a centralized service for Puerto Rican civilians to report various types of emergencies. The app strengthens both community preparedness and institutional responsiveness. Moreover, it empowers residents to become active participants in safety networks. This approach not only accelerates communication but also improves transparency, situational awareness, and trust between communities and response agencies.