Amanda Hughes, Keri Stephens, Steve Peterson, Hemant Purohit, Anastazja G. Harris, Yasas Senarath, et al. (2022). Human-AI Teaming for COVID-19 Response: A Practice & Research Collaboration Case Study. In Rob Grace, & Hossein Baharmand (Eds.), ISCRAM 2022 Conference Proceedings – 19th International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management (pp. 1048–1057). Tarbes, France.
Abstract: Practice and research collaborations in the disaster domain have the potential to improve emergency management practices while also advancing disaster science theory. However, they also pose challenges as practitioners and researchers each have their own culture, history, values, incentives, and processes that do not always facilitate collaboration. In this paper, we reflect on a 6-month practice and research collaboration, where researchers and practitioners worked together to craft a social media monitoring system for emergency managers in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The challenges we encountered in this project fall into two broad categories, job-related and timescale challenges. Using prior research on team science as a guide, we discuss several challenges we encountered in these two categories and show how our team sought to overcome them. We conclude with a set of best practices for improving practice and research collaborations.
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Bjørn Erik Munkvold, Mats Flaten, & Robin P. Nguyen. (2015). Volunteers? Perceptions of the Use of Social Media in Emergency Management. 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 paper presents the results of interviews with representatives from Norwegian emergency management volunteer organizations on their current use of social media and their perception of the potential for extended use of social media in their operations. Our study shows that social media is currently mainly used for information to the public and for internal communication. The informants expressed some reluctance towards the concept of virtual operations support teams, and using social media to collect information from the public. Yet, based on the possible benefits reported in the literature from studies of early adopters of digital volunteer groups, we argue in this paper for establishing a similar service at the regional level in Norway that can support the local volunteer organizations.
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Daniel Auferbauer, Roman Ganhör, & Hilda Tellioglu. (2015). Moving Towards Crowd Tasking for Disaster Mitigation. 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: Advancements in information and communication technology (ICT) offer new possibilities when dealing with crisis situations. In this paper we present the design for a crowd tasking tool (CTT) that is currently under development. We describe how the tool can assist disaster relief coordinators during a crisis by selectively distributing tasks to a crowd of volunteers. We also compare the CTT with an already existing ICT based solution for supporting volunteerism during crisis. The differences between these two tools are addressed and the implications for volunteerism are discussed. The paper concludes with an outlook on future work emphasizing a form of volunteer involvement that offers potential for gathering information that is more relevant and easier to digest for decision-making than information provided solely by self-organised volunteers through social media.
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Daniel Auferbauer, Roman Ganhör, & Hilda Tellioglu. (2019). Opportunistic Affiliation in Spontaneous Volunteer Management. In Z. Franco, J. J. González, & J. H. Canós (Eds.), Proceedings of the 16th International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response And Management. Valencia, Spain: Iscram.
Abstract: Spontaneous volunteers influence crisis and disaster relief efforts as both an effective aid and a stressing factor for emergency organisations. Managing the negative impacts of spontaneous volunteering has thus become part of command and control deliberations. In this paper, we take a closer look at integrating spontaneous volunteers into the formal response system to mitigate negative impacts.
Working with participants from formal response organisations, we gathered qualitative data regarding the management of spontaneous volunteers during the European migration crisis in 2015.
Through thematic analysis, we extracted topics to systematically describe the interaction between emergency organisations and spontaneous volunteers. As implication thereof, we propose how computer supported systems can be applied to better manage spontaneous volunteers. In our discussion, we focus on the registration process and ad hoc verification of spontaneous volunteers to better integrate them in the formal response process.
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Daniel Auferbauer, Roman Ganhör, Hilda Tellioglu, & Jasmin Pielorz. (2016). Crowdtasking: Field Study on a Crowdsourcing Alternative. In A. Tapia, P. Antunes, V.A. Bañuls, K. Moore, & J. Porto (Eds.), ISCRAM 2016 Conference Proceedings ? 13th International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management. Rio de Janeiro, Brasil: Federal University of Rio de Janeiro.
Abstract: In this paper we elaborate on the concept of crowdtasking as a form of crowdsourcing. The paper describes the setup and boundaries of a first controlled live field test of a prototypical implementation of a possible crowdtasking workflow. The implemented workflow allows crisis managers rapid intelligence gathering due to direct and tailored task distribution. Practitioners of Crisis and Disaster Management and volunteer managers who were present during the field test made favourable comments on the approach and its implementation. The analysis of the records and the conducted interviews give new insights and ideas for further development.
