Abstract: Knowledge on the practical support from data ecosystems to disaster risk reduction remains partial. More specifically, we misunderstand the drivers and challenges inherent to emergency data ecosystems development in cross-border regions. We also miss cases of data ecosystem building in those regions. This research addresses these gaps by abiding by the principles and guidelines of visioning, a prospective and collaborative research design. Based on qualitative interviewing and archive analysis of the case 2020 Roya Valley floods, this work provides a prospect of a segment of data ecosystem that involves an organizational field aiming at Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) at the French-Italian border. Still in progress, this work provides a comprehensive narration of a fictious data ecosystem. The narration hints at the major benefits and challenges inherent to this potential data ecosystem. This work enriches our understanding of data ecosystems’ features and benefits to cooperation between organizations involved in emergencies at borders (such as governments, civil protection agencies, volunteer-based organizations). In future development it will propose an agenda to support practitioners in the development good practices related to data ecosystems.

Abstract: This conceptual paper critically discusses opportunities for and challenges to the development and exploitation of blockchain-based solutions for resilience management at inter-organizational level of interdependent Critical Infrastructure (CI) systems. The main premise behind this idea is that trustful information-sharing and inter-institutional collaboration are the key elements of government and private sector efforts to build CI resilience (CIR). The discussion presents a vision that the adoption and adaptation of Blockchain Technology (BCT) could significantly improve the way a network of stakeholders prepares for and performs in face of inevitable CI disruptions. Even though BCT is regarded as technological innovation, the impacts go far beyond information systems. BCT application in this domain would entail significant benefits to organizational, managerial, legal and social issues, but would require adequate operational and organizational changes. We discuss how interdisciplinary approach (BCT and CIR) could address existing challenges, how it could introduce new challenges and how it could support other approaches and paradigms currently being regarded as the future of risk and resilience management. Even though the discussion in this paper is focused on Critical Infrastructure resilience, each point also applies to Crisis/Disaster management domain in general. This is a preliminary overview with the aim to stimulate further discussions and point to possible new, disruptive and interdisciplinary research avenues. To this end, a possible research agenda is eventually proposed.

Abstract: The public sector, including state and local government, public health, and emergency management; the private sector; and the Federal Government jointly face challenges with rapidly collecting and validating credentials for individuals applying for employment or volunteering for emergencies, vetting security clearances, and ascertaining suitability. In 2017, for instance, credentialing gaps delayed employees and volunteers from contributing much-needed skills in disaster areas during one of the worst hurricane and wildfire seasons on record while Federal agencies inadvertently issued interim clearances to individuals with criminal records. We propose a secure, modern, mission-capable information technology solution to these with the United States Postal Service hosting this streamlined process by serving as the hub for collection, validation, and transfer of pertinent data. The solution would introduce access points in over 5,000 communities for citizens participating in disaster support operations, as well as those requiring credentialing for employment as part of day-to-day operations.

Abstract: In this paper, we explore the process of co-creation of knowledge between modelers and ethnographers through a project focusing on the role played by CIGS (Citizen initiatives for global solidarity) in the refugee crisis in the island of Lesvos, Greece. We describe the process of collaboration and discuss what this type of interdisciplinary collaboration may bring to the development of a research topic when the initial skepticism and questions of epistemological differences have been overcome. Moreover, we address some of the challenges embedded in this type of research collaboration, particularly the skepticism present within the social sciences.

Abstract: Early Warning Systems (EWS) are crucial to mitigating and reducing disaster impacts. Furthermore, technology and information systems (IS) are key to the success of EWSs. This systematic literature review investigates the research topics and themes from the past six years of Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management (ISCRAM) conference proceedings and seeks to identify the research developments and directions for EWSs to steer a discourse to advance the research in this field. Findings from a sample size of 60 papers show that there are technical, social, and topical considerations to using and advancing technology for EWSs. While technology has advanced EWSs to new levels, it is important to consider the influence of technology in the successful operation of EWSs. The results are based on the ISCRAM proceedings literature and may be broader or have different prioritization if a wider disciplinary body of literature was explored. This will be considered in the future.

Abstract: As crisis are complex systems, providing an accurate response to an ongoing crisis is not possible without ensuring situational awareness. The ongoing works around knowledge management and ontologies provide relevant and machine readable structures towards situational awareness and context understanding. Many metamodels, that can be derived into ontologies, supporting the collect and organization of crucial information for Decision Support Systems have been designed and are now used on specific cases. The next challenge into crisis management is to provide tools that can process an automated population of these metamodels/ontologies. The aim of this paper is to present a strategy to extract concept-instance relations in order to feed crisis management ontologies. The presented system is based on a previously proposed generic metamodel for information extraction and is applied in this paper to three different case studies representing three different crisis namely Ebola sanitarian crisis, Fukushima nuclear crisis and Hurricane Katrina natural disaster.