Catherine Lowry Campbell, Fadi Deek, Murray Turoff, & Bartel A. Van De Walle. (2004). Measuring consensus and conflict among stakeholders in emergency response information system requirements negotiations. In B. C. B. Van de Walle (Ed.), Proceedings of ISCRAM 2004 – 1st International Workshop on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management (pp. 121–126). Brussels: Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium.
Abstract: This paper introduces the experimental design we developed for the analysis of asynchronous negotiations among five different stakeholders as they work towards consensus on the functional system requirements that are needed for a common emergency response information system. We present three analytical preference models to measure the evolving consensus and conflict among the stakeholders as they modify their preferences during the negotiation. We illustrate the use of these techniques for obtaining a detailed understanding of the negotiation dynamics among the stakeholders. © Proceedings ISCRAM 2004.
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Catherine Lowry Campbell, Bartel A. Van De Walle, & Fadi P. Deek. (2005). Asynchronous negotiation and collaboration of software requirements for an emergency response information system: An empirical investigation. In B. C. B. Van de Walle (Ed.), Proceedings of ISCRAM 2005 – 2nd International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management (pp. 5–11). Brussels: Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium.
Abstract: Negotiation and collaboration during the requirements stage of the software engineering process are fundamental to developing successful software products. Groups of stakeholders work together to come to agreement on the most important requirements to be sent forward for implementation. Distributed software engineering is becoming the norm rather than the exception, yet the requirements elicitation and definition process is normally conducted face to face. This paper describes an empirical study to investigate the relationship between structured task and specified negotiation steps within an asynchronous environment. The results reveal that these structures can have a positive impact on solution quality but a negative impact on process satisfaction, although following a negotiation sequence and task structure can help asynchronous groups come to agreement faster. Details of the experimental procedures, statistical analysis, and discussion of the results of the experiment are presented, as are suggestions for improving this work and a plan for future research.
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Rui Chen, Raghav H. Rao, Raj Sharman, Shambhu J Upadhyaya, & Catherine Cook-Cottone. (2010). Examination of emergency response from knowledge and psychology perspectives. 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: This research-in-progress examines the roles of technology and human systems in supporting emergency response management through the dual perspectives of knowledge and psychology. Task critical knowledge is linked to organizational effectiveness in delivering business value and psychological factors characterize the unique challenges of an emergency context. This exploratory research is among the first to develop a theoretical model based on these two important yet understudied theoretical aspects. The article contributes to the research development in emergency response information systems and sheds light on the organizational response management practice.
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Linn Marks Collins, James E. Powell Jr., Carolyn E Dunford, Ketan K. Mane, & Mark L.B. Martinez. (2008). Emergency information Synthesis and awareness using E-SOS. In B. V. de W. F. Fiedrich (Ed.), Proceedings of ISCRAM 2008 – 5th International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management (pp. 618–623). Washington, DC: Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management, ISCRAM.
Abstract: In an emergency, people need to be able to report and find relevant information quickly. Fulfilling these information needs is the design goal of E-SOS: Emergency Situation Overview and Synthesis, a research project in progress. E-SOS will consist of (1) a website where users can report information, (2) web services that find and synthesize related information from multiple sources, and (3) interface tools that visualize and display links to this information. In this paper we describe three of these services and tools: the topic, geographic, and information space awareness tools. When a user writes a report, the topic awareness tool will execute a federated search and display links to related information. The information space awareness tool will highlight these links in a visualization of the information space. If the user refers to a location, the geographic awareness tool will focus a map on this location and display topic-related icons.
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Edward Mahinda, & Brian Whitworth. (2004). Evaluating flexibility and reliability in emergency response information systems. In B. C. B. Van de Walle (Ed.), Proceedings of ISCRAM 2004 – 1st International Workshop on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management (pp. 93–98). Brussels: Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium.
Abstract: Flexibility, variously known as adaptability, tailorability, and customizability, has long been recognized as important in information system (IS) success. Reliability has known value in IS for the resulting predictability it bestows on a system. However increasing flexibility can increase possible paths for system breakdown, and so contribute to failure, i.e. increasing flexibility can reduce reliability. Reliability and flexibility seem in design “tension”, as one creates change and the other resists it. The combination of reliability and flexibility has been called “ robustness”, and it seems a desirable integration particularly for emergency response systems. However typically these two areas are studied separately. Our approach to evaluating the combination of reliability and flexibility is to define two distinct requirements that neither overlap nor contradict, and can be assessed by system users. A questionnaire instrument for users is proposed for measurement of the flexibility and reliability of a system. © Proceedings ISCRAM 2004.
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Alessio Malizia, Francisco Astorga-Paliza, Teresa Onorati, Paloma Díaz, & Ignacio Aedo. (2008). Emergency alerts for all: An ontology based approach to improve accessibility in emergency alerting systems. In B. V. de W. F. Fiedrich (Ed.), Proceedings of ISCRAM 2008 – 5th International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management (pp. 197–207). Washington, DC: Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management, ISCRAM.