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Denis Havlik, Jasmin Pielorz, & Adam Widera. (2016). Interaction with citizens experiments: from context-aware alerting to crowdtasking. In A. Tapia, P. Antunes, V.A. Bañuls, K. Moore, & J. Porto (Eds.), ISCRAM 2016 Conference Proceedings ? 13th International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management. Rio de Janeiro, Brasil: Federal University of Rio de Janeiro.
Abstract: The EU FP7 project DRIVER is conducting a number of experiments to assess the feasibility of addressing known deficiencies in crisis management. In this paper, we introduce experiments that investigate two-way communication solutions between crisis managers and citizens or unaffiliated volunteers. In the so-called ?Interaction with Citizens? experiments we are testing the usability and acceptance of the various methods and tools that facilitate crisis communication at several levels. This includes: informing and alerting of citizens; micro-tasking of volunteers; gathering of situational information about the crisis incident from volunteers; and usage of this information to improve situation awareness. At the time of writing this paper, our ?Interaction with Citizens? experiments are still under way. Therefore, this paper reports the lessons learned in the first two experiments along with the experimental setup and expectations for the final experiment.
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Elina Ramsell, Sofie Pilemalm, & Tobias Andersson Granberg. (2017). Using Volunteers for Emergency Response in Rural Areas – Network Collaboration Factors and IT support in the Case of Enhanced Neighbors. In eds Aurélie Montarnal Matthieu Lauras Chihab Hanachi F. B. Tina Comes (Ed.), Proceedings of the 14th International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response And Management (pp. 985–995). Albi, France: Iscram.
Abstract: In public services, there is a trend to increasingly utilize collaborations with non-professional volunteers for certain tasks, one example being emergency response. In many of these collaborations, information technology (IT) is an essential tool, and inadequate IT support can have far-reaching consequences--including even the loss of lives. Since a volunteer is a different type of actor, and may have different technical requirements, compared to professionals, there is a need to explore how collaborations between professionals and volunteers can be successfully developed. This paper is based on a case study of the Enhanced Neighbor project, which uses volunteers as first responders in emergency response. The study highlights important factors to consider when involving volunteers, including how IT can foster the collaboration, and the volunteers' needs for IT support.
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Antony Galton, & Michael Worboys. (2011). An ontology of information for emergency 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: The next generation of information systems for emergency management will be based on information provided by large and diverse collections of sensors, including information supplied by human volunteers. Consequently there is more than ever a need to provide solutions to the integration question, so that the Common Operating Picture can truly and effectively provide the unified view required of it. This paper describes some work on the ontology of information that can contribute to a solution of the integration problem. To set the stage, the paper discusses the relevance of information integration to emergency management, and then goes on to describe a project that provided the catalyst for this work. Later sections introduce ontological research and proceed to use it to lay the foundations for an ontology of information. In the final sections we indicate how such an ontology can be used in the context of emergency management.
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Gerhard Rauchecker, & Guido Schryen. (2018). Decision Support for the Optimal Coordination of Spontaneous Volunteers in Disaster Relief. In Kees Boersma, & Brian Tomaszeski (Eds.), ISCRAM 2018 Conference Proceedings – 15th International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management (pp. 69–82). Rochester, NY (USA): Rochester Institute of Technology.
Abstract: When responding to natural disasters, professional relief units are often supported by many volunteers which are not affiliated to humanitarian organizations. The effective coordination of these volunteers is crucial to leverage their capabilities and to avoid conflicts with professional relief units. In this paper, we empirically identify key requirements that professional relief units pose on this coordination. Based on these requirements, we suggest a decision model. We computationally solve a real-world instance of the model and empirically validate the computed solution in interviews with practitioners. Our results show that the suggested model allows for solving volunteer coordination tasks of realistic size near-optimally within short time, with the determined solution being well accepted by practitioners. We also describe in this article how the suggested decision support model is integrated in the volunteer coordination system, which we develop in joint cooperation with a disaster management authority and a software development company.
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Hans Julius Betke. (2018). A Volunteer Coordination System Approach for Crisis Committees. In Kees Boersma, & Brian Tomaszeski (Eds.), ISCRAM 2018 Conference Proceedings – 15th International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management (pp. 786–795). Rochester, NY (USA): Rochester Institute of Technology.
