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Menelaos Bakopoulos, Sofia Tsekeridou, Eri Giannaka, Zheng-Hua Tan, & Ramjee Prasad. (2011). Command & control: Information merging, selective visualization and decision support for emergency handling. 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: Emergency situations call for the timely collaboration and error free communication of first responder (FR) teams from their Command Posts (CP) and between themselves. First responder teams must form and adapt their plans and actions as a real-time critical situation unfolds. This paper presents an advanced Command Post application that manages a diversity of FR teams during an emergency. Data from biometric, fire and/or gas sensors in addition to received annotated videos from first responders on site, carrying personal digital assistants (PDAs), are simultaneously managed. The presented system provides properly configured access to and alert-dependent visualization of real time location, biometric, gas, fire and annotated video data from FRs in the field to allow for effective reaction and decision support from CP personnel. Additionally, the system forms an information management system for all necessary information to be quickly handy during emergency handling, such as FR information, critical infrastructure information, historical information, etc. This system has been validated through qualitative analysis in a field trial at the M30 tunnel in Madrid by participating end users.
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Fredrik Bergstrand. (2011). Sensemaking in command centre contexts. 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 presents descriptive accounts from the work conducted at a Swedish fire and rescue service's command centre during a high risk protest. Sensemaking has been applied as a theoretical lens on the empirical data. Two specific episodes has been selected to demonstrate how the process of sensemaking is manifested in the context of the command centre. The paper also includes implications for design suggesting how information systems for this context should be designed to better support sensemaking.
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Gonçalo De Jesus, Anabela Oliveira, Maria A. Santos, & João Palha-Fernandes. (2010). Development of a dam-break flood emergency information system. 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: This paper presents a new information system, SAGE-B, structured to support all fundamental data related to dams and the elements associated to an emergency in case of a dam-break flood. Data such as information about the population located in the areas at risk or the vehicles available for rescue that are located in the areas impacted by the predicted flood are always changing. In order to support an effective update of the required information for emergency management, an emergency information system was conceived and proposed. This paper describes the motivation for this research and the basic requirements from an emergency management perspective. The platform has a modular architecture, developed in open and free technologies, which allows a continuous development and improvement. Examples of future developments include a multichannel emergency warning system, flood wave real-time forecast and dam-breaching real-time monitoring models.
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Simone De Kleermaeker, & Jan Verkade. (2013). A decision support system for effective use of probability forecasts. 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. 290–295). KIT; Baden-Baden: Karlsruher Institut fur Technologie.
Abstract: Often, water management decisions are based on hydrological forecasts, which are affected by inherent uncertainties. It is increasingly common for forecasters to make explicit estimates of these uncertainties. Associated benefits include the decision makers' increased awareness of forecasting uncertainties and the potential for risk-based decision-making. Also, a more strict separation of responsibilities between forecasters and decision maker can be made. A recent study identified some issues related to the effective use of probability forecasts. These add a dimension to an already multi-dimensional problem, making it increasingly difficult for decision makers to extract relevant information from a forecast. Secondly, while probability forecasts provide a necessary ingredient for risk-based decision making, other ingredients may not be fully known, including estimates of flood damage and costs and effect of damage reducing measures. Here, we present suggestions for resolving these issues and the integration of those solutions in a prototype decision support system (DSS). A pathway for further development is outlined.
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Jill L. Drury, Loretta More, Mark Pfaff, & Gary L. Klein. (2009). A principled method of scenario design for testing emergency response decision-making. 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: We are investigating decision aids that present potential courses of action available to emergency responders. To determine whether these aids improve decision quality, however, we first developed test scenarios that were challenging in well-understood ways to ensure testing under the full breadth of representative decision-making situations. We devised a three-step method of developing scenarios: define the decision space, determine the cost components of each decision's potential consequences based on the principles of Robust Decision Making, then choose conflicting pairs of cost components (e.g., a small fire, implying low property damage, in a densely inhabited area, which implies high personal injury). In a validation of this approach, experiment participants made decisions faster in non-ambiguous cases versus cases that included this principled introduction of ambiguity. Our Principled Ambiguity Method of scenario design is also appropriate for other domains as long as they can be analyzed in terms of costs of decision alternatives.
