Grace, R., Montarnal, A., Petitdemange, E., Rutter, J., Rodriguez, G. R., & Potts, M. (2023). Collaborative Information Seeking during a 911 Call Surge: A Case Study. In Jaziar Radianti, Ioannis Dokas, Nicolas Lalone, & Deepak Khazanchi (Eds.), Proceedings of the 20th International ISCRAM Conference (pp. 649–662). Omaha, USA: University of Nebraska at Omaha.
Abstract: This case study examines collaborative information seeking in a public-safety answering point during a 911 call surge that occurred when a man fired an assault rifle at police officers and evaded capture for nearly an hour in March 2020. Overwhelmed by questionable and imprecise reports from 911 callers, telecommunicators and on scene responders began working together to conduct broad and deep searches for the shooter. Whereas broad searches improved the scope of information gathering by identifying multiple, albeit questionable and imprecise, reports of the suspect’s location, deep searches improved the quality of information gathering by investigating 911 callers’ reports using drone, helicopter, and patrol units. These findings suggest requirements for collaborative information seeking in public-safety answering points, including capabilities to conduct broad and deep searches using next-generation 911 technologies, and command and control requirements for triaging these search tasks within inter-organizational emergency response systems.
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Tim J. Grant. (2011). Combining information sharing and seeking in networked coalitions. 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: Coalitions are the rule in crisis management and military operations. Although the partners do not form part of an organizational hierarchy, they need to share information to find their place in the coalition, to prepare plans collaboratively, to synchronize their actions, to evaluate their achievements, and to negotiate changes in their relationships. Interviews of experienced military officers have shown that information sharing in coalitions is more complex than one-way information transmission. It has the characteristics of an information market in which security regulations give information a scarcity value, with both sources and recipients initiating action. The emerging literature on information markets includes few process models. The purpose of this paper is to propose a theoretical, four-stage process model for information sharing between coalition partners in the context of Network Enabled Capabilities. The model combines information sharing and seeking, integrates intelligence collection, and supports a range of market mechanisms.
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Tim J. Grant, & Ariën J. Van Der Wal. (2012). A taxonomy of market mechanisms for information sharing in crisis response coalitions. 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: Information sharing is crucial in responding to and managing crises. A great variety of organizations respond to crises, ranging from international organizations, through non-governmental organizations, commercial suppliers, government ministries, and the media, to individual volunteers. At best, they collaborate to combine their respective strengths in creating synergy. At worst, they deconflict their operations so that the one does not get in the way of the other. In either case, the organizations must communicate with one another. Previous research has shown that this communication takes the form of an information market. This paper considers the possible mechanisms for information markets in humanitarian and military coalitions. While there has been work on market mechanisms in the economics literature, this needs to be adapted for the exchange of information and information services instead of physical goods and services. This paper proposes a taxonomy of market mechanisms that is tailored to information sharing within coalitions. © 2012 ISCRAM.
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H. van Dijk. (2015). Situation Awareness in Crisis Situations: Development of a User Defined Operational Picture. 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: This paper describes an effort underway to develop an operational concept and technical implementation for a User Defined Operational Picture (UDOP). The purpose of the UDOP capability is to create, visualize, and share decision-focused views of the operational environment for decision-makers to support accurate situation awareness and timely decision-making. Unlike a traditional Common Operational Picture (COP), a UDOP allows the user to select what information should be included in- or excluded from the data set defining the operational picture at the source. This paper provides an overview of the UDOP capabilities, as well as a description of the initial prototype implementation in an operational setting.
