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.
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Andreas Meissner, Zhou Wang, Wolfgang Putz, & Jan Grimmer. (2006). MIKoBOS-a mobile information and communication system for emergency response. In M. T. B. Van de Walle (Ed.), Proceedings of ISCRAM 2006 – 3rd International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management (pp. 92–101). Newark, NJ: Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium.
Abstract: The role of communication and information provision in coping with natural and man-made disasters and emergency situations is becoming increasingly important. In this paper we present an integrated mobile information and communication system, MIKoBOS, for emergency response operations that enables reliable data communication within the emergency site as well as between the site and the headquarters. It provides the responsible personnel involved in the emergency operation at different levels with anytime-anywhere access to relevant information. Compared to traditional voice-dominated approaches, the proposed system can greatly improve the effectiveness and efficiency of communication and coordination during disaster relief operations. Promising experimental performance results are provided for use with a number of terrestrial and satellite networks.
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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.
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Arthur H. Hendela, Xiang Yao, Murray Turoff, Starr Roxanne Hiltz, & Michael J. Chumer. (2006). Virtual emergency preparedness gaming: A follow-up study. In M. T. B. Van de Walle (Ed.), Proceedings of ISCRAM 2006 – 3rd International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management (pp. 450–459). Newark, NJ: Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium.
Abstract: Planning processes, including simulations and games, can help emergency workers to prepare for the unexpected. Rehearsal using software based gaming techniques not only helps planning, but is also cost effective. Computer-based groupware systems can make experts available regardless of location. A new approach, Virtual Simulation (VS), uses networking to create a flexible learning and planning environment. To date two prototype trials of this approach have been implemented at NJIT with major revamps between each one. This paper gives the results of the latest prototype trial, a simulation of attacks on university computer centers. The insights from this second prototype trial of virtual simulation will help us to improve the design and approach for future offerings.
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Aurélien Acquier, Sébastien Gand, & Mathias Szpirglas. (2006). Stake S-holder management and crisis resilience a case study in a public transportation company. In M. T. B. Van de Walle (Ed.), Proceedings of ISCRAM 2006 – 3rd International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management (pp. 528–539). Newark, NJ: Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium.
Abstract: Stakeholder perspectives on crisis management provide a useful descriptive framework for analyzing crises and making crisis narratives. However, their actionability for crisis management, i.e. possibility to use stakeholder management models into operational crisis management processes, remains an under-investigated question. The purpose of this article is to discuss the operational value of stakeholder frameworks for crisis management. Drawing on a qualitative case study of a successful crisis management process in a public transportation company, we investigate the activities set up by the crisis cell to manage internal and external stakeholders during the crisis. In our case, successful stakeholder management relied on: 1) good diagnosis capabilities for the design of an appropriate corporate positioning; 2) an ability to manage coherently a set of emerging and heterogeneous issues involving stakeSholders ; 3) the capacity to set up a tightly coupled form of organization, involving both crisis cell members and various anchorage points, i.e. specific actors involved in the project before the crisis, who were already in contact with key stakeholders as part of their day-to-day activities. We then discuss the practical and theoretical implications of this analysis and the potential value stakeholder perspectives for crisis management.
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B. Van de Walle, M. T. (2006). Proceedings of ISCRAM 2006-3rd international conference on information systems for crisis response and management. Newark, NJ: Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium.
Abstract: The proceedings contain 74 papers. The topics discussed include: exploring protocols for multidisciplinary disaster response using adaptive workflow simulation; communication and information system for disaster relief operations; SIGAME: web-based system for resources management on emergencies; modeling risk dynamics in e-operations transitions; developing adaptive user interfaces using a game-based simulation environment; availability of technologies versus capabilities of users; foundations for designing global emergency response systems (ERS); VISTA – a visualization analysis tool for humanitarian situational awareness; a theoretical evaluation of information processing resources during organizational crisis; emergency planning as a continuous game; and crisis detection in enterprises based on ahp with clustering.
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Bartel A. Van De Walle, Ronald Spanjers, & Dirk De Wit. (2006). Stakeholder perceptions and standards for information security risks : A case study at a dutch health care organization. In M. T. B. Van de Walle (Ed.), Proceedings of ISCRAM 2006 – 3rd International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management (pp. 513–527). Newark, NJ: Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium.
