Connie White, Starr Roxanne Hiltz, & Murray Turoff. (2008). United we respond: One community, one voice. In B. V. de W. F. Fiedrich (Ed.), Proceedings of ISCRAM 2008 – 5th International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management (pp. 25–33). Washington, DC: Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management, ISCRAM.
Abstract: When emergency situations cross borders, or when newly formed groups need to work together, decision making can suffer from threat rigidity and pertinent information can be bypassed. We describe a Dynamic Delphi system under development that can create and sustain a group “voice” for an emergency response Community of Practice (CoP). We further describe its intended use for a CoP consisting of local, state and federal government responders, civilian emergency response teams (CERT), and volunteers. Community members can brainstorm, explore ideas, debate and vote iteratively to best reflect the group's opinion at any moment in time. Ongoing studies demonstrate that an online system implementing Dynamic Delphi characteristics along with Thurstone's Law of Comparative Judgment will prove conducive for building a repertoire of ideas, rules, policies or any other aspect of the community's 'voice', in such a way that the individual voices are juxtaposed in harmony to create a single song.
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Craig E. Kuziemsky, Tracey L. O'Sullivan, & Wayne Corneil. (2012). An upstream-downstream approach for disaster management information systems design. 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 is an essential part of disaster management. Information systems (IS) are a key means of providing the right information at the right time to support response to a disaster, and fostering collaborative facilitators such as situation awareness, common ground and communities of practice. However for these collaborative facilitators to support 'downstream events' (i.e. disaster response) they need to emerge and be grown from 'upstream' activities such as user engagement. Subsequently IS design requirements for disaster response are embedded in the community where a system will be used and it is from the community users and their needs that IS requirements must emerge. This paper presents an upstream-downstream approach for disaster management IS design. We describe four phases to user centered information systems design to support disaster management and provide a case study of using this approach in action to design an IS to enhance community resilience. © 2012 ISCRAM.
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David Díez, Paloma Díaz, & Ignacio Aedo. (2010). Virtual communities of practice: Design directions for technology-mediated collaboration in the early warning activity. In C. Zobel B. T. S. French (Ed.), ISCRAM 2010 – 7th International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management: Defining Crisis Management 3.0, Proceedings. Seattle, WA: Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management, ISCRAM.
Abstract: The performance of early warning activities involves the management of complex situations as uncertainty is common, information is frequently scattered and the number of stakeholders affected is large. In this context, the performance of early warning activities is distinguished by the significance of internalized experience as well as the generalized use of cultural knowledge, internalized domain knowledge and tacit knowledge. A suitable and well-known way to endorse the creation and exchange of this kind of knowledge -usually called soft knowledge- is the application of communities of practitioners. Based on the review of the communities of practice approach, its principles and rationale, this paper proposes a set of design guidelines aimed at addressing the technological design of technological platforms that support the creation, exchange and acquisition of soft knowledge for its application in early warning activities.
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Eva Törnqvist, Johan Sigholm, & Simin Nadjm-Tehrani. (2009). Hastily formed networks for disaster response: Technical heterogeneity and virtual pockets of local order. In S. J. J. Landgren (Ed.), ISCRAM 2009 – 6th International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management: Boundary Spanning Initiatives and New Perspectives. Gothenburg: Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management, ISCRAM.
Abstract: As natural and man-made disasters become increasingly common, ensuring effective disaster response, mitigation and recovery is growing into a high-priority task for governments and administrations globally. This paper describes the challenges of collaboration within multi-organisational hastily formed networks for post-disaster response, which are increasingly relying on emerging ICT infrastructures for communication and cooperation. We present an interdisciplinary analysis of the conditions for establishing an effective mutual conversation space for involved stakeholders, and how the development of socio-technological systems affects cognitive and behavioural aspects such as established communities of practice and virtual pockets of local order. Our observations thus far suggest that some of the key issues are overcoming organisational and cultural heterogeneity, and finding solutions for technical interoperability, to ensure effective, pervasive and sustainable information exchange within and between organisations participating in hastily formed networks.
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Raquel Gimenez, Leire Labaka, Jose Mari Sarriegi, & Josune Hernantes. (2015). Development of a Virtual Community of Practice on Natural Disasters. 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 research identifies from literature principles of successful Virtual Communities of Practice (VCoPs) and explains how they have been fulfilled in the development of a VCoP that aims at contributing to knowledge sharing on natural disasters. The developed VCoP involves 70 experts in dealing with natural disasters from different hierarchical levels, organizations and nationalities of Europe. The VCoP has been developed within a European project from the 7th framework program. During the project three workshops were arranged for the members of the VCoP to know each other and to develop a living document. The living document is a web based tool used by the VCoP to share documents and insights, and it helps VCoP members networking. This paper provides direction for developing a VCoP to exchange lessons learned reports among crisis managers and first responders, and it identifies barriers that hinder the use of the living document.
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Sergio Herranz, David Díez, Díaz, P., & Starr Roxanne Hiltz. (2012). Exploring the design of technological platformsfor virtual communities of practice. 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: Virtual Communities of Practice (VCoP) refers to groups of people who share a concern about a specific domain or topic and use a virtual environment to share and increase their knowledge and expertise about this domain. This kind of social structure has intrinsic features suitable to support emergency management communities. Nevertheless, the design of specific technological platforms that support both the activity and the practice of the community is not a trivial task, especially in critical domains such as emergency management. This paper presents the inquiry process carried out over one and a half years for the purpose of generating insights about the application of VCoPs within the emergency management context. Based on a case study, a set of findings is presented about the guidelines that should be followed in order to develop suitable technological platforms that support the labor of VCoPs in the emergency management context. © 2012 ISCRAM.
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