Rob Grace, Sanjana Gautam, & Andrea Tapia. (2023). Continuity of Operations Planning in Public-Safety Answering Points during the COVID-19 Pandemic. In V. L. Thomas J. Huggins (Ed.), Proceedings of the ISCRAM Asia Pacific Conference 2022 (pp. 173–180). Palmerston North, New Zealand: Massey Unversity.
Abstract: Continuity of Operations (COOP) planning helps ensure that municipal agencies maintain essential functions when disasters threaten critical infrastructures. COOP planning is especially important for Public-Safety Answering Points (PSAPs), which must continue to answer 911 calls and dispatch first responders during crises. However, COOP planning guidelines often focus on threats to cyber-physical infrastructures rather than outbreaks of infectious disease that threaten the human work arrangements—social infrastructures—agencies rely on to perform essential functions. This study reports preliminary findings from interviews with U.S. PSAP officials who developed plans to decentralize 911 facilities, networks, and personnel to maintain essential functions during the COVID-19 pandemic. These findings suggest revisions to COOP planning guidelines that consider requirements for redundant, diverse, and interdependent cyber-physical-social infrastructures.
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Boris Petrenj, & Paolo Trucco. (2021). Blockchain-based Solutions to support inter-organisational Critical Infrastructure Resilience. In Anouck Adrot, Rob Grace, Kathleen Moore, & Christopher W. Zobel (Eds.), ISCRAM 2021 Conference Proceedings – 18th International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management (pp. 982–993). Blacksburg, VA (USA): Virginia Tech.
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.
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Stefan Schauer, Stefan Rass, & Sandra König. (2021). Simulation-driven Risk Model for Interdependent Critical Infrastructures. In Anouck Adrot, Rob Grace, Kathleen Moore, & Christopher W. Zobel (Eds.), ISCRAM 2021 Conference Proceedings – 18th International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management (pp. 404–415). Blacksburg, VA (USA): Virginia Tech.
Abstract: Critical infrastructures (CIs) in urban areas or municipalities have evolved into strongly interdependent and highly complex networks. To assess risks in this sophisticated environment, classical risk management approaches require extensions to reflect those interdependencies and include the consequences of cascading effects into the assessment. In this paper, we present a concept for a risk model specifically tailored to those requirements of interdependent CIs. We will show how the interdependencies can be reflected in the risk model in a generic way such that the dependencies among CIs on different levels of abstraction can be described. Furthermore, we will highlight how the simulation of cascading effects can be directly integrated to consistently represent the assessment of those effects in the risk model. In this way, the model supports municipalities' decision makers in improving their risk and resilience management of the CIs under their administration.
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Boris Petrenj, Mariachiara Piraina, Giada Feletti, Paolo Trucco, Valentina Urbano, & Stefano Gelmi. (2021). Cross-border Information Sharing for Critical Infrastructure Resilience: Requirements and Platform Architecture. In Anouck Adrot, Rob Grace, Kathleen Moore, & Christopher W. Zobel (Eds.), ISCRAM 2021 Conference Proceedings – 18th International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management (pp. 247–259). Blacksburg, VA (USA): Virginia Tech.
Abstract: Resilience of Critical Infrastructures is high on the agenda of countries' efforts. Modern CI highly interdependent and span countries, so disruptions occurring on one side of the border can significantly affect economic and social functions on the other. To build CI resilience, stakeholder organizations must collaborate and exchange information throughout the Emergency Management cycle. In this paper, we present the Critical Infrastructure Platform (PIC in Italian) which is being developed within the SICt project (Resilience of Cross-Border Critical Infrastructure). PIC is a technological piece of a broader cross-border regional resilience strategy between Lombardy Region (Italy) and Canton Ticino (Switzerland) aiming to improve the capacity to manage accidental events involving transportation CI between the two countries. The main goal of the PIC platform is to support secure and effective information-sharing, inter-organizational risk assessment, monitoring and operational coordination under critical situations. The paper presents the key requirements of such ICT system, its high-level architecture including the description of its main modules, main takeaways and future steps.
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Debora Robles Perez, Manuel Esteve Domingo, Israel Perez Llopis, & Federico J. Carvajal Rodrigo. (2020). System and Architecture of an Adapted Situation Awareness Tool for First Responders. In Amanda Hughes, Fiona McNeill, & Christopher W. Zobel (Eds.), ISCRAM 2020 Conference Proceedings – 17th International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management (pp. 928–936). Blacksburg, VA (USA): Virginia Tech.
Abstract: First responders (FRs) in Europe are currently facing large natural and man-made disasters (e.g. wild fire, terrorist attacks, industrial incidents, big floods, gas leaks etc.), that put their own lives and those of thousands of others at risk. Adapted situation awareneSS tools and taIlored training curricula for increaSing capabiliTies and enhANcing the proteCtion of first respondErs (ASSISTANCE) is an ongoing European H2020 project which main objective is to increase FRs Situation Awareness (SA) for helping and protecting different kinds of FRs' organizations that work together in large scale disasters mitigation. ASSISTANCE will enhance the SA of the FRs organisations during their mitigation activities through the integration of new paradigms, tools and technologies (e.g. drones/robots equipped with a range of sensors, robust communications capabilities, etc.) with the main objective of increasing both their protection and their efficiency.
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