Jonathan L. Barr, Annie M. Boek Peddicord, Russ Burtner, & Heidi A. Mahy. (2011). Current domain challenges in the emergency response community. 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 describes the development of a framework targeted to technology providers to better understand the grand domain challenges of the emergency response and management community (EM). In developing this framework, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) researchers interviewed subject matter experts (SMEs) across the EM domain and corroborated these findings with current literature. We are presently examining relationships and dependencies within the framework. We anticipate that a thorough understanding of these gaps and dependencies will allow for a more informed approach to prioritizing research, developing tools, and applying technology to enhance performance in the EM community.
|
Anne Marie Barthe, Matthieu Lauras, & Frédérick Benaben. (2011). Improving the design of interoperable platform through a structured case study description approach: Application to a nuclear crisis. 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: In this article, we briefly describe a crisis management case that has been chosen (in the European funded project PLAY) to test the federated-open-trusted platform for event-driven interaction between services. A description of such complex use case in natural language is obviously limited and should be completed with a formal description methodology to gather the necessary knowledge. Considering our technical requirements we suggest to combine the S-Cube approach with the model driven architecture approach to propose a complete and structured case study description framework. Then this article presents a nuclear crisis case modeled according to these guidelines.
|
Frédérick Bénaben, Chihab Hanachi, Matthieu Lauras, Pierre Couget, & Vincent Chapurlat. (2008). A metamodel and its ontology to guide crisis characterization and its collaborative management. In B. V. de W. F. Fiedrich (Ed.), Proceedings of ISCRAM 2008 – 5th International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management (pp. 189–196). Washington, DC: Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management, ISCRAM.
Abstract: This paper presents a research in progress about the French ISyCri project that aims at providing partners involved in crisis management with an agile Mediation Information System (MIS). Not only this MIS shoul support the interoperability of the partners' information systems but it is also dedicated to coordinate their activities through a collaborative process. One of the first and main steps towards such a MIS, is to elaborate a common and sharable reference model built to characterize crisis situations. Such a model is also an input for automated reasoning to elaborate and adapt a crisis solving collaborative process. This article presents the objective of the project, our approach and our first results: a UML metamodel of crisis situation and its corresponding OWL ontology on top of which deductions are possible.
|
Benjamin Hong, Chanthujan Chandrakumar, Danuka Ravishan, & Raj Prasanna. (2023). A Peer-to-Peer Communication Method for Distributed Earthquake Early Warning Networks: Preliminary Findings. In V. L. Thomas J. Huggins (Ed.), Proceedings of the ISCRAM Asia Pacific Conference 2022 (pp. 111–116). Palmerston North, New Zealand: Massey Unversity.
Abstract: This work-in-progress paper presents preliminary findings of ongoing research into alternative peer-to-peer (P2P) communication methods for earthquake early warning (EEW) systems. It expands upon previous work (Prasanna et al., 2022) that explores a network architecture for a decentralised EEW system. This paper explores using Quick UDP Internet Connections (QUIC) over a hole-punched UDP tunnel as a potential alternative to a Software-Defined Wide Area Network (SD-WAN) for peer-to-peer networking in an experimental EEW network architecture. The performance of QUIC is tested and compared to TCP over ZeroTier, an SD-WAN chosen as a P2P communication method in the previous work, over a realistic network topology. The results show that QUIC can outperform TCP over ZeroTier. Future work is needed to produce a method suitable for actual use in an EEW system. This paper contributes to the EEW literature by introducing a new method of communication tailored for EEW.
|
Alena L. Benson, Keith Biggers, Jim Wall, & Mark P. Haselkorn. (2010). Adaptive development of a common operating environment for crisis response and management. 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: Complex information and communication systems present a special challenge to system designers because these are generally deployed as large, distributed systems with diverse user groups. Crisis response and management organizations in particular expect systems to be interoperable, resilient, flexible and provide lasting benefit. Currently, systems such as Virtual USA (Department of Homeland Security) and WatchKeeper (United States Coast Guard) seek to create common situational awareness for all participating agencies in security and incident response operations. We propose adaptive development as a system development model to build upon the ideas of systems such as Virtual USA and WatchKeeper in order to create sustainable and adaptable systems. Adaptive development supports ongoing improvement through user-driven design and modification in the target environment. An internet-based dashboard demonstrated during a United States Coast Guard Sector Seattle incident response exercise serves as an emergent case study for the adaptive model.
