Angela I. Chung, Jesse F. Lawrence, & Carl Christensen. (2013). Evaluating the integrability of the quake-catcher network (QCN). 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. 386–390). KIT; Baden-Baden: Karlsruher Institut fur Technologie.
Abstract: This paper reviews the Quake-Catcher Network (QCN), a distributed computing seismic network that uses lowcost USB accelerometers to record earthquakes, and discusses the potential to incorporate QCN stations with traditional seismic networks. These very dense urban networks could then be used to create a working earthquake early warning system, as has been shown by our preliminary tests of the QCN in Christchurch, New Zealand. Although we have not yet attempted to add traditional seismometers to the QCN or supplement existing seismic networks with QCN sensors, we suggest that to do so would not be difficult, due to the simple nature of our network.
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Andrea Zielinski, Stuart E. Middleton, Laurissa N. Tokarchuk, & Xinyue Wang. (2013). Social media text mining and network analysis for decision support in natural crisis management. 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. 840–845). KIT; Baden-Baden: Karlsruher Institut fur Technologie.
Abstract: A core issue in crisis management is to extract from the mass of incoming information what is important for situational awareness during mass emergencies. Based on a case study we develop a prototypical application, TweetComp1, which is integrated into the decision-support component of a Tsunami early warning system and demonstrates the applicability of our approach. This paper describes four novel approaches using focused twitter crawling, trustworthiness analysis, geo-parsing, and multilingual tweet classification in the context of how they could be used for monitoring crises. The validity of our state-of-the art text mining and network analysis technologies will be verified in different experiments based on a human annotated gold standard corpus.
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Andrea H. Tapia, Kathleen A. Moore, & Nichloas J. Johnson. (2013). Beyond the trustworthy tweet: A deeper understanding of microblogged data use by disaster response and humanitarian relief organizations. 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. 770–779). KIT; Baden-Baden: Karlsruher Institut fur Technologie.
Abstract: In this paper we present findings from interviews conducted with representatives from large international disaster response organizations concerning their use of social media data in crisis response. We present findings in which the barriers to use by responding organizations have gone beyond simple discussions of trustworthiness to that of more operational issues rather than mere data quality. We argue that the landscape of the use of microblogged data in crisis response is varied, with pockets of use and acceptance among organizations. We found that microblogged data is useful to responders in situations where information is limited, such as at the beginning of an emergency response effort, and when the risks of ignoring an accurate response outweigh the risks of acting on an incorrect one. In some situations, such as search and rescue operations, microblogged data may never meet the standards of quality required. In others, such as resource and supply management, microblogging data could be useful as long as it is appropriately verified and classified.
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André Dittrich, & Christian Lucas. (2013). A step towards real-time analysis of major disaster events based on tweets. 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. 868–874). KIT; Baden-Baden: Karlsruher Institut fur Technologie.
Abstract: The most popular micro blogging platform Twitter has been the topic of a variety of research papers related to disaster and crisis management. As an essential first step and basis for a real-time methodology to exploit Twitter for event detection, localization and ultimately semantic content analysis, a functional model to describe the amount of tweets during a day has been developed. It was derived from a corpus of messages in an exemplary area of investigation. To satisfy the different daily behavior on particular days, two types of days are distinguished in this paper. Moreover, keyword-adjusted data is used to point out the potential of semantic tweet analysis in following steps. The consideration of spatial event descriptions in relevant tweets could significantly improve and accelerate the perception of a disaster. The results from the conducted tests demonstrate the capability of the functional model to detect events with significant social impact in Twitter data.
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Ana Laugé, Josune Hernantes, & Jose Mari Sarriegi. (2013). Disaster impact assessment:A holistic framework. 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. 730–734). KIT; Baden-Baden: Karlsruher Institut fur Technologie.
Abstract: One of the important aspects of the crisis management consists in a comprehensive analysis of the impacts generated and their associated cost. The capacity to carry out an efficient holistic management, through the development of preventive measures and response programs relies on a proper estimation of impacts which helps to mitigate the harshness or can even avoid impacts in face of future crises. The aim of this paper is to analyse existing methodologies for natural disasters' impact evaluation, the identification of the different impact categories as well as the explanation of a natural disasters impact framework, which includes a list of indicators for a correct impact assessment. The framework also analyses the evolution of impacts, that is, how immediate impacts can also generate delayed impacts.
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Ana C. Calderon, Joanne Hinds, & Peter Johnson. (2013). Leading cats: How to effectively command collectives. 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. 32–41). KIT; Baden-Baden: Karlsruher Institut fur Technologie.
Abstract: The purpose of this work is to enhance the understanding of command and control in collectives, paying particular attention to coalition situations when multiple, typically autonomous agencies are expected to work together harmoniously. There are two different approaches to dealing with commands, one approach focuses on individual command components and the other studies the interplay between different commands. This paper is a first attempt at bringing these two views together, with the aim of understanding what is needed for human autonomous systems to work as collectives through command and control systems that achieve their full capability through “command by intent”, while also encouraging and encompassing new agile behaviour both at the individual and organizational level. We have identified key aspects of commands in collectives (both from existing literature and from our own work) and demonstrate our findings in case studies taken from hurricane Katrina, 1995 Oklahoma city bombings, the 2001 attack on the Pentagon, as well as some incidents of lower complexity, such as an oil spillage on a motorway.
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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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Alexander Smirnov, Tatiana Levashova, & Nikolay Shilov. (2013). Context-based knowledge fusion patterns in decision support system for emergency response. 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. 597–606). KIT; Baden-Baden: Karlsruher Institut fur Technologie.
