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Adam Flizikowski, M. P., Anna Stachowicz, Tomasz Olejniczak, & Rafael Renk. (2015). Text Analysis Tool TWeet lOcator ? TAT2. 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: Information about location and geographical coordinates in particular, may be very important during a crisis event, especially for search and rescue operations ? but currently geo-tagged tweets are extremely rare. Improved capabilities of capturing additional location from Twitter (up to 4 times improvement) are crucial for response efforts given a vast amount of messages exchanged during a crisis event. That is why authors have designed a tool (Text Analysis TWeet lOcator ? TAT2) that relies on existing open source text analysis tools with additional services to provide additional hints about people location. Validation process, complementing experimentation and test results, included involvement of end-users (i.e. Public Protection and Disaster Relief services and citizens during a realistic crisis exercise showcase. In addition, the integration of TAT2 with external tools has also been validated.
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Bo Andersson, & Jonas Hedman. (2006). Issues in the development of a mobile based communication platform for the swedish police force and appointed security guards. In M. T. B. Van de Walle (Ed.), Proceedings of ISCRAM 2006 – 3rd International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management (pp. 181–187). Newark, NJ: Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium.
Abstract: This paper presents the learning experiences from the development of a mobile-based communication platform, called OrdningsVaktsCentralen (OVC). OVC can be translated to Security Guard Central. OVC is designed to enable the Swedish Police Force (SPF) to comply with new legal requirements and enhance their collaboration with Appointed Security Guards (ASG). The focus of this paper is on the early phases of development; in particular on the specific technical issues such as interoperability and standards used in the development of mobile based systems. The learning experiences are as follows: firstly, when developing mobile based systems we suggest and recommend that the analysis phase should be enhanced and it should address the interoperability between mobile phones on one hand and operators on the other hand. Secondly, global and national standards, such as the MMS7 for sending multi-media messages, are not always standardized. It seems that operators and mobile phone manufacturers make minor alterations and interpretations of the standard and thereby some of the benefits found in standards disappear. Thirdly, mobile based communication platforms have a large potential for contributing to the field of emergency management information systems since they can be based on open and nationally accepted standards.
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Christoph Endres, Andreas Wurz, Marcus Hoffmann, & Alexander Behring. (2010). A task-based messaging approach to facilitate staff work. 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: A central part of the work in Incident Commands (ICs) deals with handling messages that contain relevant information. Classification schemes for messages can be exploited by command staff and assisting tools to support this work, given that a common understanding of the scheme is shared among participants. We present user studies on two such classifications, which imply some disagreement among participants. Interpretations of the studies and a revised scheme are presented. All users in our studies are highly trained experts and represent the state of the art in german IC work.
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Siska Fitrianie, Zhenke Yang, & Leon J.M. Rothkrantz. (2008). Developing concept-based user interface using icons for reporting observations. In B. V. de W. F. Fiedrich (Ed.), Proceedings of ISCRAM 2008 – 5th International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management (pp. 394–405). Washington, DC: Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management, ISCRAM.
Abstract: In recent years, we have developed a visual communication interface for reporting observations in which messages can be constructed using a spatial arrangement of icons. Each icon on the interface represents a concept or idea. This paper reports about research on a visual language interface, which allows users to create structured messages of icon strings simultaneously in a two-dimensional parallel and spatial configuration. The developed system provides drawing tools and predefined sets of icons that support a free and natural way to sketch and describe crisis situations. A coherent and context dependent interpretation of the icon configuration can be constructed by the employment of ontology. In addition, the interface is also able to convert the interpretation into crisis scenarios as feedback to the user on his/her input.
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Cindy Hui, Mark Goldberg, Malik Magdon-Ismail, & William A. Wallace. (2008). Micro-simulation of diffusion of warnings. In B. V. de W. F. Fiedrich (Ed.), Proceedings of ISCRAM 2008 – 5th International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management (pp. 424–430). Washington, DC: Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management, ISCRAM.