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Jenny Marklund, & Cecilia Hull Wiklund. (2016). Learning from C2 Situations in the Field – Identifying Lessons from a Major Forest Fire in Sweden. 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: In July 2014, Sweden?s full crisis response system engaged in a major operation as a small forest fire spun out of control, turning into the largest forest fire in Sweden in modern times. A number of investigations have been undertaken to understand the course of the fire and identify lessons for future crisis management. This paper presents one approach to identifying such lessons, the lessons learned process applied by the Swedish Armed Forces. The paper also highlights some of the major crisis response lessons from the fire, the most important being the failure to learn from lessons identified after previous forest fires. Results also show that the crisis response effort was negatively affected by a poor understanding of relevant actor?s competencies and resources, as well as lack of continuity in the initial chain of command, and identifies the need for national prioritization of resources at times of major crises.
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Johan Nordström, & Björn Johan Erik Johansson. (2019). Supporting Inter-Organizational Learning – A Review of Post-Excercise Knowledge Sharing. 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: Inter-organisational learning from exercises and response operations is crucial for improving overall response capacity for coping with cross-domain crisis events. In order to compile and disseminate experiences and acquired knowledge in the form of lessons learned, post-exercise reports are written. This paper presents a review of 17 Swedish post-exercise reports. The review was conducted with the aim to investigate whether such reports contained enough information to support inter-organisational learning, i.e. if learning goals were stated, how the event was described, method for evaluation, conclusions, and whether recommendations for change were sufficient for supporting inter-organisational learning. It was found that most reports did not support organisational development and lacked recommendations that were useful outside the own organisation or the
context of the specific exercise scrutinised. The results indicate the need for an exercise evaluation framework for inter-organisational exercises.
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Jonas Herkevall, & Björn J E Johansson. (2022). Understanding Understanding at the Boundary of Inter-organizational Crisis Management – Perspectives from the Swedish COVID-19 Response. In Rob Grace, & Hossein Baharmand (Eds.), ISCRAM 2022 Conference Proceedings – 19th International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management (pp. 322–333). Tarbes, France.
Abstract: The objective of this paper is to understand understanding at the boundaries of inter-organizational crisis management – through different practitioner accounts of the Swedish COVID-19 response. Large-scale crisis management is challenging, as it demands cooperation across organizational boundaries. This paper presents an interview study conducted in Sweden during the COVID-19 response. Findings suggest that cooperative work at the inter-organizational boundaries depends on the ability to bridge discursive boundaries. From the perspective of an organization, this demands understanding of the rationale, values, constraints and capabilities of other organizations. Interviewees expressed frustration due to the time demands of establishing such an understanding. Despite time demands, establishing understanding was needed as the ability to conduct basic tasks such as sharing information and resources, and coordinating action emerge from that understanding. In this paper, it is suggested that new approaches to training that comprise general boundary-crossing skills be added to existing training and exercise programs.
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Jonas Rybing, Johan Larsson, Carl-Oscar Jonson, & Erik Prytz. (2016). Preliminary Validation Results of DigEmergo for Surge Capacity 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: This paper presents preliminary analysis from a validation study of a novel emergency medicine command and control training and evaluation simulator: DIGEMERGO®. The simulated emergency scenario was a surge capacity event at a generic emergency department, in which the participants took on a management role as the emergency department?s coordinating head nurse. A between group validation design with medical expert and novice participants was used. Initial analysis examined three triage measures associated with surge capacity management performance: time to triage, amount of patients triaged, and triage accuracy. The results show that experts were significantly more accurate at triaging in-hospital patients, but not incoming trauma patients. No significant differences in time or number of patients triaged was found. These initial results partially indicate simulator validity, but trauma patient triage accuracy suffered from a confounding variable in the triage system used. Analysis of additional measures is undergoing to further investigate validity claims.
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Kristine Steen-Tveit, & Jaziar Radianti. (2019). Analysis of Common Operational Picture and Situational Awareness during Multiple Emergency Response Scenarios. 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: Disaster response operations require communication and coordination between agencies that seldom occurs in everyday workday situations. Furthermore, in such hybrid environments it is necessary to establish a common operational picture for the responders involved to support collaborative decision-making. The emergency responders must gain situational awareness, and this can further affect the quality of how they deal with the situation. Training in emergency situations is shown to be efficient for learning. In order to understand the complexity of working in unpredictable environments, an analysis of an audio-log from a large-scale drill was carried out. Moreover, this paper provides a definition of several categories for identifying the processes to establish situational awareness and a common operational picture among emergency responders. The analysis process revealed how the actors communicate and revealed an overall communication pattern.