|
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.
|
Peter Berggren, & Björn J.E. Johansson. (2010). Developing an instrument for measuring shared understanding. 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: The paper discusses the need for an easy-to-use, easy-to-administer measure that can capture shared understanding in a team of professionals working together towards a successful performance. In the paper the development of such a measure is described using two empirical studies. Command-and-Control tasks are complex and often dynamic, and a way of capturing the degree of which a team of individuals have a common understanding of priorities in such a task is imperative. Two studies are presented. In the first study students participated in a microworld experiment where they tried to rank order pre-determined factors in order to measure shared understanding. In the second study officers from the Swedish Armed Forces participated in an exercise where they rank ordered self-generated factors.
|
Peter Berggren, Björn J.E. Johansson, Nicoletta Baroutsi, Isabelle Turcotte, & Sébastien Tremblay. (2014). Assessing team focused behaviors in emergency response teams using the shared priorities measure. 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. 130–134). University Park, PA: The Pennsylvania State University.
Abstract: The purpose of this work in progress paper is to report on the method development of the Shared Priorities measure to include content analysis, as a way of gaining a deeper understanding of team work in crisis/emergency response. An experiment is reported where the performance of six trained teams is compared with the performance of six non-trained teams. The experiment was performed using an emergency response microworld simulation with a forest fire scenario. Dependent measures were simulation performance, the Crew Awareness Rating Scale (CARS), and content analysis. Trained teams performed better and scored higher on measures of team behaviors.
|
Fredrik Bergstrand, & Jonas Landgren. (2009). Information sharing using live video in emergency response work. In S. J. J. Landgren (Ed.), ISCRAM 2009 – 6th International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management: Boundary Spanning Initiatives and New Perspectives. Gothenburg: Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management, ISCRAM.
Abstract: This paper presents findings from a design-oriented study focusing on emergency response work. Traditionally, information technology for emergency response work has included enroute navigation advice, resource management, hazard material databases, property information repositories, and situation reporting using sketching functionality. Now, a new class of information technology has become available, namely mobile live video capabilities. This paper presents initial findings from a study on how mobile live video capabilities could improve information sharing and situation awareness in emergency response work.
|
Brugghemans Bert, Milis Koen, & Van de Walle Bartel. (2013). Impact of the distribution and enrichment of information on the management and coordination of a human-made fast-burning crisis. 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. 89–93). KIT; Baden-Baden: Karlsruher Institut fur Technologie.
Abstract: Post hoc evaluations made of crisis situations and exercises often point at communication as an important reason for the failure of the management and coordination of the crisis. Crisis managers have to deal with the problem that they (and all other actors in the field) don't have the right information to coordinate the efforts and solve the crisis situation. This paper examines the relation between the information available – more specifically the richness of the information and the distribution of the information – And the management and coordination of a typical man-made fast-burning crisis. The literature on decision making and situation awareness is reviewed and an experiment is conducted with 40 crisis managers in Belgium to assess the impact of the information. Initial results indicate a relationship between the ways a crisis team receives information and the achieved level of situation awareness, the difficulty of making decisions and the perceived complexity of the crisis.
|
Nitesh Bharosa, Jaco Appelman, & Peter De Bruin. (2007). Integrating technology in crisis response using an information manager: First lessons learned from field exercises in the Port of Rotterdam. 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. 63–70). Delft: Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management, ISCRAM.
Abstract: Integrating information technology (IT) in crisis management networks is a difficult and long-term endeavor. First responders must establish situational awareness and take decisions under time pressure with incomplete information. Partly, this can be mitigated by adopting more advanced IT, however practice shows that adoption is hampered because of the required change in routines and procedures. We believe that we can moderate a change in routines and stimulate the adoption of technology by introducing a new role: the information manager (IM). This paper presents some results of the first round of field observations. The main conclusion is that the IM is instrumental where it concerns, speeding up the process of establishing situational awareness and improving the information structures. In order to further improve the production of situational awareness we suggest that further research should address the issues of the internalization of process guidelines and enhancing the adaptability of information systems.
|
Björn Bjurling. (2010). Contracts for resources in crisis management. 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: Today, crisis management relies to an extent on the provisioning of required resources from third-party providers. The crisis management capability is thus dependent on the adherence to, and the consistency of, a set of contracts for resource provisions. We aim at formalizing contingency plans as sets of contracts and developing a computational model for assessing whether the contracts for resource provisioning yield an adequate crisis management capability, with respect to resource provisioning. This paper outlines ongoing research on how to enable an analysis of contingency plans with respect to resource provisioning using the contractual formalism under development. We outline the important issues and illustrate with an example how contracts can be used for resource sharing.