Abstract: This paper presents a unique view of modeling the diffusion of warnings in social networks where the network structure may change over time. Since the characteristics and actions of people in a community have significant influence on the flow of information through a network, we present an axiomatic framework for modeling the diffusion process through the concept of trust. This ongoing work provides a micro level view of the behavior of individuals and groups in a community. Preliminary experiments were made to explore how model parameters such as trust and the social network structure affect warning message belief and evacuation.
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Jill L. Drury, Gary L. Klein, Jennifer Mathieu, Yikun Liu, & Mark Pfaff. (2013). Sympathetic decisions: Incorporating impacts on others into emergency response decision spaces. In J. Geldermann and T. Müller S. Fortier F. F. T. Comes (Ed.), ISCRAM 2013 Conference Proceedings – 10th International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management (pp. 199–209). KIT; Baden-Baden: Karlsruher Institut fur Technologie.
Abstract: We designed two decision support tools and employed them during a one-week, simulation-driven experiment that included emergency responders acting in their real-life roles. Each tool visualized a “decision space”: A diagrammatic depiction of the relative desirability of one option versus another, including the inherent uncertainty in the potential outcomes. One requirement was to develop a tool accounting for the impacts of decisions on others, so that emergency responders can make “sympathetic decisions.” For example, one decision space enabled responders to request resources from surrounding jurisdictions while also considering the potential negative effects on the lending organizations. Another decision space enabled responders to engage in a strategic dialogue with the public: “listening” to the public's greatest concerns by mining social media to measure emotion, and thereby suggesting strategic communications addressing those concerns. We report how we designed the decision spaces and the qualitative results of using these spaces during the experiment.
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Jonas Lundberg, & Mikael Asplund. (2011). Communication problems in crisis response. In E. Portela L. S. M.A. Santos (Ed.), 8th International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management: From Early-Warning Systems to Preparedness and Training, ISCRAM 2011. Lisbon: Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management, ISCRAM.
Abstract: This paper describes five problem areas of communication that occur during crisis response. These areas are communication infrastructure, situation awareness, individual and organizational common ground, form and content of messages, and communication paths through organizations. Five focus groups with Swedish field personnel from national and international crises were performed. The main contribution of this article is a hypothesis, based on the outcomes of the focus groups, about the relation between communication problems and how they interact with crisis response work.
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Theo Dirk Meijler, & Frank Nietzold. (2011). Light-weight model-based realization of a B2B protocol and a SOA integration engine. In E. Portela L. S. M.A. Santos (Ed.), 8th International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management: From Early-Warning Systems to Preparedness and Training, ISCRAM 2011. Lisbon: Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management, ISCRAM.
Abstract: In emergency management, communication between the emergency management team and the outer world is essential. When using an emergency management system, such communication is often IT-based. To disburden the emergency management team, structured “B2B” messages may be used that correspond to the (foreseen) lifecycle of relevant entities in the emergency, such as threats and measures. The paper introduces an approach for the realization of a B2B messaging protocol and the corresponding integration engine, which maps message content to service calls, in the context of an emergency management system. The approach is light-weight and model-based, as protocols and integration engine are based on merely modeling the states and state transitions of objects in the system representing essential entities in the emergency. As the model is described in non-technical terms, this can be done by a non-IT expert.
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Heiko Roßnagel, Jan Zibuschka, & Olaf Junker. (2011). On the effectiveness of mobile service notification for passenger egress during large public events. In E. Portela L. S. M.A. Santos (Ed.), 8th International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management: From Early-Warning Systems to Preparedness and Training, ISCRAM 2011. Lisbon: Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management, ISCRAM.
Abstract: In this contribution we evaluate the effectiveness of mobile services for passenger egress of a train station during a large public event using an agent-based simulation approach. For this simulation we built a virtual replica of the Cologne central train station and collected empirical data on passenger numbers and their movements during a large public event. We simulate several different scenarios and compare the results using key performance indicators, such as time for egress. Our results show that dedicated cell broadcast messages under the described circumstances can be used to decrease evacuation time significantly and that the simulation can be used to quickly investigate the relevant key performance indicators needed to asses and evaluate the effectiveness of different notification and evacuation strategies.