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Kristoffer Karl Darin-Mattsson, & Niklas Hallberg. (2019). Do's and Don'ts in Inter-Organizational Crisis Management Exercises. 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: It is commonly assumed that conducting exercises will contribute to better crisis management. However, the exact mechanisms of cause and effect are hard to isolate empirically. The objective of this paper is to compile and analyze the recommendations in the literature on inter-organizational exercises and learning. While not claiming to meet the strict scientific demand of empirical validation and general applicability, the compilation may nevertheless provide some guidance from research to practitioners. Forty-four papers about learning in interorganizational exercises were analyzed. Out of the analyzed papers, 28 discussed obstacles or success factors.
However, the recommendations applicable in one setting are not automatically valid in others, and some are even contradictory. The recommendations have therefore been categorized according to two criteria; when in the exercise cycle and for whom they apply. Several recommendations concern individual learning, but maximizing individual learning can sometimes hamper learning on the organizational level.
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Stas Simon Krupenia, Cécilia Aguero, & Kees C.H.M. Nieuwenhuis. (2012). The value of different media types to support command and control situation awareness. 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: We investigated the value of different media types (Photo, Video, Audio) to support the situational awareness of a Command and Control (C2) officer monitoring three simultaneous military operations. Twenty-one Polish soldiers individually monitored the real-time battlefield information collected by three (virtual, scripted) platoons. Twice during the monitoring task a series of Situation Awareness (SA) probes were presented (Endsley, 1995). At the end of the task, participants were also given a series of meta-SA probes and preference questions. We found that Video supported Level 2 SA (comprehension) better than the other two media types. We also found that participants preferred to receive information in the Photos and Audio clips than in Video. We conclude that if the goal of the C2 team is to better understand the global situation, then providing the persons-in-the-field with video cameras is a valid solution. However, we obtained no evidence to suggest that such an approach supports the ability to predict what may occur in the future (Level 3 SA). © 2012 ISCRAM.
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Jonas Landgren. (2011). Critical aspects of early-phase response work and its consequences for digital event-log 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: This paper reports from a study focusing on documentation practice in emergency and crisis response work. Specific focus is put on how information is produced and used in the time-critical setting of a situation room part of a command center at a local fire and rescue services. The study uncovers critical aspects of early-phase response work and its potential consequences for digital event-log systems for supporting documentation and reporting. The findings show that fundamental and important information are produced outside of the formal event-log based documentation systems and not as an embedded and integrated activity of using these systems. The analysis shows existing information technology in use lack important functionality in order to contribute to an event-log based system design as suggested in the DERMIS-framework.
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Landsberg, L., Gleibs, T., & Mudimu, O. A. (2023). Design of a Systems Theory Approach for the Evaluation of C2-Systems. In Jaziar Radianti, Ioannis Dokas, Nicolas Lalone, & Deepak Khazanchi (Eds.), Proceedings of the 20th International ISCRAM Conference (pp. 692–700). Omaha, USA: University of Nebraska at Omaha.
Abstract: The course of large-scale incidents as well as disasters can reveal weaknesses in command and control (C2) systems, which make adjustments necessary. Also, new technologies may require C2-systems to be adapted to achieve their full potential for improving incident command. This paper deals with an approach to enable the comparison and evaluation of different C2-systems or their adaptations in order to find the best possible customizations for C2-systems. To this purpose, systems theory is used to unify the approaches of different research disciplines. Within the C2-system boundaries, distinctions were made to represent three different levels of evaluation: “Physical Characteristics”, “Structures and Processes” as well as “C2-system-effectiveness”. During the implementation of the evaluation methods from the different research disciplines into the systems theory approach, it became apparent that the comprehensive approach is desirable, but that broad knowledge and expertise is necessary, especially at the highest evaluation level “C2-system-effectiveness”.