Abstract: With the increased use of electronic patient files in Health Care Organizations (HCOs), addressing the risks related to the storage and use of patient information has become increasingly important to avoid intentional or unintentional disclosure, damage to or abuse of patients' personal health records. This has lead governments from various countries to introduce and impose information security standards for HCOs. The Dutch government introduced the NEN 7510 national information security standard; a standard derived from the international ISO 17799 norm. Preceding the implementation phase of NEN 7510 standard at a Dutch HCO, we conducted a field study to identify the information security risks as perceived by the main stakeholder groups in the HCO. We present the differences in the perceived information security risks and threats by end users, management and suppliers, and the degree to which these identified risks will be addressed by the implementation of the NEN 7510 standard.
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Belinda Braunstein, Troy Trimble, Rajesh Mishra, B.S. Manoj, Leslie Lenert, & Ramesh R. Rao. (2006). Challenges in using of distributed wireless mesh networks in emergency response. In M. T. B. Van de Walle (Ed.), Proceedings of ISCRAM 2006 – 3rd International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management (pp. 30–38). Newark, NJ: Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium.
Abstract: Wireless Mesh Networks (WMNs) are formed by self-organized wireless nodes that use multi-hop wireless relaying. These networks are useable in a variety of situations ranging from fixed residential broadband networking based on rooftop wireless mesh nodes to emergency response networks for handling large scale disasters. Quick deployability, minimal configuration, broadband communication, and easiness of reconfigurability are the major characteristics that make WMNs a suitable choice for emergency applications. There exist several open research issues in using such WMNs for emergency response applications. We, in this paper, present a hybrid distributed wireless networking architecture, Extreme Networking System (ENS), and present large set of performance observations collected from a real distributed hybrid wireless mesh network used for supporting a medical emergency response application. We present the traffic behavior observed in our network when a client server medical emergency response application is employed. The performance observations on real-traffic scenarios for emergency response application underlines the need for focusing further research on topology control, reliability, service availability, and distributed management. We observed that though there are several challenges that need to be solved, a WMN is a favorable choice for emergency response networking.
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Bernard Van Veelen, Patrick Storms, & Chris J. Van Aart. (2006). Effective and efficient coordination strategies for agile crisis response organizations. In M. T. B. Van de Walle (Ed.), Proceedings of ISCRAM 2006 – 3rd International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management (pp. 202–213). Newark, NJ: Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium.
Abstract: Agile crisis response organizations can be seen as actor-Agent communities, where artificial coordination strategies are applied to manage activities. This paper provides a classification of artificial coordination strategies, specified in terms of the Rasmussen's three-level model for supervisory control: skill, rule and knowledge based. Three distinct strategies to artificial coordination based on Rasmussen's levels are described. These approaches are applied in a small case study related to the problem of medic-casualty allocation in the crisis response domain. In terms of effectiveness and efficiency, the knowledge-level coordination strategies seem to be the most effective, where the skill-level strategies are the most efficient. Concerning flexibility there is a reverse trade-off with efficiency. Opposed to skill-level strategies, knowledge-level strategies easily adjust to changing operational requirements. On all aspects, the performance of rule-level strategies is in-between knowledge-level and skill-level strategies. The results of this work can be used to improve the performance and effectiveness of actor-Agent communities for mission critical applications.
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Bo Andersson, & Jonas Hedman. (2006). Issues in the development of a mobile based communication platform for the swedish police force and appointed security guards. In M. T. B. Van de Walle (Ed.), Proceedings of ISCRAM 2006 – 3rd International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management (pp. 181–187). Newark, NJ: Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium.
Abstract: This paper presents the learning experiences from the development of a mobile-based communication platform, called OrdningsVaktsCentralen (OVC). OVC can be translated to Security Guard Central. OVC is designed to enable the Swedish Police Force (SPF) to comply with new legal requirements and enhance their collaboration with Appointed Security Guards (ASG). The focus of this paper is on the early phases of development; in particular on the specific technical issues such as interoperability and standards used in the development of mobile based systems. The learning experiences are as follows: firstly, when developing mobile based systems we suggest and recommend that the analysis phase should be enhanced and it should address the interoperability between mobile phones on one hand and operators on the other hand. Secondly, global and national standards, such as the MMS7 for sending multi-media messages, are not always standardized. It seems that operators and mobile phone manufacturers make minor alterations and interpretations of the standard and thereby some of the benefits found in standards disappear. Thirdly, mobile based communication platforms have a large potential for contributing to the field of emergency management information systems since they can be based on open and nationally accepted standards.
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Bogdan Tatomir, Leon J.M. Rothkrantz, & Mirela Popa. (2006). Intelligent system for exploring dynamic crisis environments. In M. T. B. Van de Walle (Ed.), Proceedings of ISCRAM 2006 – 3rd International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management (pp. 288–297). Newark, NJ: Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium.
