Abstract: This discussion paper focuses on conceptualizing the ultimate goal in disaster management, i.e. reduction of future risks and impacts and explicitly highlights how actions taken in various phases of integrated disaster risk management influence vulnerability and eventually overall risk characteristics. First, the advancement of the disaster management concept evolving from a cyclic perspective to a spiral view is described and the various stages of disaster management including risk analysis, mitigation, and response are explained. In an attempt to improve and advance disaster risk management, next, the concepts of foresight and prediction are described and its major differences are highlighted. Finally, the basic framework of risk governance is considered for integrating foresight and prediction and thus lifting disaster management to the next level. Active and transparent communication and participation is seen as the key for successfully implementing risk governance.

Abstract: Business continuity planning for private sector organizations has not reached the level of readiness as has the public sector. This disparity has reached national attention as the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security addressed it in a statement, “ensuring Americas small businesses have the critical information and training they need to better respond to disasters will strengthen the entire nations preparedness and resilience (DHS, 2010).” The release of this statement and the DHS program (PS-Prep) was a promise to provide the necessary tools to small business owners so they could build effective business continuity plans. The major contributions of this research will be to provide an evaluation of the applicability of PS-Prep to small businesses, and to provide the needs assessment for parallel research of leveraging the current capabilities of a Business Emergency Operations Center in the development of a Virtual Small Business Emergency Operations Center (VSBEOC).

Abstract: Despite the significant advances that software and hardware technologies have brought to the emergency management field, some islands remain where innovation has had little impact. Among them, emergency plan management is of particular relevance due to their key role in the direction of teams during responses. Aspects like coordination, collaboration, and others are spread in plain text sentences, impeding automatic tool support to improve team per-formance. Moreover, administrative management of plans becomes a mere document management activity. In this paper, we present SAGA, an architecture that supports the full lifecycle of advanced emergency plan management. By advanced we mean plans that include new types of interaction such as hypermedia and advanced process definition languages to provide precise specification of response procedures. SAGA provides all the actors involved in plan management a number of tools supporting all the stages of the plan lifecycle, from its creation to its use in training drills or actual responses. It is intended to be instantiated in systems promoted by civil defense agencies, providing administrative support to plan management; additionally, editing tools for plan designers and tools for analysis and improvement of such plans by organizations are provided. Plan enactment facilities in emergency response are also integrated. To our knowledge, it is the very first proposal that covers all the aspects of plan man-agement. © 2012 ISCRAM.

Abstract: In order to analyze and evaluate any post-disaster phases it is necessary to address the pre-existent vulnerability conditions. The methodology consists of four steps: the first step comprises of a review of vulnerability and recovery indicators; the second step is to identify indicators based on spatial variables; the third step is to find the common variables among the subsets of spatial variables from vulnerability and recovery indicators; and the fourth step more pragmatic, is an investigation of the availability of data. The initial results are the set of vulnerability and recovery indicators. Reducing the set of indicators to the indicators represented in a spatial context and the indicators with common features of vulnerability and recovery indices bears the risk to ignore some important single indicators; nevertheless, the added value of the on-going research is to show the advantages of using indicators based on spatial variables.

Abstract: An emergency plan is an important artifact used throughout emergencies. Therefore, it is crucial that this plan covers the different scenarios faced by emergency team and that the prescribed procedures generate the desired results. To achieve these goals, emergency plans need to be exhaustively tested prior to its adoption. Emergency teams usually use simulation to test plans, but it is an expensive approach, demanding the building of complex environments and tools to get realistic situations. To be ready to go through a simulation exercise, a plan should not have many or critical mistakes, otherwise the simulation exercise would be wasted. We present a paired approach to evaluate emergency plans before simulation exercises, by applying software engineering testing techniques: Formal technical review (FTR) and mutation testing. The expected result is a plan more ready to go through simulation, as many of the mistakes are eliminated prior to simulation.