Abstract: In disaster situations security authorities and organizations have the responsibility and duty to manage the disaster response. These organizations work in elaborated command and control structures with well trained employees. But in recent events, supported by new technologies like social media and mobile devices, spontaneous volunteers from the local population gained new importance as helpful force in disaster response. The high amount of volunteers bears high potentials to improve the efficiency of several activities through pure manpower. However, these people are not integrated in existing structures and lack a proper qualification. The proper coordination of spontaneous volunteers poses new challenges for disaster authorities. In this paper we introduce the prototype of a novel information system enabling crisis committees to coordinate spontaneous volunteers by semi-automated purposive communication and allocation. The results of first staff exercises are discussed to emphasize potential benefits and open challenges.
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Lise Ann St. Denis, & Amanda Hughes. (2018). Crisis Cleanup: Creating a Virtual Command Post to Support Relief Organizations on the Ground. In Kees Boersma, & Brian Tomaszeski (Eds.), ISCRAM 2018 Conference Proceedings – 15th International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management (pp. 935–941). Rochester, NY (USA): Rochester Institute of Technology.
Abstract: We report on an initial assessment of a grassroots tool developed within the Volunteer Organizations Active in Disaster (VOAD) community to support the coordination of efforts between the diverse network of relief organizations on the ground following a disaster. We look first at the problems that led to its development and the volunteer principles embodied in the tool. We then present an overview of the primary workflows and processes used to capture and manage work orders within this system. We discuss some of the benefits of centralized coordination of work across this network, opportunities for future growth, and some of the barriers that are inhibiting further growth of this tool. Finally, we conclude with opportunities for future research.
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Pooneh Mousavi, & Cody Buntain. (2022). “Please Donate for the Affected”: Supporting Emergency Managers in Finding Volunteers and Donations in Twitter Across Disasters. In Rob Grace, & Hossein Baharmand (Eds.), ISCRAM 2022 Conference Proceedings – 19th International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management (pp. 605–622). Tarbes, France.
Abstract: Despite the outpouring of social support posted to social media channels in the aftermath of disaster, finding and managing content that can translate into community relief, donations, volunteering, or other recovery support is difficult due to the lack of sufficient annotated data around volunteerism. This paper outlines three experiments to alleviate these difficulties. First, we estimate to what degree volunteerism content from one crisis is transferable to another by evaluating the consistency of language in volunteer-and donation-related social media content across 78 disasters. Second it introduces methods for providing computational support in this emergency support function and developing semi-automated models for classifying volunteer-and donation-related social media content in new disaster events. Results show volunteer-and donation-related social media content is sufficiently similar across disasters and disaster types to warrant transferring models across disasters, and we evaluate simple resampling techniques for tuning these models. We then introduce and evaluate a weak-supervision approach to integrate domain knowledge from emergency response officers with machine learningmodelstoimproveclassification accuracy andacceleratethisemergencysupportinnewevents. This method helps to overcome the scarcity in data that we observe related to volunteer-and donation-related social media content.
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Christian Reuter, Oliver Heger, & Volkmar Pipek. (2013). Combining real and virtual volunteers through social media. 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. 780–790). KIT; Baden-Baden: Karlsruher Institut fur Technologie.
Abstract: Recent studies have called attention to the improvement of “collaborative resilience” by fostering the collaboration potentials of public and private stakeholders during disasters. With our research we consider real and virtual volunteers in order to detect conditions for cooperation among those citizen groups through social media. Therefore we analysed the usage of Twitter during a tornado crisis to look for role patterns and aspects that helped volunteer groups in the virtual to emerge, and matched the data with an interview study on experiences, attitudes, concerns and potentials professional emergency services recounted in the emergence of volunteer groups in the real. While virtual groups seem to easily form and collaborate, the engagement of real volunteers is decreasing according to the perception of professionals. We discuss the dynamics in both tendencies and suggest design implications (use of existing social networks, promotion and awareness, connection among volunteers, connection to emergency services and systems) to support both types of volunteer groups, which lead to a software prototype.
