Anouck Adrot, & Mercedes Aguerre. (2022). Data Ecosystems and Disaster Risk Reduction in Cross-border Regions: Visioning from 2020 Roya Valley Flood Disaster. In Rob Grace, & Hossein Baharmand (Eds.), ISCRAM 2022 Conference Proceedings – 19th International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management (pp. 878–886). Tarbes, France.
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.
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Apoorva Chauhan, & Amanda Lee Hughes. (2015). Facebook and Twitter Adoption by Hurricane Sandy-affected Police and Fire Departments. In L. Palen, M. Buscher, T. Comes, & A. Hughes (Eds.), ISCRAM 2015 Conference Proceedings ? 12th International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management. Kristiansand, Norway: University of Agder (UiA).
Abstract: We report initial findings around the Facebook and Twitter adoption trends of 840 fire and police departments affected by Hurricane Sandy. The data show that adoption increased during the time period directly surrounding Hurricane Sandy. Despite this increase, the creation of new online accounts since that time has been declining and overall adoption rates seem to be stabilizing. Lastly, the data report Facebook to be significantly more popular than Twitter as a form of online communication for these fire and police departments.
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Ummul Khair Israt Ara, & Fang Chen. (2012). Information security in crisis management system. In Z.Franco J. R. L. Rothkrantz (Ed.), ISCRAM 2012 Conference Proceedings – 9th International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management. Vancouver, BC: Simon Fraser University.
Abstract: Information security is an important part of almost any kind of Information System. Crisis Management Systems (CMS) are a type of Information System that deals with information which needs to be secure. No matter what kind of crisis, natural disasters, man-made crisis or terrorist attacks, the CMS security should not be compromised. There are many challenges regarding exchange of qualified information and interoperability between various Expert Systems and the CMS. It is important to have strong security in terms of technology, skills, security requirements, sensitivity of information and trust-worthiness (Vural, Ciftcibasi and Inan, 2010). Depending on the type of crisis situation, different sets of security components should be triggered, since the security requirements vary between situations. For example, a terrorist attack has different security requirements in the system compared to a natural disaster or a medical emergency. In this paper, the importance of Information Security in CMS will be discussed. Methods for secure exchange of qualified information are analyzed and a secure and dynamic Crisis Management Information Security System (CMISS) design is introduced. © 2012 ISCRAM.
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Laura Ardila, Israel Perez-Llopis, Carlos E. Palau, & Manuel Esteve. (2013). Virtual reality training environment for strategic and tactical emergency operations. In J. Geldermann and T. Müller S. Fortier F. F. T. Comes (Ed.), ISCRAM 2013 Conference Proceedings – 10th International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management (pp. 140–144). KIT; Baden-Baden: Karlsruher Institut fur Technologie.
Abstract: The application of Information and Communication Technologies in emergency management environments is a challenging research topic; particularly, the applicability of C4ISR (Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance) systems specifically designed for these environments. A key aspect in emergency management is the training of operatives at all levels, from intervention to operational, including tactical command and control. Virtual reality is widely used for training and learning purposes, but the interaction of real and virtual worlds with new standards (i.e. MPEG-V), going a step further from the traditional approach to create virtual environments based in expensive simulation dedicated equipment and allowing data streaming between both worlds, has not yet been exploited in training for emergency management. This paper proposes an architecture for a C4ISR training system providing interoperability between real and virtual worlds using the MPEG-V standard and allowing simultaneous and real time training of both real and virtual units.
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Gaston C. Armour, & Hero Tameling. (2011). Collaborative relationships are key to community resilience and emergency preparedness. In E. Portela L. S. M.A. Santos (Ed.), 8th International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management: From Early-Warning Systems to Preparedness and Training, ISCRAM 2011. Lisbon: Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management, ISCRAM.
Abstract: The United States of America experienced two major incidents that changed the countrys perspective on emergency preparedness: September 11, 2001 World Trade Center attacks, and Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Since that time the United States Department of Homeland Security established 10 separate Regional Catastrophic Planning Teams (RCPT) around the country. These RCPTs were set-up to inform, train and determine the effectiveness of mutual-aid coordination and prepare individuals, families and communities for an “all-hazard” environment. As RCPT members representing one state agency providing human services, the authors proposed an initiative, based on a working model they had already deployed in their own agency, to enhance emergency preparedness activities to include individual and community resiliency along with disaster and catastrophic planning. That request to expand the RCPT role, opened-up a dialogue to develop an innovative approach to collaborative partnerships. This shift afforded additional opportunities in times of a crisis, disaster or catastrophe.