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Lennart Landsberg, Jörg Schmidt, & Ompe Aimé Mudimu. (2022). Synthesising Comparisons to Develop a Generic Command and Control System. In Rob Grace, & Hossein Baharmand (Eds.), ISCRAM 2022 Conference Proceedings – 19th International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management (pp. 392–403). Tarbes, France.
Abstract: Large and small incidents challenge emergency services around the world. Regardless of the size of the incident, command and control (C2)-systems are used to manage the situation, allowing a rapid and coordinated intervention. As all implemented actions result from the outputs of C2-systems, they are a fundamental component of the response. That is why they must be highly reliable and efficient. A research initiative is therefore addressing the approach of evaluating C2-systems on a scenario basis and using key performance indicators (KPI). To ensure that the KPIs can be applied to any form of incident control, a generic C2-system was developed by comparing and merging six German- and English-language C2-systems as well as one international standard. With this step, a comprehensive and detailed C2-system was developed, which is presented in this paper.
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Bas Lijnse, Jan Martin Jansen, Ruud Nanne, & Rinus Plasmeijer. (2011). Capturing the Netherlands Coast Guard's SAR workflow with iTasks. 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: The dynamic nature of crisis response operations and the rigidity of workflow modelling languages are two things that do not go well together. A recent alternative approach to workflow management systems that allows for more flexibility is the iTask system. It uses an embedded functional language for the specification of workflow models that integrates control-flow with data-flow in dynamic data-dependent workflow specifications. Although there is a variety of publications about the iTask workflow definition language (WDL) and its implementation, its applications have been limited to academic toy examples. To explore the iTasks WDL for crisis response applications, we have developed an iTask specification of the Search And Rescue (SAR) workflow of the Netherlands Coast Guard. In this specification we capture the mix of standard procedures and creative improvisation of which a SAR operation exists.
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Lisette de Koning, Kees van Dongen, Floor Thönissen, Thom de Vries, & Peter Essens. (2017). A tool to quickly increase knowledge for effective coordination in crises. In eds Aurélie Montarnal Matthieu Lauras Chihab Hanachi F. B. Tina Comes (Ed.), Proceedings of the 14th International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response And Management (pp. 220–233). Albi, France: Iscram.
Abstract: In complex crises, coordination between organizations is challenging. Knowledge needed to coordinate, like responsibilities, capabilities and interdependencies between tasks are often not known or not communicated systematically. As a result, coordination develops gradually and causes confusion. In this paper we describe an approach and tool called 'Profiler', that focuses on quickly increasing knowledge and understanding about the participating organizations while preparing for, or at the beginning of a crisis. Profiler was evaluated during an exercise of 1 Civil Military Coordination Battalion (1CIMICbat). Teams consisting of functional specialists performed a damage and needs assessments after a flooding. The results show that participants that used Profiler increased their knowledge and integrated understanding, when this was initially lacking. Further, participants with improved knowledge and integrated understanding, coordinated more within and between teams, when they perceived to be interdependent. Our results point in the direction that coordination effectiveness and efficiency may be improved with our approach.
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Jonas Lundberg, & Mikael Asplund. (2011). Communication problems in crisis response. 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 five problem areas of communication that occur during crisis response. These areas are communication infrastructure, situation awareness, individual and organizational common ground, form and content of messages, and communication paths through organizations. Five focus groups with Swedish field personnel from national and international crises were performed. The main contribution of this article is a hypothesis, based on the outcomes of the focus groups, about the relation between communication problems and how they interact with crisis response work.
