Vitaveska Lanfranchi, Nadia Noori, & Tudor Sirbu. (2018). GPS-based solution for tracking and protecting humanitarians in conflict zones. In Kees Boersma, & Brian Tomaszeski (Eds.), ISCRAM 2018 Conference Proceedings – 15th International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management (pp. 334–349). Rochester, NY (USA): Rochester Institute of Technology.
Abstract: The operational environment in which humanitarians operate is unstable and high-risk; when operating in such environments, time becomes a critical factor. Thus, real-time location systems (RTLS) are often deployed in the operational environment to provide awareness of the location of personnel and assets in real-time that would support an informed decision making in the event of responding to emergency. Whilst standard RTLS are very precise, they are not suitable to outdoor spaces; GPS position technology can be used to identify the location of objects and people and to track them. In this paper, first, we present a description of threat scenarios identified based on information from existing security incidents datasets and from interviews with aid workers and security professionals operating in high-risk regions. Second, we describe the implementation of a GPS-based real-time location tracking and alert system for humanitarians operating in conflict zones that supports the identified scenarios.
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