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Henrik Artman, Joel Brynielsson, Björn J.E. Johansson, & Jiri Trnka. (2011). Dialogical emergency management and strategic awareness in emergency communication. In E. Portela L. S. M.A. Santos (Ed.), 8th International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management: From Early-Warning Systems to Preparedness and Training, ISCRAM 2011. Lisbon: Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management, ISCRAM.
Abstract: This paper introduces two concepts-dialogical emergency management and strategic awareness-as means to use and understand the content of social media for the purpose of emergency communication. Dialogical emergency management denotes that the emergency management organizations follow what people publish in various social media on emergencies and ongoing emergency response, and then adjust their information strategies in a way that matches the expectations and needs for emergency information of the public. The concept of strategic awareness suggests that it is essential to have an understanding of the receiver (public) of emergency information but also to have an understanding of the receivers' idea about the emergency and emergency response. Hence, the notion of strategic awareness incorporates structured awareness of how people interpret, value, and reacts on communication based on what they think about the sender's (emergency management organization's) actual intentions and motives.
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Zahra Ashktorab, Christopher Brown, Manojit Nandi, & Aron Culotta. (2014). Tweedr: Mining twitter to inform disaster response. In and P.C. Shih. L. Plotnick M. S. P. S.R. Hiltz (Ed.), ISCRAM 2014 Conference Proceedings – 11th International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management (pp. 354–358). University Park, PA: The Pennsylvania State University.
Abstract: In this paper, we introduce Tweedr, a Twitter-mining tool that extracts actionable information for disaster relief workers during natural disasters. The Tweedr pipeline consists of three main parts: classification, clustering and extraction. In the classification phase, we use a variety of classification methods (sLDA, SVM, and logistic regression) to identify tweets reporting damage or casualties. In the clustering phase, we use filters to merge tweets that are similar to one another; and finally, in the extraction phase, we extract tokens and phrases that report specific information about different classes of infrastructure damage, damage types, and casualties. We empirically validate our approach with tweets collected from 12 different crises in the United States since 2006.
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Mikael Asplund, Trishan R. De Lanerolle, Christopher Fei, Prasanna Gautam, Ralph A. Morelli, Simin Nadjm-Tehrani, et al. (2010). Wireless ad hoc dissemination for search and rescue. In C. Zobel B. T. S. French (Ed.), ISCRAM 2010 – 7th International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management: Defining Crisis Management 3.0, Proceedings. Seattle, WA: Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management, ISCRAM.
Abstract: In search and rescue scenarios local information on victims and other finds needs to be disseminated rapidly to other rescue workers and team leaders. However, post disaster scenarios may imply the collapse of information infrastructure including cellular communication and Internet connectivity. Even if we consider wireless ad hoc communication as a means of information dissemination we should count on frequent loss of connectivity in the network due to unpredictable mobility and sparse network topologies. In this paper we present the realization of an existing manycast protocol (random walk gossip) on commodity handheld devices running the Android platform. This communication mode is used to demonstrate the potential for distributed information dissemination on victims and finds. The application layer is an adaptation of an existing surveying information tool (POSIT) which is now fully decentralized and relies on text communication to achieve energy efficiency.
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Astrid Janssen, & Hanneke Vreugdenhil. (2015). Objective oriented exercise evaluation with TARCK-it. In L. Palen, M. Buscher, T. Comes, & A. Hughes (Eds.), ISCRAM 2015 Conference Proceedings ? 12th International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management. Kristiansand, Norway: University of Agder (UiA).
Abstract: Do we fully utilize the results of disaster management exercises? Do we miss valuable feedback? Many different types of disaster management exercises, command post exercises, tabletop exercises, or serious games have a specific purpose. Generally each exercise is designed to meet its own particular exercise goals. Evaluation of the exercises is achieved in many different ways. Not always guidelines for exercise evaluation are present. Generally the exercise participants? performance is assessed by experienced staff members. The main purpose of the evaluation is to see whether the exercise goals are met. In this publication the authors suggest that a valuable source of information about the participants? performance in exercises remains often undiscovered. A new level of information can be unlocked by evaluating the exercise using a structured, analytical method. The method TARCK-it directly compares measured participant or team performance with the exercise goals.