Abstract: The purpose of this paper is discovery of context-based knowledge fusion patterns. Knowledge fusion is considered as an appearance of new knowledge in consequence of processes ongoing in decision support systems. The knowledge fusion processes are considered within a system intended to support decisions on planning emergency response actions. The knowledge fusion patterns are generalized with regard to preservation of internal structures and autonomies of information and knowledge sources involved in the knowledge fusion and to knowledge fusion results. The found patterns give a general idea of knowledge fusion processes taking place at the operational stage of decision support system functioning, i.e. the stage where context-aware functions of the system come into operation. As a practical application, such patterns can support engineers with making choice of knowledge sources to be used in the systems they design.
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Alayne Da Costa Duarte, Marcos R. S. Borges, Jose Orlando Gomes, & De Paulo V. R. Carvalho. (2013). ASC model: A process model for the evaluation of simulated field exercises in the emergency domain. 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. 551–555). KIT; Baden-Baden: Karlsruher Institut fur Technologie.
Abstract: The undefined flow of execution of activities in an evaluation process hampers its implementation. A consistent evaluation process defines interrelated methodological steps that make it easier for the evaluator to lead the process. This article presents a process model for the evaluation of simulated field exercises in the emergency domain, including their sub processes and activities. The proposed model was derived from observations made during real situations of a simulated evacuation exercise of communities in high-risk areas in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil). The motivation came from the finding that the assessment of simulated field exercises is conducted by completing an activity report that does not follow a structural model, an evaluation program or a formal standard. The results of this research show the experts' satisfaction with the application of the model proposed for the development of an evaluation process. The same occurs when comparing to reports currently used by them for this purpose.
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Ahmed Nagy, Lusine Mkrtchyan, & Klaas Van Der Meer. (2013). A CBRN detection framework using fuzzy logic. 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. 266–271). KIT; Baden-Baden: Karlsruher Institut fur Technologie.
Abstract: Identifying a chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear incident (CBRN) is a challenge. Evidence and health symptoms resulting from CBRN malevolent incident overlap with other normal non malevolent human activities. However, proper fusion of symptoms and evidence can aid in drawing conclusions with a certain degree of credibility about the existence of an incident. There are two types of incidents directly observable, overt, or indirectly observable, covert, which can be detected from the symptoms and consequences. This paper describes a framework for identifying a CBRN incident from available evidence using a fuzzy belief degree distributed approach. We present two approaches for evidence fusion and aggregation; the first, two level cumulative belief degree (CBD) while the second is ordered weighted aggregation of belief degrees (OWA). The evaluation approach undertaken shows the potential value of the two techniques.
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Adam Widera, Hanns-Alexander Dietrich, Bernd Hellingrath, & Jörg Becker. (2013). Understanding humanitarian supply chains – Developing an integrated process analysis toolkit. 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. 210–219). KIT; Baden-Baden: Karlsruher Institut fur Technologie.
Abstract: In this paper we present the development of an integrated process analysis toolkit for humanitarian logistics. The toolkit integrates a conceptual and a technological component. Our approach follows a case study-based modeling and design approach. The developed concept was evaluated in two humanitarian organizations. Based on these results we extended and integrated the tool-supported process analysis approach, which is ready to use for the structural and quantitative analysis of humanitarian logistics processes. The toolkit can be applied in humanitarian organizations as a decision support tool for designing, planning and executing their logistics processes. Thus, the application affects the preparedness of humanitarian organizations as well as their response performance. The process analysis toolkit is embedded in an overall research agenda with the objective to provide humanitarian organizations with the capabilities to identify, monitor, and improve their logistics processes respecting the organization specific objectives.
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L.T. Darryl Diptee, & Jason Baker. (2013). Tackling wicked problems: Suicide in the US military. 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. 931–940). KIT; Baden-Baden: Karlsruher Institut fur Technologie.
Abstract: Every 24 hours a member of the United States (US) Armed Forces commits suicide, while every hour a US veteran takes his own life. These statistics illuminate a deeply-rooted social crisis which eludes experts and military leaders to this day. Billions of dollars invested in suicide prevention seem to offer little relief for active duty servicemen and veterans alike. Military suicide is framed as a wicked problem and the new and exciting theory of Chronic Emotional Atrophy (CEA) is proposed to help explain causes of suicidal ideation in the military. A holistic crisis management strategy via information systems is presented in this work. Depressive symptoms exhibited by military members in emotionally suppressed environments closely parallel those phenomena exhibited by medical patients suffering from frontal lobe damage. The prospective psychiatric information system solution provides frontal lobe stimulation (FLS) to mitigate CEA and suicidal ideation.
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Anne Marie Barthe, Frédérick Bénaben, Sébastien Truptil, & Hervé Pingaud. (2013). A flexible network of sensors: Case study. 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. 344–348). KIT; Baden-Baden: Karlsruher Institut fur Technologie.
Abstract: The goal of this article is to introduce a plastic architecture of a survey system dedicated to any kind of geographical area that requires to be observed. The principle of this architecture is to allow to change dynamically the set of sensors that is used to monitor the area and also to provide an analyze system able to deal with this unstable set of sensors. Based on Event-Driven Architecture (EDA) technology, such a system does not provide new features compared with traditional set of static sensors connected through cables to dozens of bulbs lighting when a predefined subset of measures is not in the expected range. However, the introduced architecture provides a completely agile and dynamic system of measurement where neither the network of sensors nor the system of measure interpretation is static.
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