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Avelino F. Gomes Filho, André L. A. Sobral, Claudio A. Passos, Arce, D., Gustavo A. Bianco, Júlio C. Rodrigues, et al. (2014). C2 Center dealing with the unexpected: Resilience and brittleness during FIFA confederation cup. 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. 100–109). University Park, PA: The Pennsylvania State University.
Abstract: Forecast and plan response to incidents are fundamental to create a Command and Control Center (C2 Center). However, some incidents are considered chaotic and are completely understood only after happening. These unforeseen incidents pose challenges to plans of such centers and if not properly managed, may result in failures. This article describes how the Integrated C2 Center of Rio de Janeiro City (CICC-RJ) responds to violent, unexpected and improbable events, especially related to protests that took place during the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup. It aims to describe from the resilience engineering point of view how the CICC-RJ function to cope with incidents, where the structure has proved to be resilient, where it holds brittleness, and to suggest possible actions to help the center to become more resilient to upcoming events.
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Aygul Gabdulkhakova, Birgitta König-Ries, Mareike Mähler, Yeliz Yildirim-Krannig, & Fabian Wucholt. (2011). Identifying and supporting information needs in mass casualty incidents – An interdisciplinary approach. 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 mass casualty incidents (MCIs) different authorities and organizations with safety responsibilities (BOS) act in highly dynamic situations. BOS operating in MCI-scenarios have a large demand of different information. SpeedUp, a German government-funded research project, wants to support this information demand. From an IT-perspective, our basic concept is to model available resources (e.g., sources of information and communicative devices) as services and flexibly combine them to the information demand of the BOS. To achieve this, we have to know which kind of information is needed by whom and explore the structures, tasks and roles of the BOS involved. In this paper we employed an interdisciplinary and user – centered approach. It is the result of a close cooperation of two research groups: one from the Intercultural Business Communication (IWK) and one from the chair of computer sciences. While the IWK focused on identifying information needs via expert interviews and observations, the computer scientists were looking at the possibilities for technical support of these needs. Only both disciplines together can achieve viable solutions.
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Rego Granlund, & Helena Granlund. (2011). GPS impact on performance, response time and communication – A review of three studies. 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 basic work performance analysis from three research projects with a goal to investigate the impact of a decision support system that presents global positioning system (GPS) information to the decision makers in crisis management organizations. The goal was to compare the performance between teams that had access to GPS information in the command post with teams that had access only to paper maps. The method used was controlled experiments with the C3Fire micro-world. A total of 304 participants, forming 48 teams, participated in the three studies. The participants came from three different groups, university students, municipal crisis management organizations and rescue service personnel. The result shows that the performance and communication change depending on if the teams used GPS support or paper maps. The result also shows that the participants' background and perceived complexity of the task have an impact on the results.
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Matti Haataja, Markku Häkkinen, & Helen T. Sullivan. (2011). Understanding user acceptance of mobile alerting systems. 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: Even though the adoption of emergency alerting systems may improve the safety and security of individuals, participation in existing systems that utilize mobile alerting in universities in USA varies and does not match the high adoption rate of mobile phone technology itself (Sullivan, Häkkinen & Piechocinski 2009; Wu, 2009). As the adoption of mobile alerting system (MAS) can be viewed as a critical life safety benefit, there is motivation to better understand factors that affect the acceptance of MAS. Among the possible, alternative methods of implementing mobile alerting, an opt-in type of system can enable the alerting process to be executed in a way that is more suitable and useful for a diverse community of individuals. As a result of this study, a refined version of technology acceptance model (TAM) is proposed, extended with factors of perceived trust and perceived financial cost to better interpret the acceptance of MAS. This model is being evaluated in ongoing research on MAS in a university and community context.
