Florian Brauner, Thomas Münzberg, Marcus Wiens, Frank Fiedrich, Alex Lechleuthner, & Frank Schultmann. (2015). Critical Infrastructure Resilience: A Framework for Considering Micro and Macro Observation Levels. 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: The resilience mechanisms of Critical Infrastructures (CIs) are often hard to understand due to system complexity. With rising research interest, models are developed to reduce this complexity. However, these models imply reductions and limitations. According to the level of observation, models either focus on effects in a CI system or on effects in a single CI. In cases of limited resources, such limitations exclude some considerations of crisis interventions, which could be identified in combining both observation levels. To overcome these restrictions, we propose a two-step framework which enables to analyze the vulnerability of a CI and as well in comparison to other CIs. This enhances the understanding of temporal crisis impacts on the overall performance of the supply, and the crisis preparations in each CI can be assessed. The framework is applied to the demonstrating example of the functionalities of hospitals that are potentially suffering from a power outage.
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Josune Hernantes, Jose M. Torres, Ana Laugé, Jose Mari Sarriegi, Iztok Starc, Eva Zupancic, et al. (2010). Using GMB methodology on a large crisis model. 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: Mitigating, detecting, evaluating, responding and recovering from crises are highly complex tasks that involve many decision makers (agents). As a consequence using collaborative methods that allow the cooperation among these agents during the crisis management strategy and procedures design is of significant importance. Group Model Building (GMB) is a robust collaborative methodology that has been successfully used for modelling several complex socio-technical problems, where different agents may have diverse perspectives or interests in the problem under analysis. Through the development of a series of exercises, GMB allows the integration of these initially fragmented perspectives. Modellers translate the knowledge elicited from experts during GMB workshops into simulation models that reproduce the behaviour of the problem. This paper presents the use and adaptation of the GMB methodology in a research project about large pan European crises due to outages in the electricity sector.
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Thomas Münzberg, Tim Müller, Stella Möhrle, Tina Comes, & Frank Schultmann. (2013). An integrated multi-criteria approach on vulnerability analysis in the context of load reduction. 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. 251–260). KIT; Baden-Baden: Karlsruher Institut fur Technologie.
Abstract: Load reduction is an emergency measure to stabilize an electrical grid by decoupling some supply areas to balance the demand and supply of electricity in power grids. In the decoupled areas, power outages may cause important consequences, which may propagate further via the network of interdependent infrastructures. Therefore, support is needed to choose the regions to be decoupled. This paper describes an approach to analyze the risk triggered by load reduction that can be used for disaster management and load reduction scheme optimization. The core of our work is the vulnerability assessment that takes into account the consequences of load reduction on economy and society. The approach facilitates participatory decision support by making the vulnerability of regions especially in urban transparent.
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Christian Reuter. (2013). Power outage communications: Survey of needs, infrastructures and concepts. 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. 884–889). KIT; Baden-Baden: Karlsruher Institut fur Technologie.
Abstract: Crisis communication during power outages poses several challenges. Frist, the causes of power outages are often events such as severe weather, which also lead to complications. Second, power outages themselves lead to limitations in everyday life. Third, communication infrastructures, that are necessary for crisis communication, are often affected. This work focuses on the communication of the organizations responsible for recovery work (emergency services, public administration, energy network operators) to the public affected by the power outage. Therefore this paper investigates the perception and the information demands of citizens and communication infrastructures in different scenarios. Taking the users' needs into consideration, an Information and Communication Technology (ICT) based concept for crisis communication, which combines general information with location-specific and setting-specific information was implemented as a prototype smartphone application and evaluated with 12 potential end users. ICT-based concepts can gain acceptance, however they should be understood as supplemental for some target groups and in some scenarios.
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Hans-Peter Thamm, Thomas Ludwig, & Christian Reuter. (2013). Design of a process model for unmanned aerial systems (UAS) in emergencies. 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. 478–487). KIT; Baden-Baden: Karlsruher Institut fur Technologie.
Abstract: The electricity network is one of the most important infrastructures in modern industrialized societies. In the case of power outages, the society becomes aware of their dependence on electricity and organizations responsible for recovery work need precise information about the location and the type of the damage, which are usually not available. Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS), commonly known as drones, are aircrafts without a human pilot on board and may help to collect this information. While many technical approaches for UAS exist, a systematic process model for using UAS in emergencies based on the organizations needs is still missing. Based on the presentation of current types of UAS, approaches of using UAS and workshops with organizations responsible for recovery work (police and fire department, public administration, power supplier) this paper presents a process model for UAS in emergencies, especially power outages, which takes both theoretical findings and human experiences into consideration.
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Thomas Münzberg, Marcus Wiens, & Frank Schultmann. (2015). The Effect of Coping Capacity Depletion on Critical Infrastructure Resilience. 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: Coping capacities (CCs) are often implemented at Critical Infrastructure (CI) facilities to ensure a continuous supply of vital services and products for a population during lifeline disruptions. Through various restrictions, these redundant backups are frequently limited and, hence, only allow a supply continuity for a short duration. The capacity depletes with the duration of the disruptions. In this paper, we discuss how this decrease is evaluated in disaster management. To get an enhanced insight, we introduce to a representative decision problem and used a demonstrative example of a power outage to discuss how decision maker consider the effect of CC depletion and how analytical approaches could address this issue. For doing so an expert survey and an analytical approach were implemented and applied. The comparison and the discussion of the results motivate further research directions on this topic.
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Torben Wiedenhöfer, Christian Reuter, Benedikt Ley, & Volkmar Pipek. (2011). Inter-organizational crisis management infrastructures for electrical power breakdowns. 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: Major electricity breakdowns like the Northeast Blackout (USA) in 2003 or the blackout in most parts of Western Europe in 2005, have shown the fundamental role of electricity in our everyday life. The experiences of these accidents show that power suppliers, firefighters, police, county administration and citizens face multifarious challenges in inter-organizational communication, information and coordination processes during coping and recovery work. In this work-in-progress paper we describe early research dealing with inter-organizational issues in emergency management (EM). We are mainly focusing on supporting social practices in inter-organizational EM, for example collaborative interpretation of emergency situations, ad-hoc coordination or supporting citizen communication and helping routines. Identified from our experiences from related projects, discussions and literature studies, we suggest potential questions and future topics in user-driven software engineering processes for EM and domain specific problems, such as supporting citizen participation, coping with information uncertainties and quality variations or enhancing inter-organizational learning.
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