At noon Friday January 6, Georgia’s governor declared a state of emergency in 78 counties, including metro Atlanta.

Immediately, the state posted weather emergency alerts on donated digital billboards. An innovative public-private partnership enables the state to use live Twitter feeds to update localized alerts on digital billboards.

“GEMA (the state’s emergency agency) will tweet messages using the specific hashtags that correspond to the specific areas of Georgia that will be affected by a winter weather warning,” Kate Trainor at Lamar Advertising Company told company managers in Atlanta and Rome, GA.  “As they update their tweets, the messages will update live on your digital displays.”

Background

The idea for this public-private partnership was born in a 2014 winter storm that snarled traffic in metro Atlanta.

Conner Poe, executive director of the Outdoor Advertising Association of Georgia, initiated talks with state agencies (Georgia Department of Transportation and Georgia Emergency Management & Homeland Security Agency), aiming for direct access to digital billboards in emergencies.

Digital messages would pull from a Twitter feed to notify drivers of risks such as emergencies, weather, traffic, and more. Messaging would be area-specific based on hashtags used. With each new tweet, digital billboards would be updated.

After successful tests in 2015 and early 2016, the system was activated in October of 2016 in response to Hurricane Matthew. Pre-approved templates with the headline PUBLIC SAFETY ALERT include a field to populate Twitter messages.

Karlene Barron, communications director for Georgia’s Department of Transportation, described digital billboards as an “invaluable resource.”

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