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Jutta Hild, Jonathan Ott, Yvonne Fischer, & Christian Glökler. (2010). Markov based decision support for cost-optimal response in security 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: In this contribution, we introduce a prototype of a decision support tool for cost-optimal response in security management. The threat situation of a closed infrastructure, exposed to multiple threats, and the corresponding response actions are modeled by a continuous-time Markov decision process (CMDP). Since the CMDP cannot be solved exactly for large infrastructures, the response actions are determined from a heuristic, based on an index rule. The decision support tool's user interface displays the infrastructure's current threat state and proposes the heuristic response actions to the decision maker. In this way, global situation awareness can be enhanced and the decision maker is able to initiate an almost cost-optimal response action in short time.
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Yasir Javed, Tony Norris, & David Johnston. (2012). Evaluating SAVER: Measuring shared and team situation awareness of emergency decision makers. 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: Large scale emergencies are usually responded to by a team of emergency managers or a number of sub teams for safety and efficiency. Team coordination has attracted considerable research interest, especially from the cognitive, human factors, and ergonomic aspects because shared situation awareness (SSA) and team situation awareness (TSA) of team members are critical for optimal decision making. This paper describes the development of an information system (SAVER) based on SSA and TSA oriented systems design. Validation and evaluation of the implemented design show that decision performance is improved by the SAVER system. © 2012 ISCRAM.
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Kaisa Riikka Ylinen, & Juha Pekka Kilpinen. (2018). Calibrating Ensemble Forecasts to Produce More Reliable Probabilistic Extreme Weather Forecasts. In Kees Boersma, & Brian Tomaszeski (Eds.), ISCRAM 2018 Conference Proceedings – 15th International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management (pp. 1089–1097). Rochester, NY (USA): Rochester Institute of Technology.
Abstract: Accurate predictions of severe weather events are extremely important for society, economy, and environment. Due to the fact that weather forecasts are inherently uncertain, it is required to give information about forecast uncertainty to all users providing weather forecasts in probabilistic terms utilizing ensemble forecasts. Since ensemble forecasts tend to be under dispersive and biased, they need to be calibrated with statistical methods. This paper presents a method for the calibration of temperature forecasts using Gaussian regression, and the calibration of wind gust forecasts with a box-cox t-distribution method. Statistical calibration was made for the operational European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) ensemble prediction system (ENS) forecasts for lead times from 3 to 360 hours. The verification results showed that calibration improved both temperature and wind gust ensemble forecasts. The probabilistic temperature forecasts were better after calibration over whole lead time scale, but the probabilistic wind gust forecasts up to 240 hours.
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Michael Liegl, Rachel Oliphant, & Monika Büscher. (2015). Ethically Aware IT Design for Emergency Response: From Co-Design to ELSI Co-Design'. 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: The latest EU funding framework, ?Horizon 2020?, has moved consideration of ethical and societal implications of technology development to the fore. Yet, there is little guidance on how to do such research in practice, let alone how to innovate in ethically and socially sound ways. This paper addresses these issues in the context of a large scale EU funded project developing system of system innovations in IT supported emergency response. Building on collaborative design and a range of other approaches, the paper argues that just like ?usability?, ethics cannot be invented or decided by experts, but has to be the product of engagement with the technology by directly or indirectly implicated publics. Facilitating such publics is a central element of what we call ?ELSI Co-Design?. The paper outlines the theoretical and methodological underpinnings of this approach.
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Kathleen A. Moore, Andrea H. Tapia, & Christopher Griffin. (2013). Research in progress: Understanding how emergency managers evaluate crowdsourced data: A trust game-based approach. 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. 272–277). KIT; Baden-Baden: Karlsruher Institut fur Technologie.
