Andreas Karsten, a qualified physicist and retired fire chief, is an independent management consultant in Hamburg. He previously worked in the United Arab Emirates and at the Federal Office for Civil Defence and Disaster Control in Germany. Stefan Vossschmidt, a lawyer, is a lecturer in the Federal Office for Civil Defence and Disaster Control (BBK). Both editors are members of the German Society for the Promotion of Social Media and Technologies in Civil Defence (DGSMTech) and have published several articles in the field of civil defence.