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Robin Batard, Aurélie Montarnal, Frédérick Benaben, Caroline Rizza, Christophe Prieur, & Andrea Tapia. (2019). Integrating citizen initiatives in a technological platform for collaborative crisis management. In Z. Franco, J. J. González, & J. H. Canós (Eds.), Proceedings of the 16th International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response And Management. Valencia, Spain: Iscram.
Abstract: Although they can make a significant contribution to crisis response and management, citizens tend to be underestimated and under-integrated by official crisis responders. There is a necessity to take citizen contribution into crisis management tools, both for the information they can provide (information-focused volunteers) and the actions they can carry out (action-focused volunteers). Therefore, professionals need to be aware of the diverse ways citizens can help them to manage a critical situation: obviously by improving the situational awareness, but also by spontaneously performing tasks to meet specific needs on the ground.
After presenting the RIO-Suite software, a crisis management tool based on collaboration of stakeholders, this paper suggests ideas about how to make the most of action-focused volunteers to improve the orchestration of the crisis response. Given a volunteer action, four possible decision types are identified: Ignore, Stop, Consider and Support, and their consequences on 1) the crisis response and 2) the collaboration process are presented.
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Robin Batard, Caroline Rizza, Aurélie Montarnal, Frédérick Bénaben, & Christophe Prieur. (2019). Taxonomy of post-impact volunteerism types to improve citizen integration into crisis response. In Z. Franco, J. J. González, & J. H. Canós (Eds.), Proceedings of the 16th International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response And Management. Valencia, Spain: Iscram.
Abstract: Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), and particularly Social Media, drastically changed communication channels and organization during a crisis response. In this context, new forms of citizen initiatives appear, contributing to situational awareness, providing new profiles of stakeholders and broadening the scope of volunteerism in disaster situations. Thus, given the increasing need to understand and take citizen initiatives into account, this article provides a taxonomy of volunteerism types in crisis contexts, based on a literature review on the subject. Mapped on two main dimensions: the status (who they are) and the focus (what they are doing), multiple types of volunteers are presented on this taxonomy. Then, the article deals with possible use of this taxonomy towards integration of citizen initiatives into the crisis response.
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Robin Batard, Frederick Benaben, Aurélie Montarnal, Christophe Prieur, & Caroline Rizza. (2018). Ethical, Legal and Social considerations surrounding the use of social media by citizens during Hurricane Irma in Cuba. In Kees Boersma, & Brian Tomaszeski (Eds.), ISCRAM 2018 Conference Proceedings – 15th International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management (pp. 268–275). Rochester, NY (USA): Rochester Institute of Technology.
Abstract: While Hurricane Irma struck the Cuban Southern coasts, thousands of tourists were evacuated from this area and relocated in the Varadero peninsula. In a couple of days, all means for families and friends to connect with the tourists were down, leaving them without any information about the on-site situation. This paper focuses on the volunteer citizens' initiative to take advantage of social media, to enhance their own situational awareness in Varadero area, supporting fellow citizens to identify and localize their relatives. In particular, two Facebook groups that were created at the time are analyzed and their messages' content and objectives categorized. We will show that once more, social media has constituted opportunities for citizens to engage a specific response to the crisis, but at the same time has raised specific ethical and social issues.
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Sebastian Lindner, Hans Betke, & Stefan Sackmann. (2017). Attributes for Simulating Spontaneous On-Site Volunteers. In eds Aurélie Montarnal Matthieu Lauras Chihab Hanachi F. B. Tina Comes (Ed.), Proceedings of the 14th International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response And Management (pp. 846–856). Albi, France: Iscram.
Abstract: Disaster managers report that several disasters would have turned out on a dramatic scale without spontaneous unaffiliated on-site volunteers (SUV). Since SUVs are usually not integrated in chains of command and behave in a certain pattern of its own, coordination of SUVs becomes a challenge for disaster management. One key to coordination is communication and adequate support by information systems. However, real disasters or field tests are usually too expensive, elaborate, and partly impossible when coordination of SUVs is to be exercised or novel tools and methods must be evaluated. Simulating the SUV's behavior by software-agents is considered a constructive solution, however, the specification of simulation settings is an open research field. Therefore, this paper aims at identifying relevant attributes affecting SUVs behavior by a state-of-the-art literature review, classifying and discussing the attributes. Our results provide a sound basis for defining SUV-agents and performing suitable simulations in the future.