Abstract: The use, or barriers to use, of crowdsourced data by emergency managers has been a significant topic of scholarly discussion during the past several years. The single strongest barrier to use has been identified as one of data quality (Tapia, et. al, 2011). We argue that within this environment the Emergency Manager (EM) acts as a decision-maker and evaluator of crowdsourced data. The final judgement on whether to incorporate crowdsourced data into a Crisis response lies with the EM. In this paper we make a brief argument for the role of EM as trustworthy data analyst and then propose a model for capturing the trust-analytical behavior through game theory (Griffin, et. al, 2012). Lastly, we propose a simple computer game, which uses our model through which we will capture EM trust-analytical behavior though a future empirical data collection effort.
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Nguyen Bang Tran, Mihai Tanase, Lauren Bennett, & Cristina Aponte. (2018). Evaluation of spectral indices for assessing fire severity in Victorian temperate forests, Australia. 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. 213–222). Albany, Auckland, New Zealand: Massey Univeristy.
Abstract: ABSTRACT Victorian temperate forests, characterized by variable wildfire response traits, such an analysis is missing hindering fire impact estimation over large areas on operational basis. To close this gap, we have evaluated 10 remotely sensed indices across eight areas affected by wildfires in 1998, 2006, 2007, and 2009 which comprise 13 forest types. The analysis was carried out at forest type level and as a function of the regeneration strategies (seeders, basal and epicormic reporters) and structure (tree height and canopy cover) with the six forest groups. Index performance was evaluated by (i) examining index response across four fire severity levels, (ii) the separability index, and (iii) the optimality values analysis. A ranking scoring system was used to compare the index performance to distinguish among severity classes. Initial results demonstrated that there hasn't been a consistency of the best indices capacity but there a consistently worse index among forest groups.
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Gertraud Peinel, Thomas Rose, & Alexander Wollert. (2012). The myth of business process modelling for emergency management planning. 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: Over the last two decades a significant number of projects tried to convey the concept of business process man-agement to the domain of emergency management. Most of these approaches sought a partial automation for the execution of standard operating procedures in the sense of workflow support, while others strived for the sup-port and integration of information management and data streams in command centres during a crisis. This pa-per focuses on the planning of disaster response for reasons of better preparedness. It discusses whether emer-gency management organisations can capitalize on off-the-shelf business process modelling tools to prepare for disasters more effectively, and whether the concepts of process modelling can be applied to standard operating procedures and vice versa. Moreover, it investigates whether such tools can efficiently support a collaborative preparation of police, fire departments, and rescue organizations. This paper will demonstrate why conventional business process means are inapplicable as planning tool in this domain. And it will also give an outlook to so called smart checklists that might be better suited both for the planning and response phase of emergency epi-sodes. © 2012 ISCRAM.
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Eli Rohn. (2007). A survey of schema standards and portals for emergency management and collaboration. 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. 263–269). Delft: Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management, ISCRAM.
Abstract: We survey several emergency management related data structures and portals designed or adopted by standard bodies such as Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards (OASIS) and Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), as well as standards designed or adopted by government agencies in the US and in the UK. The survey is by no means an exhaustive list of such standards and portals, but it gives a fair representation of the current state of affairs and resources to practitioners and researchers alike.
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Axel Schulz, Tung Dang Thanh, Heiko Paulheim, & Immanuel Schweizer. (2013). A fine-grained sentiment analysis approach for detecting crisis related microposts. 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. 846–851). KIT; Baden-Baden: Karlsruher Institut fur Technologie.
Abstract: Real-time information from microposts like Twitter is useful for applications in the crisis management domain. Currently, that potentially valuable information remains mostly unused by the command staff, mainly because the sheer amount of information cannot be handled efficiently. Sentiment analysis has been shown as an effective tool to detect microposts (such as tweets) that contribute to situational awareness. However, current approaches only focus on two or three emotion classes. But using only tweets with negative emotions for crisis management is not always sufficient. The amount of remaining information is still not manageable or most of the tweets are irrelevant. Thus, a more fine-grained differentiation is needed to identify relevant microposts. In this paper, we show the systematic evaluation of an approach for sentiment analysis on microposts that allows detecting seven emotion classes. A preliminary evaluation of our approach in a crisis related scenario demonstrates the applicability and usefulness.
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