|
Bjørn Erik Munkvold, Jaziar Radianti, Jan Ketil Rød, Tomasz Opach, Mikael Snaprud, Sofie Pilemalm, et al. (2019). Sharing Incident and Threat Information for Common Situational Understanding. In Z. Franco, J. J. González, & J. H. Canós (Eds.), Proceedings of the 16th International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response And Management. Valencia, Spain: Iscram.
Abstract: This paper presents the INSITU research project initiated to provide a systematic approach for effective sharing, integration and use of information from different sources, to establish a common operational picture (COP) and shared situational understanding among multiple actors in emergency response. The solution developed will provide an interactive map display, integrating harmonisation of terminology and collaboration support for information sharing and synthesis. The enhanced COP will also support evaluation and learning from exercises and incidents. The project involves close collaboration with emergency management stakeholders in Norway, for requirements analysis, participatory design, and validation of project deliverables. The research will improve information sharing and decision support in emergency operations centres, which will contribute to improve societal resilience through more effective response capability.
|
Justine I. Blanford, Jase Bernhardt, Alexander Savelyev, Gabrielle Wong-Parodi, Andrew M. Carleton, David W. Titley, et al. (2014). Tweeting and tornadoes. 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. 319–323). University Park, PA: The Pennsylvania State University.
Abstract: Social Media and micro-blogging is being used during crisis events to provide live up-to-date information as events evolve (before, during and after). Messages are posted by citizens or public officials. To understand the effectiveness of these messages, we examined the content of geo-located Twitter messages (“tweets”) sent during the Moore, Oklahoma tornado of May 20th, 2013 (+/-1day) to explore the spatial and temporal relationships of real-time reactions of the general public. We found a clear transition of topics during each stage of the tornado event. Twitter was useful for posting and retrieving updates, reconstructing the sequence of events as well as capturing people's reactions leading up to, during and after the tornado. A long-term goal for the research reported here is to provide insights to forecasters and emergency response personnel concerning the impact of warnings and other advisory messages.
|
Alexander F. Blecken, & Bernd Hellingrath. (2008). Supply Chain Management software for humanitarian operations: Review and assessment of current tools. In B. V. de W. F. Fiedrich (Ed.), Proceedings of ISCRAM 2008 – 5th International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management (pp. 342–351). Washington, DC: Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management, ISCRAM.
Abstract: Humanitarian operations in response to sudden and slow-onset crises have increased considerably both in terms of size and complexity over the last decade. This requires a coordinated approach by all actors involved in disaster or humanitarian relief efforts. Since the logistics part of disaster relief spending is accountable for a major part of disaster relief spending, it is natural to look at the supply chains of humanitarian organizations when searching for potentials for cooperation during humanitarian operations. In this paper, we have reviewed Supply Chain Management software currently used or piloted in humanitarian organizations. Their main features are presented and the tools are assessed according to criteria specific to supply chain management requirements of humanitarian operations. We find that while there is one tool which has the potential of becoming a de-facto standard, there are still gaps to be filled.
|
Lindsley G. Boiney, Bradley Goodman, Robert Gaimari, Jeffrey Zarrella, Christopher Berube, & Janet Hitzeman. (2008). Taming multiple chat room collaboration: Real-time visual cues to social networks and emerging threads. In B. V. de W. F. Fiedrich (Ed.), Proceedings of ISCRAM 2008 – 5th International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management (pp. 660–668). Washington, DC: Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management, ISCRAM.
Abstract: Distributed teams increasingly rely on collaboration environments, typically including chat, to link diverse experts for real time information sharing and decision-making. Current chat-based technologies enable easy exchange of information, but don't focus on managing those information exchanges. Important cues that guide face-to-face collaboration are either lost or missing. In some military environments, operators may juggle over a dozen chat rooms in order to collaborate on complex missions. This often leads to confusion, overload, miscommunication and delayed decisions. Our technology supports chat management. A summary display bar reduces the number of chat rooms operators need open by providing high level situational awareness pointers, in real-time, to: a) rooms with increasing message activity levels, b) rooms in which important collaborators are participating (those in the operator's social network), and c) rooms in which operator-selected keywords are used. This ability to peripherally monitor less critical chat rooms reduces operator overload, while enhancing the ability to rapidly detect important emerging discussion threads. © 2008 The MITRE Corporation. All rights reserved.
|
Art Botterell. (2006). The common alerting protocol: An open standard for alerting, warning and notification. In M. T. B. Van de Walle (Ed.), Proceedings of ISCRAM 2006 – 3rd International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management (pp. 497–503). Newark, NJ: Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium.