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Sebastian Lindner, Stefan Sackmann, & Hans Betke. (2019). Simulating Spontaneous Volunteers: A System Entity Structure for Defining Disaster Scenarios. In Z. Franco, J. J. González, & J. H. Canós (Eds.), Proceedings of the 16th International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response And Management. Valencia, Spain: Iscram.
Abstract: Fast and easy communication, e.g. via Twitter or Facebook, encourages self-coordination between spontaneous
volunteers in disasters. Unfortunately, this is more and more challenging official disaster management. The need
for the directed coordination of spontaneous volunteers triggered researchers to develop effective coordination
approaches. However, evaluating and comparing such approaches as well as their exercising are lacking a
standardized way to describe repeatable disaster scenarios, e.g. for simulations. Therefore, we present a novel
System Entity Structure (SES) for describing disaster scenarios considering the disaster environment,
communication infrastructure, disaster management, and population of spontaneous volunteers. The SES is
discussed as a promising scheme for including spontaneous volunteers in disaster scenarios on a general level. Its
applicability is demonstrated by a Pruned Entity Structure derived from a real disaster scenario. Based on the
results, we give an outlook on our subsequent research, the XML-based Spontaneous Volunteer Coordination
Scenario Definition Language (SVCSDL).
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Sebastian Lindner, Stephan Kühnel, Hans Betke, & Stefan Sackmann. (2018). Simulating Spontaneous Volunteers – A Conceptual Model. In Kees Boersma, & Brian Tomaszeski (Eds.), ISCRAM 2018 Conference Proceedings – 15th International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management (pp. 159–169). Rochester, NY (USA): Rochester Institute of Technology.
Abstract: Recent disasters have revealed growing numbers of citizens who participate in responses to disasters. These so-called spontaneous unaffiliated on-site volunteers (SUVs) have become valuable resources for mitigating disaster scales. However, their self-coordination has also led to harm or putting themselves in danger. The necessity to coordinate SUVs has encouraged researchers to develop coordination approaches, yet testing, evaluating, and validating these approaches has been challenging, as doing so requires either real disasters or field tests. In practice, this is usually expensive, elaborate, and/or impossible, in part, to conduct. Simulating SUVs' behaviors using agent-based simulations seems promising to address this challenge. Therefore, this contribution presents a conceptual model that provides the basis for implementing SUV agents in simulation software to perform suitable simulations and to forecast citizens' behaviors under a given set of circumstances. To achieve adequate simulations, the conceptual model is based on the identification of 25 behavior-affecting attributes.
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Sofie Pilemalm. (2022). Barriers to Digitalized Co-production: the Case of Volunteer First Responders. In Rob Grace, & Hossein Baharmand (Eds.), ISCRAM 2022 Conference Proceedings – 19th International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management (pp. 782–790). Tarbes, France.
Abstract: Information and communication technology (ICT) and digitalization are often seen as enablers of co-production. But if its potential is not implemented, technology will rather act as a barrier. In Sweden, new types of “hybrid” co-production initiatives that engage civil citizen volunteers as first responders emerged a decade ago. Even though the benefits are recognized, the initiatives’ expansion are hampered by the ICT solutions. In this study, we explore why, by comparing the perspectives of national authorities, needs-owners, suppliers, and end-users. We describe the barriers, e.g., insufficient geofencing, to develop ICT for various mobile platforms, unavailability of a joint API, competitiveness and double roles among stakeholders, and ICT costs. We suggest how to address the barriers and argue that digitalized co-production of the type presented will likely increase. Here our study can contribute to the successive accumulation of knowledge.
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Sophie Gerstmann, Hans Betke, & Stefan Sackmann. (2019). Towards Automated Individual Communication for Coordination of Spontaneous Volunteers. In Z. Franco, J. J. González, & J. H. Canós (Eds.), Proceedings of the 16th International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response And Management. Valencia, Spain: Iscram.
Abstract: In recent years, spontaneous volunteers often turned out to be a critical factor to overcome disaster situations and
avoid further damages to life and assets. These Volunteers coordinate their activities using social media and
mobile devices but are not integrated in usual command and control structures of disaster responders. The lack of
professional disaster response knowledge leads to a waste of potential workforce or even dangerous situations for
the volunteers. In this paper, a novel approach for a centralized coordination of spontaneous volunteers through
disaster response professionals while using popular communication channels esp. messaging services (e.g.
Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp) is presented. The architecture of a volunteer coordination system focusing on
automated multi-channel communication is shown and the possibilities of a universal chatbot for individual
assignment and scheduling of volunteers are discussed. The paper also provides first insights in a demonstrator
system as a practical solution.
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Lise Ann St. Denis, Amanda L. Hughes, & Leysia Palen. (2012). Trial by fire: The deployment of trusted digital volunteers in the 2011 shadow lake fire. 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: We report on the use of a team of trusted digital volunteers during the 2011 Shadow Lake Fire that occurred in the US Pacific Northwest to extend the social media capacity of a Type I incident management team. In this case study, we outline the tools and processes used by this virtual team to coordinate their activities, monitor social media communication and to establish communications with the public around the event. Finally, we discuss the potential merits and limitations of implementing a team of trusted volunteers and explore how this idea could be incorporated into emergency management organizations. © 2012 ISCRAM.
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Lise Ann St. Denis, Leysia Palen, & Kenneth M. Anderson. (2014). Mastering social media: An analysis of Jefferson County's communications during the 2013 Colorado floods. In and P.C. Shih. L. Plotnick M. S. P. S.R. Hiltz (Ed.), ISCRAM 2014 Conference Proceedings – 11th International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management (pp. 737–746). University Park, PA: The Pennsylvania State University.
Abstract: We report on the social media communications and work practices of the Jefferson County Type III Incident Management Team during the September 2013 Colorado Floods. In this case study, we examine flood-related communications across three platforms: Facebook, Twitter, and the team's blog for insight into how this innovative team coordinated their communications to meet the information needs of a community outside of the media spotlight. Using a mixed method approach of interviews and social media content analysis, we describe their online behaviors in relation to the needs of the emergency response as a whole. We report on adaptations to their work practice that allowed them to extend traditional communications with social media to create an integrated communication plan. Finally, we look to the team's experiences for direction in how to use social media in emergencies generally.
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Steve Peterson. (2016). More Research Needed on the Concurrent Usage of Information Systems during Emergencies. In A. Tapia, P. Antunes, V.A. Bañuls, K. Moore, & J. Porto (Eds.), ISCRAM 2016 Conference Proceedings ? 13th International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management. Rio de Janeiro, Brasil: Federal University of Rio de Janeiro.
Abstract: This abstract highlights research challenges to improving effectiveness of integrating information and communication technologies during emergencies. Proposed as a research focus is the integration of proven virtual activation processes with an unobtrusive research presence. This positions the research presence during a real-time emergency to glean previously unknown information/rationales on how decision-makers decide and take action. Establishing a collaborative partnership by combining a ?research presence? with the ?virtual operation capability,? is essential. Mutual understanding must embrace the precept of no disruption to first responders in actual response and recovery efforts. Consensus should be reached in identifying measurable outcomes for the research. The collaborative effort opens a groundbreaking area for consideration of study in crisis response and management. It would shed new light on an underexplored, critical area of emergency management and has the potential to further enhance the value of information and communication systems in preparing, responding, and recovering from emergencies.
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Steve Peterson, & Denis Gusty. (2018). Incorporating Digital Volunteers into Exercises: A Case Study on CAUSE V. In Kees Boersma, & Brian Tomaszeski (Eds.), ISCRAM 2018 Conference Proceedings – 15th International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management (pp. 1126–1129). Rochester, NY (USA): Rochester Institute of Technology.
Abstract: The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) and Canada Department of National Defence's Centre for Security Science conducted its fifth Canada-U.S. Enhanced Resiliency Experiment (CAUSE V) on November 15 – 16, 2017 along the border between the Canadian province of British Columbia and the state of Washington. The experiment tested emerging technologies to promote more effective communication and information sharing for emergency management officials and first responder agencies on both sides of the border in response to a Mt. Baker volcanic eruption and lahar mudflow scenario. The CAUSE V experiment explored the use of trained digital volunteers to provide operational and public information support to emergency management professionals. These digital volunteers were assigned to monitor simulated social media platforms, identifying information according to pre-assigned mission assignments, including misinformation and rumor control, and reporting this information to emergency management officials and first responder agencies. Researchers from the University of Washington were in attendance to specifically observe the efforts of the digital volunteers during the experiment. Research observations, and the benefits of integrating the research and practitioner communities, will be highlighted on the poster.
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