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Magdalena Granåsen, Mari Olsén, & Per-Anders Oskarsson. (2018). Assessing Interorganizational Crisis Response Capability – Initial Results of a Systematic Literature Review. In Kees Boersma, & Brian Tomaszeski (Eds.), ISCRAM 2018 Conference Proceedings – 15th International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management (pp. 190–202). Rochester, NY (USA): Rochester Institute of Technology.
Abstract: The ability to learn from crises is vital in order to strengthen the capability of societies to manage severe events. This paper presents the initial analysis of a systematic literature review regarding capability assessment of inter-organizational crisis management systems. Inter-organizational crisis management capability is a diverse concept, touching on several related concepts such as resilience, situation awareness and operational performance. During a systematic review process 73 publications were identified. The different aspects of crisis management capability found in the publications were clustered, using an exploratory approach. Nine thematic clusters were identified: interaction, relationships, coordination/C2, system performance, preparedness, situation awareness, resilience, decision making and information infrastructure. A conclusion is that crisis response capability encompasses a multitude of aspects associated with a wide range of assessment methods. The identified publications to a large extent explored aspects of collaboration and coordination, while the actual outcome (system performance) was less explored.
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Mari Olsén, Niklas Hallberg, & Kristoffer Darin Mattsson. (2019). Who Learns from Crisis Management Exercises: An Explorative Study. 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: Exercises are stated to be an important means to learn how to handle crises. However, it has been discussed who should participate and what can be learnt from them. Several roles are involved in the planning, execution and evaluation of exercises, such as participants, observers, facilitators and evaluators. This paper presents an empirical study of the differences in learning experiences between participants and observers. The study was based on interviews with participants and observers involved in a series of exercises at municipality level. The result shows that the participants? learning relates to individual experiences and how well they felt they performed the task. Meanwhile, the observers? learning experiences concerned organisational issues. The findings suggest that to achieve variation in learning experiences, which is important for inventing new solutions, crisis management organisations need to allow their personnel to try different roles in the exercises to increase the learning outcome.
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Richard McMaster, Chris Baber, & Tom Duffy. (2012). The role of artefacts in Police emergency response sensemaking. 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: This paper presents a study of the role of artefacts in sensemaking during emergency response. A qualitative study was conducted with two UK Police Forces, with a particular focus on the role of artefacts in the creation and modification of sensemaking frames. This research demonstrates that sensemaking is a key component of emergency response Command and Control and that this activity is distributed across the individuals within the system. Collaborative sensemaking is coordinated via social and organisational means, supported by a range of private (informal) and shared (formal) artefacts, which function as resources for action – cueing frame seeking and frame-defined data collection. The study also reveals the role of narrative in bridging the gap between these two parallel sensemaking processes and raises implications for the further digitisation of the emergency response environment, demonstrating the importance of balancing social and technical factors in the design of ICT for emergency response. © 2012 ISCRAM.
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Christian Neuhaus, Mario Hannappel, Daniela Giebel, & Sabine Färfers. (2012). Crisis management systems in Germany – A status report about the current functions and developments of private and public crisis managementsystems in Germany. 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: Crisis management systems play a critical role in supporting responders and decision makers in their crisis and emergency management functions. Even though these systems and solutions have been broadly adopted in private and public organizations, very few quantitative studies can be found on their functions, user groups, targeted stakeholders, their technological requirements and their scope of services. The present study gives an outline of our ongoing project and an insight in the first results of a three-year study of crisis management systems in Germany. The study will outline the methods of our analysis and will present some results from an analysis of over more than 170 systems from over 70 vendor/developers. It will then give a conclusion of the results and outline open and future questions. © 2012 ISCRAM.