Abstract: This document describes the OASIS Common Alerting Protocol (CAP) standard, review its history and current status, and propose some directions for its future application and development. This XML content standard specifies a canonical data model for alerting, warning and notification messages. By abstracting the essential elements of effective warning messages from the underlying delivery technologies, CAP simplifies the integration of diverse warning delivery systems and provides a simple template for the creation of alerts and warnings. CAP is being used in a variety of warning systems and applications, but its full potential has yet to be exploited.
|
Briony Gray, Mark Weal, & David Martin. (2018). Supporting Situational Awareness during Disasters: The Case of Hurricane Irma. In Kristin Stock, & Deborah Bunker (Eds.), Proceedings of ISCRAM Asia Pacific 2018: Innovating for Resilience – 1st International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management Asia Pacific. (pp. 123–131). Albany, Auckland, New Zealand: Massey Univeristy.
Abstract: In a rapidly globalizing world, disasters and the way in which they are managed are changing. Social media, in conjunction with other online resources, now provide a wealth of information throughout the lifecycle of disasters and are relied upon by individuals and emergency responders alike. The study of such data as a lens for analysis has proved valuable in recent years, with many contributing to targeted emergency response protocols and improved methods for the management strategies of future crises. This study seeks to make a similar contribution by reporting on the use of such data for situational awareness during the case of hurricane Irma, which occurred between September and August 2017. Using a mixed methods approach the paper examines data from social media such as Twitter, as well as other online sources such as blogs and news media, to provide original insight into the disaster. A conceptual framework is then applied to determine the uses and users of social media, and to identify how these change throughout the course of the disaster, thus demonstrating situational awareness over time. The paper concludes with proposed improvements for disaster management and emergency response for future similar disasters, specifically in the hurricane season, in addition to more generalized hazards which are predicted to increase in their frequency and severity due to underlying issues such as climate change.
|
Marcia Brooks. (2006). Challenges for warning populations with sensory disabilities. In M. T. B. Van de Walle (Ed.), Proceedings of ISCRAM 2006 – 3rd International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management (pp. 137–140). Newark, NJ: Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium.
Abstract: People with sensory disabilities, like anyone else, need access to timely emergency and weather warnings information. Primary information sources, radio and television broadcasts, do not consistently serve the needs of the 28 million people who are deaf or hard-of-hearing, or the 11 million people who are blind or have low vision. Alert systems, services and products are developing text and audio alert capabilities to serve these populations but many inconsistently support appropriate modalities and accessible interfaces. Funded by the US Department of Commerce, WGBH is uniting emergency alert providers, local information resources, telecommunications industry and public broadcasting representatives, and consumers to research and disseminate replicable approaches to make emergency warnings and community-based information accessible. Through research with consumers and the public warning community, and delivery and device testing, an information model is being developed with recommended accessibility extensions to emergency system protocols, technologies and services for cross-platform delivery. © 2006 WGBH Educational Foundation.
|
Bruna Diirr, Vânia de Oliveira Neves, Marcus Vinícius Vasconcelos de Almeida Cunha, Ana Beatriz Kapps dos Reis, & Jairo Francisco de Souza. (2021). Software Requirements for Disaster Management Systems. 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. 1042–1054). Blacksburg, VA (USA): Virginia Tech.
Abstract: Disasters are a major global problem and a serious threat to sustainable development. In this context, the development of disaster management systems becomes a complex activity, both due to the unpredictability of the events to be treated and the difficulty in extracting or identifying these systems users' needs (requirements). This study aims to understand the requirements usually elicited for disaster management systems and how such requirements are identified. Thus, a systematic mapping of literature (SM) and an open-source repository mining (RM) were performed. Results bring benefits both to academics and practitioners, as detail several characteristics of disaster management systems that could assist these systems development and decision-making, besides providing inputs to guide further research.
|
Raffaele Bruno, Marco Conti, & Andrea Passarella. (2008). Opportunistic networking overlays for ICT services in crisis management. In B. V. de W. F. Fiedrich (Ed.), Proceedings of ISCRAM 2008 – 5th International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management (pp. 689–701). Washington, DC: Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management, ISCRAM.