Abstract: When a disaster occurs it is critical that emergency response information systems share a common ontology to support their disaster management alerting functions and notifications. Notifications are critical when an emergency scenario is going to happen (e.g. a typhoon approaching) so it is crucial, for emergency systems, to be able to transmit them to all kinds of recipients. An ontology was developed by investigating different sources: accessibility guidelines, emergency response systems, communication devices and technologies, taking into account the different abilities of people to react to different alarms (e.g. mobile phone vibration as an alarm for deaf people). We think that the proposed ontology addresses the information needs for sharing and integrating emergency notification messages and contents over different emergency response information systems and to be accessible under different conditions and for different kind of users.
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Alessio Malizia, Pablo Acuña, Teresa Onorati, Paloma Díaz, & Ignacio Aedo. (2009). CAP-ONES: An emergency notification system for all. 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: In this paper we present an ontology-based system for managing emergency alert notifications. Our purpose is to generate emergency alerts that are accessible to different kinds of people, paying special attention to more vulnerable collectives like impaired people. By adapting alerts to different devices and users we can allow Emergency Management Systems (EMS) to communicate with collectives like blind or deaf people whom otherwise will be unreachable by usual channels. Moreover, if we consider the constrains imposed by the nature of the emergency situations we can also improve the information transmission to cope with situational disabilities (e.g. smoke during a fire can cause low vision problems). We centered our system architecture on two characteristics: The first one is an ontology that codifies knowledge about accessibility, devices, disabilities, emergencies and media so the alert notification can be tailored according to different parameters; the second one is the use of an open standard like the CAP (Common Alerting Protocol) that enables our system to interoperate with other existing systems.
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Andreas Meissner, Zhou Wang, Wolfgang Putz, & Jan Grimmer. (2006). MIKoBOS-a mobile information and communication system for emergency response. In M. T. B. Van de Walle (Ed.), Proceedings of ISCRAM 2006 – 3rd International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management (pp. 92–101). Newark, NJ: Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium.
Abstract: The role of communication and information provision in coping with natural and man-made disasters and emergency situations is becoming increasingly important. In this paper we present an integrated mobile information and communication system, MIKoBOS, for emergency response operations that enables reliable data communication within the emergency site as well as between the site and the headquarters. It provides the responsible personnel involved in the emergency operation at different levels with anytime-anywhere access to relevant information. Compared to traditional voice-dominated approaches, the proposed system can greatly improve the effectiveness and efficiency of communication and coordination during disaster relief operations. Promising experimental performance results are provided for use with a number of terrestrial and satellite networks.
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Maria A. Santos, António Gonçalves, Sandra Silva, Nuno Charneca, & Miguel Gamboa. (2004). Dam break emergency response Information System. In B. C. B. Van de Walle (Ed.), Proceedings of ISCRAM 2004 – 1st International Workshop on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management (pp. 27–32). Brussels: Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium.
Abstract: Although considered of low risk, incidents with dams may cause significant damage both directly and indirectly. Direct losses are usually easier to assess (assuming human lives are quantifiable), but indirect losses are difficult to measure and may take some time before the original situation is restored. Disaster prevention and vulnerability reduction have been topics of major concern in many local, national or international organisations for some years. These can be accomplished through emergency management which begins with hazard identification and planning for disaster mitigation but encompasses other activities as risk analysis, risk response and recovery. Therefore, an emergency management system with capacity to: i) forecast critical situations; ii) warn the population as well as the authorities; and iii) support the civil protection system to deal with an emergency, is a most helpful tool to minimize the impact of an accident. The Information System described herein fulfils mainly the third objective, i.e. it is intended to help the Civil Protection System in Portugal, to respond to an emergency caused by the failure of a dam. It is an Internet-based application, which integrates all relevant data for the implementation of a dam emergency plan. These data include the main characteristics of the dam and its reservoir, the character-isation of the dam downstream valley as well as the response procedures to be followed in an emergency. © Proceedings ISCRAM 2004.
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Gerd Van Den Eede, Willem J. Muhren, Raphaël Smals, & Bartel A. Van De Walle. (2006). IS capability for incident management and the DERMIS design premises. In M. T. B. Van de Walle (Ed.), Proceedings of ISCRAM 2006 – 3rd International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management (pp. 251–261). Newark, NJ: Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium.
Abstract: In this paper we present a dynamic model of the performance of an organization's Incident Management process as determined by the capability of its supporting emergency response information system. Our work is based on the Capability Trap model by Repenning & Sterman (2001) and draws from the many insights on emergency response information systems design as described in the DERMIS (Dynamic Emergency Response Management Information System) framework established by Turoff et al. 2004. Whereas the latter describes the premises that underlie an Information System (IS) that is capable of ensuring a reliable and flexible emergency response, the present paper contributes to the research field by looking at the interrelations of the aforementioned premises. We take a System Dynamics approach and gain insights in the key determinants of IS Capability by highlighting the mutual interdependences grouped around the concepts of adaptability, control, implicit knowledge and explicit knowledge.
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