Communities are adversely affected by social harm events such as crime, traffic crashes, medical emergencies, and drug usages. This proposal aims to develop algorithms and software systems for the collection, analysis, and dynamic prediction of social harm events to facilitate appropriate government interventions to improve the quality of life in communities.

This activity is in response to the NSF Dear Colleague Letter: Supporting Transition of Research into Cities through the US ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations Cities) Smart Cities Partnership (NSF 20-024), in collaboration with the US Department of State. This research seeks to integrate innovations in smart and connected communities with creative gardens within the city alleys of Makassar City, Indonesia via a synergistic collaboration between US and Indonesian teams and a close partnership with Makassar City.

Uncertainties during global pandemics, such as the novel Coronavirus disease (COVID-19), can generate fear and anxiety, resulting in panic-buying and overreactive consumer behavior. Information from a multitude of sources may further exacerbate the situation, leading to shortages of critical disease prevention products for emergency managers and those in dire need. The consumer response may also vary based on population demographics and community interactions.

This goal of this project is to optimize processes for remote delivery of meals to persons in need. The COVID-19 pandemic has fundamentally disrupted processes of food delivery to economically depressed and vulnerable segments of the US population. With the closing of schools and the advent of social distancing practices, over 13 million low-income students who have historically relied on their school to provide daily meals are now without important nutritional support, and centralized school summer meal distribution programs are no longer viable.