Abstract: ICT infrastructures are a critical asset in today's Information society. Legacy telecommunication systems easily collapse in the face of disruptions due to security incidents or natural disasters. Hence, there is an urgent demand for new architectures and technologies ensuring a more efficient and dependable support for various security missions, such as disaster relief initiatives, first responder operations, critical infrastructure protection, etc. In this paper we advocate the opportunistic networking paradigm to build a self-organizing overlay ICT infrastructure for supporting dependable crisis management services. Our opportunistic framework to “glues together” surviving parts of the pre-existing infrastructure with networks deployed on-demand and users devices, and supports dependable distribution of coherent, updated, and non-contradictory information distribution. Finally, to show the potential advantages of our solution, we present initial results on the performance of different types of opportunistic infrastructures, by particularly highlighting the gains of context-aware systems.
|
|
Bryan Semaan, & Jeff Hemsley. (2015). Maintaining and Creating Social Infrastructures: Towards a Theory of Resilience. 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).
|
Aaron Burgman, Nikhil Kalghatgi, Erika Darling, Chris M. Newbern, Kristine Recktenwald, Shawn Chin, et al. (2006). Emergency data analysis via semantic lensing. In M. T. B. Van de Walle (Ed.), Proceedings of ISCRAM 2006 – 3rd International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management (pp. 334–338). Newark, NJ: Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium.
Abstract: Emergency situations often play out over extended geographic regions and can present response personnel with numerous types of data at various level of detail. Such data may be displayed in mapping software tools that organize the data into layers. Sufficiently complex scenarios can result in dense, occluded, and cluttered map displays. We investigated a localized, detail-on-demand filtering strategy called semantic lensing that in certain situations provides a more efficient and desirable approach than filtering global layers for mitigating clutter and occlusion. An initial formal user study with these semantic lenses has shown their value in aiding decision makers during tasks that might occur during detection of and response to emergency situations. Completion times are significantly faster when using lenses, and workloads are significantly lower. Future work will evaluate additional features and task-specific applicability, and may support the distribution of such a lens tool to emergency preparedness and response personnel.
|
Monika Büscher, Preben Holst Mogensen, & Margit Kristensen. (2008). When and how (not) to trust IT? Supporting virtual emergency teamwork. In B. V. de W. F. Fiedrich (Ed.), Proceedings of ISCRAM 2008 – 5th International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management (pp. 167–176). Washington, DC: Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management, ISCRAM.
Abstract: In this paper we use the formative evaluation of a prototype 'assembly' of pervasive computing technologies to specify design implications for emergency virtual teamwork tools. The prototype assembly, called “Overview”, was implemented in collaboration with police, fire and medical emergency services as part of the real life event management during the Tall Ships' Races 2007 in Denmark. We describe how the emergency teams used the technologies for collaboration between distributed colleagues, to produce shared situation awareness, to manage efforts and resources and respond to minor emergencies. Trust in technology is a key need virtual teams identify in their endeavours to dovetail innovative technologies into emergency work. We show how practices of working up trust are supported by the PalCom open architecture (which was used to build Overview), and delineate design guidelines to enable the productive integration of pervasive computing.
|
Bruce D. Campbell, Konrad E. Schroder, & Chris E. Weaver. (2010). RimSim visualization : An interactive tool for post-event sense making of a first response effort. 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: Upon developing a software agent-based simulator for training roles in emergency response scenarios, the PARVAC team at the University of Washington has pursued building a tool for better investigative review and insight generation on the performance of an emergency response game session team. While our RimSim Response software included the opportunity to re-run a simulated team performance in order to review player and agent behavior, we did not provide our trainees the ability to visually query their performance outside of a sequential review of the emergency response effort. By integrating our RSR visualization components with an existing visual query software package called Improvise, we were able to construct highly-coordinated visualizations of our data model for the ability to apply a sense making approach in the investigation of live player and software agent-based behavior – both as individual players and as combinations of players working on tasks associated with an emergency response scenario. The resultant tool is now our primary visualization tool for discussing first responder team performance and supports the overall RSR objective of training teams to make the most effective, recognition-primed decisions when a real emergency crisis occurs in their community. This paper reviews our visualization tool and demonstrates its use.
|