Abstract: The routing in complex buildings is provided by information systems. But during a crisis situation, these systems may collapse due to certain incidents like an explosion, a fire or sabotage. The task of guiding people in this situation has to be handled in some way. In this paper we present a possible solution to this problem. We use a multi-agent system in a mobile ad-hoc network, without the need of any infrastructure. The main idea of the paper is that just by exploring the damaged building, the data of the changing environment becomes available and the challenge is how to fuse this data from different observers. We focused on the way of building, sharing and merging topological maps, using observations from individuals present in this infrastructure-less network. Besides a more efficient exploration of the building, the system presented in this paper can provide the rescue teams with additional services like finding the nearest exit. Some results of the tests we run with our system are also presented.
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Brian M. Tomaszewski, & Alan M. MacEachren. (2006). A distributed spatiotemporal cognition approach to visualization in support of coordinated group activity. In M. T. B. Van de Walle (Ed.), Proceedings of ISCRAM 2006 – 3rd International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management (pp. 347–351). Newark, NJ: Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium.
Abstract: Technological advances in both distributed cooperative work and web-map services have the potential to support distributed and collaborative time-critical decision-making for crisis response. We address this potential through the theoretical perspective of distributed cognition and apply this perspective to development of a geocollaborationenabled web application that supports coordinated crisis management activities. An underlying goal of our overall research program is to understand how distributed cognition operates across groups working to develop both awareness of the geographic situation within which events unfold, and insights about the processes that have lead to that geographic situation over time. In this paper, we present our preliminary research on a web application that addresses these issues. Specifically, the application (key parts of which are implemented) enables online, asynchronous, map-based interaction between actors, thus supporting distributed spatial and temporal cognition, and, more specifically, situational awareness and subsequent action in the context of humanitarian disaster relief efforts.
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Daniel P. Eriksson. (2006). A region-specific prognostic model of post-earthquake international attention. In M. T. B. Van de Walle (Ed.), Proceedings of ISCRAM 2006 – 3rd International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management (pp. 418–425). Newark, NJ: Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium.
Abstract: This project evaluates the feasibility of a prognostic model for international attention following earthquakes. The degree of international attention is defined as the number of situation reports issued by the United Nations. Ordinal regression is applied to a set of 58 case study events that occurred in Central Asia between 1992 and 2005. The context of the model is promising. Patterns were identified among the misclassified events. The patterns can prove helpful in understanding the irregular behavior of the international community and to improve future models by identifying subjects, such as bilateral relations and willingness to request external aid, for which additional indicators are needed.
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Delia Berrouard, Krisztina Cziner, & Adrian Boukalov. (2006). Emergency scenario user perspective in public safety communication systems. In M. T. B. Van de Walle (Ed.), Proceedings of ISCRAM 2006 – 3rd International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management (pp. 386–396). Newark, NJ: Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium.
Abstract: In the area of emergency response communication technologies, consideration of organization structure is critical in order to begin the understanding of user needs and optimize the development of effective technologies. User studies were carried out during the Wireless Deployable Network System European project-WIDENS. This paper discusses the information flow and spatial distribution of different European organizations involved in emergency response for various large-scale scenarios. The paper presents the operational view of emergency situation and related communication flows in several countries. Key results revealed that similarities exist in organizational roles, holding specific responsibilities in terms of location and task. Hierarchical arrangements and information flow may also be similar. However, difficulties lie in the efficient transmission of information due to slow information flow. Spatial distribution of personnel varies for scenarios. Future European studies are recommended for the advancement of our understanding of these newly addressed issues in public safety communication technologies and the needs of users in Europe.
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Dennis J. King. (2006). VISTA-a visualization analysis tool for humanitarian situational awareness. In M. T. B. Van de Walle (Ed.), Proceedings of ISCRAM 2006 – 3rd International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management (pp. 11–16). Newark, NJ: Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium.
Abstract: The US Department of State's Humanitarian Information Unit (HIU) is developing a new product and web-based visualization analysis tool, known as VISTA (Visualized Information & Synthesized Temporal Analysis). VISTA displays geo-spatial, temporal, numerical/graphic data and textual information, all in one product or via a web interface. VISTA is primarily intended for use by decision-makers, analysts, desk/project officers, and others to provide up-to-date common operating picture ie a vista about an emergency, issue or project.
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Eli Rohn. (2006). Data integration potentiometer in DERMIS. In M. T. B. Van de Walle (Ed.), Proceedings of ISCRAM 2006 – 3rd International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management (pp. 326–333). Newark, NJ: Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium.