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Christoph Aubrecht, Sérgio Freire, Josef Fröhlich, Beatrice Rath, & Klaus Steinnocher. (2011). Integrating the concepts of foresight and prediction for improved disaster risk management. In E. Portela L. S. M.A. Santos (Ed.), 8th International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management: From Early-Warning Systems to Preparedness and Training, ISCRAM 2011. Lisbon: Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management, ISCRAM.
Abstract: This discussion paper focuses on conceptualizing the ultimate goal in disaster management, i.e. reduction of future risks and impacts and explicitly highlights how actions taken in various phases of integrated disaster risk management influence vulnerability and eventually overall risk characteristics. First, the advancement of the disaster management concept evolving from a cyclic perspective to a spiral view is described and the various stages of disaster management including risk analysis, mitigation, and response are explained. In an attempt to improve and advance disaster risk management, next, the concepts of foresight and prediction are described and its major differences are highlighted. Finally, the basic framework of risk governance is considered for integrating foresight and prediction and thus lifting disaster management to the next level. Active and transparent communication and participation is seen as the key for successfully implementing risk governance.
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Oleg Aulov, Adam Price, & Milton Halem. (2014). AsonMaps: A platform for aggregation visualization and analysis of disaster related human sensor network observations. In and P.C. Shih. L. Plotnick M. S. P. S.R. Hiltz (Ed.), ISCRAM 2014 Conference Proceedings – 11th International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management (pp. 802–806). University Park, PA: The Pennsylvania State University.
Abstract: In this paper, we describe AsonMaps, a platform for collection, aggregation, visualization and analysis of near real-time, geolocated quantifiable information from a variety of heterogeneous social media outlets in order to provide emergency responders and other coordinating federal agencies not only with the means of listening to the affected population, but also to be able to incorporate this data into geophysical and probabilistic disaster forecast models that guide their response actions. Hurricane Sandy disaster is examined as a use-case scenario discussing the different types of quantifiable information that can be extracted from Instagram and Twitter.
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Arif Cagdas Aydinoglu, Elif Demir, & Serpil Ates. (2011). Designing a harmonized geo-data model for Disaster Management. In E. Portela L. S. M.A. Santos (Ed.), 8th International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management: From Early-Warning Systems to Preparedness and Training, ISCRAM 2011. Lisbon: Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management, ISCRAM.
Abstract: There are problems for managing and sharing geo-data effectively in Turkey. The key to resolving these problems is to develop a harmonized geo-data model. General features of this model are based on ISO/TC211 standards, INSPIRE Data Specifications, and expectations of Turkey National GIS actions. The generic conceptual model components were defined to harmonize geo-data and to produce data specifications. In order to enable semantic interoperability, application schemas were designed for data themes such as administrative unit, address, cadastre/building, hydrographic, topography, geodesy, transportation, and land cover/use. The model, as base and the domain geo-data model, is a starting point to create sector models in different thematic areas. Disaster Management Geo-data Model model was developed as an extension of base geo-data model to manage geo-data collaborate on disaster management activities. This model includes existing geo-data special for disaster management activities and dynamic data collecting during disaster.
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Thomas Bader, Andreas Meissner, & Rolf Tscherney. (2008). Digital Map Table with Fovea-Tablett®: Smart furniture for emergency operation centers. In B. V. de W. F. Fiedrich (Ed.), Proceedings of ISCRAM 2008 – 5th International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management (pp. 679–688). Washington, DC: Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management, ISCRAM.
Abstract: During large-scale crisis events special emergency management structures are put in place in order to execute administrative-strategic and/or technical-tactical functions for potentially large geographical areas. The adequacy of information systems and the communication capabilities within such management structures largely determine the quality of situation awareness and are thus crucial for the effectiveness and efficiency of the emergency managers' work. In this field, this paper makes a threefold contribution: In the first part we provide a description of the organizational structure and the tasks in an emergency operation center (EOC) from a practitioner's perspective. Based on this primer, in the second part we propose four guidelines which help to design human-computer interfaces, especially adequate smart room technology, for this domain. Third, we present a system we designed along these guidelines. We specifically discuss the introduction of a Digital Map Table with Fovea-Tablett® into an EOC as “smart furniture” supporting both team and individual work.
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Robert Baksa, & Murray Turoff. (2010). The current state of continuous auditing and emergency management's valuable contribution. In C. Zobel B. T. S. French (Ed.), ISCRAM 2010 – 7th International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management: Defining Crisis Management 3.0, Proceedings. Seattle, WA: Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management, ISCRAM.