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João A. Santos, Sara Rodrigues, Neves, Ana Vieira, Conceiçao J. Fortes, Maria Teresa Reis, et al. (2011). MOIA: An integrated decision support tool for port management. In E. Portela L. S. M.A. Santos (Ed.), 8th International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management: From Early-Warning Systems to Preparedness and Training, ISCRAM 2011. Lisbon: Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management, ISCRAM.
Abstract: This paper describes MOIA, a numerical tool that evaluates sea-wave effects on port operations and broadcasts warning messages whenever the safety of such operations are deemed to be at risk. The evaluation of the sea-wave transformation from offshore – where the results of numerical models for sea-wave forecast at a regional level are available – up to the port area is described. Also, the procedures used to evaluate the sea-wave effects on sailing ships, focusing on the amplitude of the vertical movements of a selected point in the ship, are explained. Such procedures are combined and applied to an example where the average downtime for the navigation at four points along the sailing lane is evaluated for the entrance voyages into the port of Praia da Vitória (Azores) of a given ship.
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Pekka Sillberg, Petri Rantanen, Mika Saari, Jari Leppäniemi, Jari Soini, & Hannu Jaakkola. (2009). Towards an IP-based alert message delivery system. 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: Advancements in technology have provided new opportunities for the delivery of emergency messages. However, some of the issues concerning data security and technical solutions are quite different from the problems of the traditional means of communication. The Internet poses its own set of challenges. This paper presents a few emergency messaging system proposals made by other researchers and also introduces a new proposition put forward by the authors of this paper. This will demonstrate how to use client-server architecture to deliver emergency alert messages in IP-based networks. The proposed system uses Atom feeds to deliver alert messages and also provides a feedback channel for client data. In this scenario clients could have any kind of device from mobile terminals to desktop computers.
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Simone Sillem, & Erik(J.W.F.) Wiersma. (2006). Comparing cell broadcast and text messaging for citizens warning. In M. T. B. Van de Walle (Ed.), Proceedings of ISCRAM 2006 – 3rd International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management (pp. 147–153). Newark, NJ: Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium.
Abstract: In life-threatening emergencies, citizens need to be warned. The currently used method for citizens warning in The Netherlands is a siren. AT this moment, research is being carried out into using new technologies as an addition to this siren for citizens warning. Modern telecommunication technologies have great potential for informing the public. Especially the use of text-based features of mobile phones is considered for this function. Advantages of such a system are that these technologies overcome problems of hearing the siren and that text-based messages provide possibilities for giving more and more detailed information. In a number of pilot studies, Delft University of Technology has gained experience with the possibilities of these technologies for citizens warning services. This paper compares two text-based mobile phone technologies that can be used for citizens warning as an addition to the siren.
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Teun Terpstra, & Hanneke Vreugdenhil. (2011). Filling in the blanks: Constructing effective flood warning messages using the Flood Warning Communicator (FWC). In E. Portela L. S. M.A. Santos (Ed.), 8th International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management: From Early-Warning Systems to Preparedness and Training, ISCRAM 2011. Lisbon: Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management, ISCRAM.
Abstract: This paper reports the progress that is being made in developing a software tool (the Flood Warning Communicator, FWC) that helps communication professionals constructing effective flood-warning messages. The program provides authorities with a warning message that contains open spaces where event specific information can be inserted. The program uses a database containing (parts of) phrases. Based on the specific situation, a communication professional receives the most suitable standard phrase by clicking on information buttons in a user interface. Together, the phrases form the warning message that sometimes requires minor adjustments such that it suits the specific circumstances. FWC is a well working prototype that allows constructing messages for web sites and short text messages (sms). Research is needed to test and validate these warning messages. In addition, cooperation with public authorities is necessary to make the program suitable for local circumstances (e.g., safety regions and municipalities).
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