Abstract: Dynamic Emergency Response Management Information Systems must integrate data from heterogeneous and autonomous resources. We propose a mathematically based approach for evaluating and quantifying the potential of a successful automatic integration between pairs of data resources. The integration potential, expressed as a percent, should influence assumptions and procedures of emergency response planners.
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Elio Rich. (2006). Modeling risk dynamics in e-operations transitions. In M. T. B. Van de Walle (Ed.), Proceedings of ISCRAM 2006 – 3rd International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management (pp. 239–250). Newark, NJ: Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium.
Abstract: Migrations to new modes of operation are perilous times for most organizations. For firms that routinely work in high-threat, high-reward situations, the risks of innovation are particularly challenging. This paper presents a systems-based approach to understanding these risks, drawing examples from one firm migrating to e-Operations for offshore oil platforms to increase profitability. The firm recently participated in two facilitated group model building exercises to examine the effects of the migration on the organization and resources needed to safely implement multiple changes over time. Based on these exercises, a simulation model of the timing and relative levels of risk, was developed. The results of the workshop and simulation demonstrate the effect of a combined qualitative and quantitative modeling approach to understanding complex problems.
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Elizabeth Avery Gomez, Katia Passerini, & Karen Hare. (2006). Public health crisis management: Community level roles and communication options. In M. T. B. Van de Walle (Ed.), Proceedings of ISCRAM 2006 – 3rd International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management (pp. 435–443). Newark, NJ: Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium.
Abstract: Crisis management efforts in the United States public health sector aim to prepare and protect the life of an individual, family or group against a health-related event. These efforts span governmental, nongovernmental and private sectors. The need for coordination between these organizations has never been more apparent. A solution will depend heavily on standardized communication protocols using information and communication technology (ICT). Numerous initiatives are currently addressing the needs of our nation with respect to homeland security and public health, yet remain in the early stages for the nongovernmental sector. The emphasis of our research is at the local level where the governmental sector extends to the nongovernmental sector (NGO), particularly community outreach. Our analysis of the local community suggests focusing on the management of communication during public health crises to better understand the complexities and variations presented in these communities. Leveraging experiences from media-technology literature findings and emergency-response efforts, we seek to identify a framework and tools to enable effective communication for those public health practitioners who serve as front-line responders to public health crises. The major contributions of this research will be to extend the use of information systems and mobile technology to the local United States public health communities to increase effective communication between organizations, while providing a state of readiness for homeland security related events.
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Gabriel Jakobson, Nandan Parameswaran, John Buford, Lundy Lewis, & Pradeep Ray. (2006). Situation-Aware multi-Agent system for disaster relief operations management. In M. T. B. Van de Walle (Ed.), Proceedings of ISCRAM 2006 – 3rd International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management (pp. 313–324). Newark, NJ: Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium.
Abstract: Natural and human-made disasters create unparalleled challenges to Disaster Situation Management (DSM). One of the major weaknesses of the current DSM solutions is the lack of comprehensive understanding of the overall disaster operational situation, and very often making decisions based on a single event. Such weakness is clearly exhibited by the solutions based on the widely used Belief-Desire-Intention (BDI) models for building the Muiti-Agent Systems (MAS). In this work we present the adaptation of the AESOP situation management architecture to address the requirements of disaster relief operations. In particular, we extend the existing BDI model with the capability of situation awareness. We describe how the key functions of event collection, situation identification, and situation assessment are implemented in MAS architecture suitable to the characteristics of large-scale disaster recovery. We present the details of a BDI agent in this architecture including a skeleton ontology, and the distributed service architecture of the AESOP platform.
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Gerd Van Den Eede, Willem J. Muhren, Raphaël Smals, & Bartel A. Van De Walle. (2006). IS capability for incident management and the DERMIS design premises. In M. T. B. Van de Walle (Ed.), Proceedings of ISCRAM 2006 – 3rd International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management (pp. 251–261). Newark, NJ: Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium.
Abstract: In this paper we present a dynamic model of the performance of an organization's Incident Management process as determined by the capability of its supporting emergency response information system. Our work is based on the Capability Trap model by Repenning & Sterman (2001) and draws from the many insights on emergency response information systems design as described in the DERMIS (Dynamic Emergency Response Management Information System) framework established by Turoff et al. 2004. Whereas the latter describes the premises that underlie an Information System (IS) that is capable of ensuring a reliable and flexible emergency response, the present paper contributes to the research field by looking at the interrelations of the aforementioned premises. We take a System Dynamics approach and gain insights in the key determinants of IS Capability by highlighting the mutual interdependences grouped around the concepts of adaptability, control, implicit knowledge and explicit knowledge.