Abstract: Continuous Auditing systems require that human judgment be formalized and automated, which can be a complex, costly and computationally intensive endeavor. However, Continuous Auditing systems have similarities with Emergency Management and Response systems, which integrate Continuous Auditing's detection and alerting functions with the tracking of decisions and decision options for the situations that could be more effectively handled by human judgment. Emergency Management and Response systems could be an effective prototype to help overcome some of the implementation obstacles that are impeding Continuous Auditing systems' implementation rate. Continuous Auditing has the potential to transform the existing audit paradigm from periodic reviews of a few accounting transactions to a continuous review of all transactions, which thereby could vastly strengthen an organization's risk management and business processes. Although Continuous Auditing implementations are occurring, their adoption is slower than expected. With the goal of providing an empirical and methodological foundation for future Continuous Auditing systems and possibly inspiring additional investigation into merging the Continuous Auditing and Emergency Management streams of research, this paper provides several definitions of Continuous Auditing, suggests possible architectures for these systems, lists some common implementation challenges and highlights a few examples of how Emergency Management research could potentially overcome them.
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Michael R. Bartolacci, Christoph Aubrecht, & Dilek Ozceylan Aubrecht. (2014). A portable base station optimization model for wireless infrastructure deployment in disaster planning and management. In and P.C. Shih. L. Plotnick M. S. P. S.R. Hiltz (Ed.), ISCRAM 2014 Conference Proceedings – 11th International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management (pp. 50–54). University Park, PA: The Pennsylvania State University.
Abstract: Disaster response requires communications among all affected parties including emergency responders and the affected populace. Wireless telecommunications, if available through a fixed structure cellular mobile network, satellites, portable station mobile networks and ad hoc mobile networks, can provide this means for such communications. While the deployment of temporary mobile networks and other wireless equipment following disasters has been successfully accomplished by governmental agencies and mobile network providers following previous disasters, there appears to be little optimization effort involved with respect to maximizing key performance measures of the deployment or minimizing overall 'cost' (including time aspects) to deploy. This work-in-progress does not focus on the question of what entity will operate the portable base during a disaster, but on optimizing the placement of mobile base stations or similar network nodes for planning and real time management purposes. An optimization model is proposed for the staging and placement of portable base stations to support disaster relief efforts.
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Tuncay Bayrak. (2007). Performance metrics for disaster monitoring systems. In K. Nieuwenhuis P. B. B. Van de Walle (Ed.), Intelligent Human Computer Systems for Crisis Response and Management, ISCRAM 2007 Academic Proceedings Papers (pp. 125–132). Delft: Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management, ISCRAM.
Abstract: Understanding the performance of disaster monitoring systems is a key to understanding their success, therefore; various qualitative and quantitative measures and metrics can be applied in the characterization and analysis of such systems. Through evaluation studies, problems that impede a disaster monitoring system performance can be identified. The results can be used for system control, design, and capacity planning. Previous studies address technical performance analysis metrics for analyzing monitoring systems leaving out human and organizational dimensions of such systems. Thus, the primary objective of this study is to identify and describe a set of disaster monitoring systems performance analysis metrics that may be employed to evaluate such systems. This study may be valuable to researchers and practitioners involved in disaster and emergency response studies in planning the transportation of vital first-aid supplies and emergency personnel to disaster-affected areas, and in improving chances of survival after a natural disaster.
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Irma Becerra-Fernandez, Weidong Xia, Arvind Gudi, & Jose Rocha. (2008). Task characteristics, knowledge sharing and integration, and emergency management performance: Research agenda and challenges. In B. V. de W. F. Fiedrich (Ed.), Proceedings of ISCRAM 2008 – 5th International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management (pp. 88–92). Washington, DC: Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management, ISCRAM.
Abstract: Emergency management tasks are inherently complex and dynamic, requiring quick knowledge sharing and decision coordination among multiple organizations across different levels and locations. However, there is a general lack of understanding about how to describe and assess the complex and dynamic nature of emergency management tasks and how knowledge integration help managers improve emergency management task performance. This paper describes a research project that aims at (1) developing the concepts of task complexity and uncertainty of emergency management tasks and (2) testing the mediating role of knowledge sharing and knowledge integration between emergency management task characteristics and performance. The overall research agenda, approaches, challenges and the advantages of utilizing a virtual Emergency Operations Center (vEOC) for this line of research are discussed.
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Patricia Gómez Bello, Ignacio Aedo, Fausto Sainz, Paloma Díaz, & Jorge De Castro. (2006). M-ARCE: Designing an ubiquitous mobile office for disaster mitigation, services and configuration. In M. T. B. Van de Walle (Ed.), Proceedings of ISCRAM 2006 – 3rd International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management (pp. 121–126). Newark, NJ: Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium.