Abstract: The University of Agder, Norway, has recently founded a Centre for Integrated Emergency Management (CIEM). The centre brings together a highly multi-disciplinary group of local and international researchers in technology and the social sciences. This paper presents an interdisciplinary vision for large-scale integrated emergency management that has been inspired by the transition from platform centric to Integrated Operations in the oil and gas fields, which uses remote emergency control centers collaborating virtually with local responders. The paper discusses some of the most salient research challenges for Integrated Emergency Management. © 2012 ISCRAM.

Abstract: Crucial to improving the management of emergency situations is the definition of suitable Emergency Plans and training of participants in the application of such plans. In order to design a good Emergency Plan, experts from different areas need to work collaboratively to identify all the events and the relationships among such events. The main purpose of this project is to study different information technology techniques that can be used in the elaboration of and training for Emergency Plans, based on the use of scenarios. The use of such techniques will support collaborative development of Emergency Plans, the use of rich formats that provide different perspectives on a plan, the exportation and sharing of plans in order to increase their evolution and improvement, the instruction of participants, as well as better interaction, participation and exchange of knowledge. Key aspects of the plans for this recently begun project are described in this paper.

Abstract: An emergency brings together a group of individuals who often represent different organizations, resources, and roles. In order to be able to make the right decisions, individuals need to understand each other although they may be from different lines of business. In our research the target is to stress the importance of a common language in emergency management. Our plan is to gather a group representing the authorities, i.e. public sector actors, and a group representing companies, i.e. private sector actors, to communicate with the Delphi method on possible differences in the language used in different lines of business. The aim of this paper is to discuss the possibilities of using the Delphi method to make improvements to emergency management and to evaluate which kinds of organizations should be represented in our Delphi panel. This paper forms a part of a larger research study, the results of which will be useful, for example when improving the interoperability of management and communications systems. © 2012 ISCRAM.

Abstract: Emergency plans are developed to serve as a basis for response actions required in real situations. However, plan development is not an easy task and usually relies on complex processes. Due to the uncertainty of emergencies, one of the most challenging tasks is the development of possible courses of action. To deal with this uncertainty, we propose the use of scenario techniques for the definition of courses of action. Specifically, we adopt the use of CIA-ISM scenario technique for structuring the chain of events that can occur in a crisis that would support planning teams to develop courses of action. A practical application of the methodology has been successfully conducted by an emergency planning team in Brazil. The practical application of the CIA-ISM process was supported by a software artifact called CAEPlan. Lessons learned about the empirical application of both the methodology and the software artifact are presented.

Abstract: To store patients' medical histories and to exchange them between physicians, patient registries are used. Registries contain detailed data on patients and their treatments, and may comprise additional documents. This makes them very valuable for epidemiological research due to the amount of information contained. Providing data for research requires anonymization and pseudonymization to address privacy laws and security concerns. To be able to give feedback to physicians e.g. about discovered treatment possibilities, advanced pseudonymization has to be used. We present progress in the development of patient registries and the required functionality to support research. Usability, explicability, and performance requirements are addressed by incorporating Web technology. Our findings include ways to develop patient registries as well as the description of mechanisms built into them. In particular, we show applications to and implications for crisis management. © 2012 ISCRAM.

Abstract: Using actors from different societal sectors can improve the response operation quality in emergency management. The different roles, tasks and responsibilities these actors have in response operations and the legal frameworks they work within influence their needs for proper information system support. There is thus a substantial need to study and systemize the concept of “new actors” before providing them with technical solutions. In this study, a framework is constructed showing 14 dimensions of new actors that need to be considered when new actors are studied in more detail.

Abstract: Our research reflects an emerging shift in understandings of effective preparedness practices from siloed approaches toward more holistic views. We trace a shifting perspective emerging in literature and present in the early qualitative data of current preparedness experts' interviews within an international humanitarian organization whose core mission is disaster preparedness and response. Designing effective information systems for disaster preparedness requires us to better understand the dynamic and implicit ways practitioners define effective work. Our pilot research begins to uncover preparedness experts' perspectives, with plans for the study to investigate how preparedness practitioners view, conduct, and evaluate their work at the lowest-level1. Our long-term research goal is to realize implications for the more effective design of tools and systems to support disaster preparedness.