Abstract: Mobile communications networks and devices can be and have been used by authorities to warn and instruct the general public during crises. However, our understanding of how mobile technologies could best be used for emergency announcements (public warnings) is currently limited. To clarify one part of this field of study, we define and describe a simple taxonomy for mobile emergency announcements (MEA) systems. The taxonomy has three categories: preplanned MEA systems, ad-hoc MEA systems and semi ad-hoc MEA systems. Differences in functional, security and other requirements were found between MEA systems belonging to different taxonomy categories, both concerning how each category of MEA systems can meet the common requirements, and concerning which requirements are the most important for each category of MEA systems. The differences between the categories were especially clear for these requirements: the understandability and credibility of the MEAs and the security of a MEA system.

Abstract: In an increasingly networked society citizens at disaster sites utilize information and communication technology (ICT) to communicate needs or to share information. In order to understand better emergent possibilities and implications of applying ICT for supporting public participation in disasters, we surveyed 57 respondents regarding several key user aspects as perceived usefulness, socially related issues, or deployment. Surprisingly, our results show a clear tendency to use a disaster specific application instead of using everyday services as facebook or Twitter. However, such application poses the risk to loose its focus fading slowly away after once downloading it. Further study is needed to understand if these results are representative regarding public society. © 2012 ISCRAM.

Abstract: Research in emergency response systems has produced significant literature in a very short span of time. We review a corpus of published works on how Information Communication Technology (ICT) is being utilized and the type of tasks ICT attempts to support in the event of a crisis due to disasters, whether natural or man-made. In our research, we have been able to distinguish eight types of tasks supported by technology during a disaster. We list some of these technologies used by the public, practitioners and researchers to illustrate the current trends of technology usage. We also identify gaps and technology needs that require our attention. Given the increasing frequency and severity of disasters, this research is timely as it (1) contributes to our understanding of the trends of development and technology use during times of crises and (2) identifies potential areas for future work to improve ICT's role during times of emergency. © 2012 ISCRAM.

Abstract: Regardless of the type of crisis and its complexity as well as the difference of culture, objectives and priorities of the multitude organizations involved, emergency response requires effective communication in order to achieve situational awareness within inter-organizational collaboration, make decision and achieve their own objectives. However, actors are challenged by several problems. Among them, weak interaction and information exchange, unavailability of information at the right time etc. Our contribution outlined in this paper is suggesting an approach based on an empirical study conducted in France. The objective of this approach is to mitigate inter-organizational communication problems and support situational awareness (SA) by distributing needed information at the right time.

Abstract: The application of Information and Communication Technologies in emergency management environments is a challenging research topic; particularly, the applicability of C4ISR (Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance) systems specifically designed for these environments. A key aspect in emergency management is the training of operatives at all levels, from intervention to operational, including tactical command and control. Virtual reality is widely used for training and learning purposes, but the interaction of real and virtual worlds with new standards (i.e. MPEG-V), going a step further from the traditional approach to create virtual environments based in expensive simulation dedicated equipment and allowing data streaming between both worlds, has not yet been exploited in training for emergency management. This paper proposes an architecture for a C4ISR training system providing interoperability between real and virtual worlds using the MPEG-V standard and allowing simultaneous and real time training of both real and virtual units.

Abstract: When a major event such as a crisis situation occurs, people post messages on social media sites such as Twitter, in
order to exchange information or to share emotions. These posts can provide useful information to raise situation
awareness and support decision making, e.g., by aid organizations. In this paper, we propose a novel method for
social media crawling, which exploits a Bayesian inference framework to keep track of keyword changes over time
and uses a counter-stream to gauge the inclusion of noise and irrelevant information. In addition, we present a
framework to evaluate real-time adaptive social search algorithms in a reproducible manner, which relies on a
semi-automated approach for ground-truth construction. We show that our method outperforms previous methods
for very large scale events.

Abstract: This paper describes the development of a framework targeted to technology providers to better understand the grand domain challenges of the emergency response and management community (EM). In developing this framework, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) researchers interviewed subject matter experts (SMEs) across the EM domain and corroborated these findings with current literature. We are presently examining relationships and dependencies within the framework. We anticipate that a thorough understanding of these gaps and dependencies will allow for a more informed approach to prioritizing research, developing tools, and applying technology to enhance performance in the EM community.