Abstract: Cooperation and mutual assistance in emergency situations is one of the main objectives of the Latin-American Association of Governmental Organisms of Civil Defense and Protection. To promote such collaboration m-ARCE has been developed; an ubiquitous mobile office for disaster mitigation where users can send and receive information anywhere and anytime. When a catastrophe happens in a country, and almost all infrastructure is destroyed, mobile technology, such as mobile devices and wireless networks, offers the user resources to ask for help and to manage it. Latin-American Countries often suffer catastrophes that provoke numerous human losses and major economic and social problems. International assistance and collaboration with the affected country is necessary to help in its recovery. The Web, like Internet, offers static office services to users who can access information using an infrastructure in indoor environments. On the other hand, mobile computing and networking use the Internet, together with mobile physical devices linked to it, and software platforms built upon it, to design and coordinate systems across countries. In the ubiquitous mobile office design, we describe how services, such as chat, email and wireless communication, should be configured for emergency situation. We make use of ubiquitous hypermedia -linked nodes in ubiquitous spaces- to ensure mobility and accessibility to the mobile device interface, such as PDAs and smartphones.
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Andrea Bellucci, Alessio Malizia, Paloma Díaz, & Ignacio Aedo. (2010). Framing the design space for novel crisis-related mashups: The eStoryS example. In C. Zobel B. T. S. French (Ed.), ISCRAM 2010 – 7th International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management: Defining Crisis Management 3.0, Proceedings. Seattle, WA: Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management, ISCRAM.
Abstract: Web 2.0 can be viewed as a platform where users can develop their own web applications. It is also characterized by a vast amount of user-generated contents presenting spatial and temporal components, by means of associated metadata. These metadata has been successfully exploited to generate map-based mashups (web applications gathering data from different sources) facing different kind of crisis situations, ranging from natural disasters (earthquakes, wildfires, floods...) to human-made disasters (terrorist attacks, school shootings, conflicts...). The social and collaborative dimensions of the Web 2.0 can be also exploited for managing crisis-related information. We present here a survey of current crisis-related mashups we employed to extract design dimensions and provide a conceptual framework that can be used: A) to understand current systems and; b) to design next generation of crisis-related mashups. We propose the eStoryS system as an example of application developed following the design principles presented in this paper. On the basis of our analysis, we believe that the design dimensions posited here provide useful insights for the design of novel web mashups in the emergency management domain.
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Roser Beneito-Montagut, Susan Anson, Duncan Shaw, & Christopher Brewster. (2013). Governmental social media use for emergency communication. In J. Geldermann and T. Müller S. Fortier F. F. T. Comes (Ed.), ISCRAM 2013 Conference Proceedings – 10th International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management (pp. 828–833). KIT; Baden-Baden: Karlsruher Institut fur Technologie.
Abstract: The possibility of crowdsourced information, multi-geographical and multi-organisational information flows during emergencies and crises provided by web 2.0 tools are providing emergency management centres with new communication challenges and opportunities. Building on the existing emergency management and social media literature, this article explores how institutions are using and adopting social media for emergency communication. By examining the drivers and barriers of social media adoption in two European governmental agencies dealing with emergencies, the paper aims to establish a framework to examine whether and how institutional resilience could be improved.
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Benjamin Herfort, Melanie Eckle, João Porto de Albuquerque, & Alexander Zipf. (2015). Towards assessing the quality of volunteered geographic information from OpenStreetMap for identifying critical infrastructures. In L. Palen, M. Buscher, T. Comes, & A. Hughes (Eds.), ISCRAM 2015 Conference Proceedings ? 12th International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management. Kristiansand, Norway: University of Agder (UiA).
Abstract: Identifying the assets of a community that are part of its Critical Infrastructure (CI) is a crucial task in emergency planning. However, this task can prove very challenging due to the costs involved in defining the methodology and gathering the necessary data. Volunteered Geographic Information from collaborative maps such as OpenStreetMap (OSM) may be able to make a contribution in this context, since it contains valuable local knowledge. However, research is still due to assess the quality of OSM for the particular purpose of identifying critical assets. To fill this gap, this paper proposes a catalogue of critical asset types, based on the analysis of different reference frameworks. We thus analyze how good the emergent OSM data model is for representing these asset types, by verifying whether they can be mapped to tags used by the OSM community. Results show that critical asset types of all selected sectors and branches are well represented in OSM.