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Guido Bruinsma, & Robert De Hoog. (2006). Exploring protocols for multidisciplinary disaster response using adaptive workflow simulation. In M. T. B. Van de Walle (Ed.), Proceedings of ISCRAM 2006 – 3rd International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management (pp. 53–65). Newark, NJ: Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium.
Abstract: The unique and dynamic changing nature in which a disaster unfolds forces emergency personnel involved with the mitigation process to be greatly flexible in their implementation of protocols. In past disasters the incapability of the disaster organization to swiftly adjust the workflow to the changing circumstances, has resulted in unnecessary delays and errors in mitigation. Addressing this issue, we propose and demonstrate a method for simulating disasters for work and protocol optimization in disasters response (TAID), based on the BRAHMS multi-agent modeling and simulation language. Our hypothesis is that this low fidelity simulation environment can effectively simulate work practice in dynamic environments to rearrange workflow and protocols. The results from an initial test simulation of the Hercules disaster at Eindhoven airport in the Netherlands look promising for future and broader application of our disaster simulation method.
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Guido Te Brake, Tjerk De Greef, Jasper Lindenberg, Jouke Rypkema, & Nanja Smets. (2006). Developing adaptive user interfaces using a game-based simulation environment. In M. T. B. Van de Walle (Ed.), Proceedings of ISCRAM 2006 – 3rd International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management (pp. 6–10). Newark, NJ: Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium.
Abstract: In dynamic settings, user interfaces can provide more optimal support if they adapt to the context of use. Providing adaptive user interfaces to first responders may therefore be fruitful. A cognitive engineering method that incorporates development iterations in both a simulated and a real-world environment is used to develop new adaptive concepts. In a simulated 3D-world, created with the Unreal Tournament game-engine, a team of emergency personnel have to rescue people and develop an understanding of the situation. We believe a game-based simulation environment can provide an effective platform for experiments in which crisis management situations can be created under controlled circumstances. Using this simulation, support concepts based on adaptive user interfaces can be developed and evaluated before they are implemented in a real-world setting. This paper describes the work that has been done, and presents the design of the planned experiments.
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Haibin Zhu, & MengChu Zhou. (2006). The role transferability in emergency management systems. In M. T. B. Van de Walle (Ed.), Proceedings of ISCRAM 2006 – 3rd International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management (pp. 487–496). Newark, NJ: Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium.
Abstract: Role Transferability is a basic requirement for emergency management systems. Role specification, relationship expression, and transfer regulations are critical elements of this requirement. This paper discusses the role transferability requirement for emergency management systems; emphasizes that role specification is an underlying mechanism for role transfer; proposes a revised E-CARGO (Environment-Class, Agent, Role, Group, Object) model for role transfer in a group; and presents an algorithm to validate role transfer while maintaining group viability.
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Hans Zimmermann. (2006). Availability of technologies versus capabilities of users. In M. T. B. Van de Walle (Ed.), Proceedings of ISCRAM 2006 – 3rd International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management (pp. 66–71). Newark, NJ: Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium.
Abstract: The regulatory environment is no longer the primary hindrance to the full application of telecommunications technology in the service of emergency response, disaster prevention and relief, and crisis management. Nowadays the restricting factor is the lack of knowledge about the capabilities, but also the limitations, of the multitude of specialized and of public communication systems. This paper will analyze the situation with the help of some practical examples and will recommend an interdisciplinary multi-stakeholder based approach to an educational concept for emergency and disaster telecommunications.
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Ignacio Aedo, Daniel Sanz, Paloma Díaz, & Jorge De Castro. (2006). Modelling emergency response communities using RBAC principles. In M. T. B. Van de Walle (Ed.), Proceedings of ISCRAM 2006 – 3rd International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management (pp. 426–434). Newark, NJ: Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium.
Abstract: One of the main design challenges of any Emergency Management System (EMS) is the diversity of users and responsibilities that must be considered. Modelling the access capabilities of different communities of users is a relevant concern for which the RBAC (Role-Based Access Control) paradigm provides flexible and powerful constructs. In this paper we describe how we used an RBAC meta-model to specify at different levels of abstraction the access policy of a specific EMS called ARCE (Aplicación en Red para Casos de Emergencia). This approach has made it possible to face access modelling at earlier development stages, so that stakeholders got involved in analytical and empirical evaluations to test the correctness and effectiveness of the access policy. Moreover, since the RBAC meta-model is embedded into a web engineering method, we put into practice a holistic process which addresses different design perspectives (structure, navigation, presentation, interaction and access) in an integrated way.
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