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Nicoletta Baroutsi. (2016). Observing Sensemaking in C2: Performance Assessments in Multi-Organizational Crisis Response. 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: A crisis can involve multiple organizations during high pressure events, and it is up to the Command & Control (C2) unit to provide direction and coordination for the response (Brehmer, 2006). Hard as this problem is, there is still no ?one-solution?. Dissimilar organizations with very different methods seem to be able to master the problem. This paper presents the initial development of a new evaluation method for C2 in the context of multi-organizational crisis response. The data is collected at an emergency water exercise series conducted in several cities in Sweden. Each exercise involves multiple agencies and organizations, with up to 76 participants from 15 unique organizations/units. The analysis is brief, but presents the possibility of observing Sensemaking as it unfolds, and that generic behavioral patterns can be found. The existence of generic and observable behavior patterns suggests the possibility of assessing, and maybe even quantifying, Sensemaking performance in C2.
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Nicoletta Baroutsi. (2018). A Practitioners Guide for C2 Evaluations: Quantitative Measurements of Performance and Effectiveness. In Kees Boersma, & Brian Tomaszeski (Eds.), ISCRAM 2018 Conference Proceedings – 15th International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management (pp. 170–189). Rochester, NY (USA): Rochester Institute of Technology.
Abstract: Quantitative evaluations are valuable in the strive for improvements and asserting quality. However, the field of Command & Control (C2) evaluations are hard to navigate, and it is difficult to find the correct measurement for a specific situation. A comprehensive Scoping Study was made concerning measurements of C2 performance and effectiveness. A lack of an existing appropriate framework for discussing C2 evaluations led to the development of the Crisis Response Management (CRM) Matrix. This is an analysis tool that assigns measurements into categories, and each category display unique strengths, weaknesses and trends. The analysis yielded results proving to be too rich for a single article, thusly, this is the first of two articles covering the results. In this article, the Practitioners Guide focus on results valuable for someone interested in evaluating C2. Each evaluation has specific requirements that, for best result, ought to be reflected in the chosen measurement.
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Pauline Tobergte, Alena Knispel, Lennart Landsberg, & Ompe Aimé Mudimu. (2022). Evaluation of Tabletop Exercises in Emergency Response Research and Application in the Research Project SORTIE. In Rob Grace, & Hossein Baharmand (Eds.), ISCRAM 2022 Conference Proceedings – 19th International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management (pp. 415–427). Tarbes, France.
Abstract: This paper presents the fields of application of the tabletop exercise in emergency response by explaining the method in emergency response research. The authors illustrate the tabletop exercise of the Institute for Rescue Engineering and Civil Protection (IRG) of the TH Köln in a research project on Sensor Systems for Localization of Trapped Victims in Collapsed Infrastructure (acronym: SORTIE) as an application example. Subsequently, the quantitative and qualitative evaluation methods used generally and specifically for the tabletop exercise of the research project SORTIE are considered, and the technical implementation is explained. The evaluation method used in the tabletop exercise consists of three sub-areas (participant survey; exercise observation; photo, video and audio recordings). Further, the analysis of the evaluation using statistical tools is explained. Finally, this paper refers to possible sources of error in the evaluation of tabletop exercises, such as exercise artificiality and subjectivity of the exercise observers.
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Per Wikberg, Dennis Andersson, & Björn Johansson. (2017). Assessing command and control teams' performance and agility. In eds Aurélie Montarnal Matthieu Lauras Chihab Hanachi F. B. Tina Comes (Ed.), Proceedings of the 14th International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response And Management (pp. 204–219). Albi, France: Iscram.
Abstract: Crisis response organizations and military units must be agile and able to adapt to dynamic situations. The ability to adapt includes command and control agility, organizational adaptability and individual adaptability. An exploratory study of these adaptability traits were undertaken during a naval exercise. The exercise scenario was designed to progressively become more challenging, suggesting decreased performance and adaptability over time. The study objectives were to develop a data collection approach for adaptability traits and to investigate association between these traits and performance. Data collected from four command teams were evaluated in terms of response rate and item variation. Principal component analysis was used to explore latent structures and relationships. The results indicate acceptable survey response rates and trends showing a decrease in organizational adaptability and C2 agility over time while individual adaptability increased. The analysis also identified five partially independent components in the latent structure.
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