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Imane Benkhelifa, Samira Moussaoui, & Nadia Nouali-Taboudjemat. (2013). Locating emergency responders using mobile wireless sensor networks. In J. Geldermann and T. Müller S. Fortier F. F. T. Comes (Ed.), ISCRAM 2013 Conference Proceedings – 10th International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management (pp. 432–441). KIT; Baden-Baden: Karlsruher Institut fur Technologie.
Abstract: Emergency response in disaster management using wireless sensor networks has recently become an interest of many researchers in the world. This interest comes from the growing number of disasters and crisis (natural or man-made) affecting millions of lives and the easy-use of new and cheap technologies. This paper details another application of WSN in the post disaster scenario and comes up with an algorithm for localization of sensors attached to mobile responders (firefighters, policemen, first aid agents, emergency nurses, etc) while assisted by a mobile vehicle (fire truck, police car, or aerial vehicle like helicopters) called mobile anchor, sent to supervise the rescue operation. This solution is very efficient and rapidly deployable since no pre-installed infrastructure is needed. Also, there is no need to equip each sensor with a GPS receiver which is very costly and may increase the sensor volume. The proposed technique is based on the prediction of the rescuers velocities and directions considering previous position estimations. The evaluation of our solution shows that our technique takes benefit from prediction in a more effective manner than previous solutions. The simulation results show that our algorithm outperforms conventional Monte Carlo localization schemes by decreasing estimation errors with more than 50%.
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Ali Benssam, Nadia Nouali-Taboudjemat, & Omar Nouali. (2013). Towards an It-based platform for disaster risks management in Algeria. In J. Geldermann and T. Müller S. Fortier F. F. T. Comes (Ed.), ISCRAM 2013 Conference Proceedings – 10th International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management (pp. 72–77). KIT; Baden-Baden: Karlsruher Institut fur Technologie.
Abstract: Disaster management and risk prevention in Algeria have undergone many changes in the recent years. Important efforts have been provided on the legal and organizational sides to set the right conditions for an integrated and collaborative framework for disaster management in the country. The aim is to address the lack of information sharing, coordination and collaboration among the involved organizations. However, although the enhancement of the organizational arrangements, several problems persist mainly related to the implementation of these measures. To address this issue, in this paper, we propose an IT based platform in the field of risks prevention and disaster management (DM). This platform provides decision support, enables information sharing, helps to enhance public awareness regarding risks and disasters, supports communication and dissemination of information and alerts in disaster situations and facilitates the implementation of regulation related to disaster management.
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Gary Berg-Cross. (2008). Improving situational ontologies to support adaptive crisis management knowledge architecture. In B. V. de W. F. Fiedrich (Ed.), Proceedings of ISCRAM 2008 – 5th International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management (pp. 537–545). Washington, DC: Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management, ISCRAM.
Abstract: There is considerable interest in advance technologies to support crisis and disaster management as they face the challenges of designing, building, and maintaining large-scale distributed systems able to adapt to the dynamics and complexity of crises. Candidate technologies include Service Oriented Architecture (SOA), related Semantic Web technology, agent-based architecture and cognitive architectures. Each embodies some principles of the Adaptive Architecture-including modularity, openness, standards-based development, runtime support and importantly explicitness. However, truly adaptive architectures for crisis management will require some deepening the knowledge architecture's content and not just its representation. Light and more robust ontological models of situations are discussed to show how better formalization of conceptual patterns like “participation” can be developed to support cognitive architectures. The feasibility of an ontological design pattern approach is described as an avenue for future research and development describing specific types of situations.
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Thomas Bernoulli, Gerald Glanzer, Thomas Wiebflecker, & Ulrich Walder. (2010). Infrastructurless indoor positioning system for first responders. In C. Zobel B. T. S. French (Ed.), ISCRAM 2010 – 7th International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management: Defining Crisis Management 3.0, Proceedings. Seattle, WA: Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management, ISCRAM.
Abstract: To overview the site of operation in case of an emergency is crucial for effective emergency management. This is a difficult task, in particular within large buildings or underground structures. Information about the whereabouts of the staff is a key element of effective disaster management. This paper presents an indoor positioning system which is able to track and locate people within buildings independent of any infrastructure (global navigation satellite system, WLAN installations, etc.). The system is based on inertial measurement units computing the track of its wearer and a component verifying this position estimates using floor plans of the building. This novel approach allows robust tracking and locating of action forces within buildings and underground structures.
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