Abbas Ganji, Tom Wilson, Sonia Saveli, Dharma Dailey, & Mark Haselkorn. (2019). Cause and Effect: A Qualitative Analysis of Obstacles to Information Sharing During a Regional Disaster Exercise. 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: After large-scale disasters, diverse partner agencies rely heavily on an information-sharing environment that supports collaborative work. In the U.S., this occurs under the Incident Command System (ICS), a structured organizational framework for coordinated action. We explore obstacles to information sharing and coordinationobserved at a county-level Emergency Operations Center (EOC) operating under ICS during the response phase of a large-scale regional disaster exercise. Textual observations collected in situ are analyzed for both the effect/manifestation and cause/source of barriers to information sharing. Two-thirds of barriers that manifest as computational issues are not caused by technology breakdowns, and a third caused by unclear processes manifest as computational issues. Overall, obstacles to collaborative work that appear to be related to computational issues are generally attributable to non-technical causes. This indicates that resources directed at improving collaborative management of disasters by enhancing technological capabilities are likely to be misdirected.
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Flávio Horita, João Porto de Albuquerque, Victor Marchezini, & Eduardo M. Mendiondo,. (2016). A qualitative analysis of the early warning decision-making process in disaster management. In A. Tapia, P. Antunes, V.A. Bañuls, K. Moore, & J. Porto (Eds.), ISCRAM 2016 Conference Proceedings ? 13th International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management. Rio de Janeiro, Brasil: Federal University of Rio de Janeiro.
Abstract: Early warning systems are an important means of improving the efficiency of disaster response and preparedness. However, in its analysis of the technological aspects of the infrastructure, the literature has failed to carry out an investigation of early warning process. This paper has sought to take a step toward understanding this issue by carrying out a qualitative analysis of the early warning process in disaster management. This has involved participatory observations and conducting interviews with practitioners from the National Center for Monitoring and Early Warning of Natural Disasters (CEMADEN). The results have shown that this research area is a promising way of increasing efficiency and reducing the response time to warnings. This might be achieved by conducting a process analysis, which could provide evidence and information about bottlenecks or investigate the misuse of information systems or tasks by the players involved.
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