Abstract: Disaster response requires communications among all affected parties including emergency responders and the affected populace. Wireless telecommunications, if available through a fixed structure cellular mobile network, satellites, portable station mobile networks and ad hoc mobile networks, can provide this means for such communications. While the deployment of temporary mobile networks and other wireless equipment following disasters has been successfully accomplished by governmental agencies and mobile network providers following previous disasters, there appears to be little optimization effort involved with respect to maximizing key performance measures of the deployment or minimizing overall 'cost' (including time aspects) to deploy. This work-in-progress does not focus on the question of what entity will operate the portable base during a disaster, but on optimizing the placement of mobile base stations or similar network nodes for planning and real time management purposes. An optimization model is proposed for the staging and placement of portable base stations to support disaster relief efforts.

Abstract: Cooperation and mutual assistance in emergency situations is one of the main objectives of the Latin-American Association of Governmental Organisms of Civil Defense and Protection. To promote such collaboration m-ARCE has been developed; an ubiquitous mobile office for disaster mitigation where users can send and receive information anywhere and anytime. When a catastrophe happens in a country, and almost all infrastructure is destroyed, mobile technology, such as mobile devices and wireless networks, offers the user resources to ask for help and to manage it. Latin-American Countries often suffer catastrophes that provoke numerous human losses and major economic and social problems. International assistance and collaboration with the affected country is necessary to help in its recovery. The Web, like Internet, offers static office services to users who can access information using an infrastructure in indoor environments. On the other hand, mobile computing and networking use the Internet, together with mobile physical devices linked to it, and software platforms built upon it, to design and coordinate systems across countries. In the ubiquitous mobile office design, we describe how services, such as chat, email and wireless communication, should be configured for emergency situation. We make use of ubiquitous hypermedia -linked nodes in ubiquitous spaces- to ensure mobility and accessibility to the mobile device interface, such as PDAs and smartphones.

Abstract: Experiments in crisis management are expensive and difficult to realize. There is also a lack of training facilities in real crisis environments. Serious games and simulation can provide an alternative. We developed a system which enables interactive simulation for crisis management. It is called IMACSIM (Interactive Multi Agent Crisis Simulator Interpreter and Monitor). It is composed of the following components: First a software based platform for dynamic simulating of disasters. Next an event generator which can generate different crises situations. We designed a communication infrastructure that allows agents participants in the simulation to exchange messages. Every agent is able to observe the results of crisis events, process these events and initiate appropriate actions via a waypoint system. The decision making process is distributed among autonomous agents. Some actions may have an impact on the event generator, so there is an interaction between agents and event generator. We developed a first prototype. The design and test results will be described in this paper.

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.

Abstract: Reliable communication systems are one of the key success factors for a successful first response mission. Current crisis response communication systems suffer from damaged or destroyed infrastructure or are just overstressed in the case of a large scale disaster. We provide an outline for a distributed communication approach, which fulfills the requirements of first responders. It is based on a layered network topology and current technology used in research projects or already established products. In addition, we propose a testing framework for the evaluation of a crisis response communication system.

Abstract: People with sensory disabilities, like anyone else, need access to timely emergency and weather warnings information. Primary information sources, radio and television broadcasts, do not consistently serve the needs of the 28 million people who are deaf or hard-of-hearing, or the 11 million people who are blind or have low vision. Alert systems, services and products are developing text and audio alert capabilities to serve these populations but many inconsistently support appropriate modalities and accessible interfaces. Funded by the US Department of Commerce, WGBH is uniting emergency alert providers, local information resources, telecommunications industry and public broadcasting representatives, and consumers to research and disseminate replicable approaches to make emergency warnings and community-based information accessible. Through research with consumers and the public warning community, and delivery and device testing, an information model is being developed with recommended accessibility extensions to emergency system protocols, technologies and services for cross-platform delivery. © 2006 WGBH Educational Foundation.