Samuel Otim. (2006). A case-based knowledge management system for disaster management: Fundamental concepts. In M. T. B. Van de Walle (Ed.), Proceedings of ISCRAM 2006 – 3rd International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management (pp. 598–604). Newark, NJ: Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium.
Abstract: Computer-based knowledge management systems are vital for disaster detection, response planning, and management. These systems aid in early warning, and provide decision support for disaster response and recovery management. Managing past knowledge for reuse can expedite the process of disaster response and recovery management. While early warning systems predict some disasters with remarkable accuracy, there is a paucity of knowledge management systems for disaster response and management. This paper outlines a case-based reasoning (CBR) knowledge management system that in effect, is a model of human reasoning since it is based upon the idea that people frequently rely on previous problem-solving experiences when solving new problems. A CBR knowledge management system results in efficient and effective disaster response and management.
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Josine Van De Ven, & Martijn Neef. (2006). A critical thinking environment for crisis 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. 223–229). Newark, NJ: Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium.
Abstract: Building up a proper understanding of a large-scale incident is an important and difficult process. We envision a working environment for decision makers in crisis management situations that allows them to work with information in various ways. That will stimulate them to think critically in processing the information they receive-All in support of rapid sensemaking and decision making. To realize this ambition, we combine various technologies into an integrated support concept called the Critical Thinking Environment (CTE), aimed at tackling critical issues in sensemaking.
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Brian M. Tomaszewski, & Alan M. MacEachren. (2006). A distributed spatiotemporal cognition approach to visualization in support of coordinated group activity. In M. T. B. Van de Walle (Ed.), Proceedings of ISCRAM 2006 – 3rd International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management (pp. 347–351). Newark, NJ: Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium.
Abstract: Technological advances in both distributed cooperative work and web-map services have the potential to support distributed and collaborative time-critical decision-making for crisis response. We address this potential through the theoretical perspective of distributed cognition and apply this perspective to development of a geocollaborationenabled web application that supports coordinated crisis management activities. An underlying goal of our overall research program is to understand how distributed cognition operates across groups working to develop both awareness of the geographic situation within which events unfold, and insights about the processes that have lead to that geographic situation over time. In this paper, we present our preliminary research on a web application that addresses these issues. Specifically, the application (key parts of which are implemented) enables online, asynchronous, map-based interaction between actors, thus supporting distributed spatial and temporal cognition, and, more specifically, situational awareness and subsequent action in the context of humanitarian disaster relief efforts.
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Martin Smits, & Bartel A. Van De Walle. (2006). A framework to evaluate how management games improve knowledge management effectiveness. In M. T. B. Van de Walle (Ed.), Proceedings of ISCRAM 2006 – 3rd International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management (pp. 605–614). Newark, NJ: Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium.
Abstract: Knowledge-intensive organizations realize that 'knowledge' is a strategic resource that gives them sustainable competitive advantage and helps them achieve long-term organizational goals. These organizations use knowledge management (KM) to encourage the creation and sharing of knowledge resulting in improvements in productivity, innovation, competitiveness, and relationships among people. This paper investigates what role management games play in knowledge-intensive organizations and how they can be used to improve KM effectiveness. We present a theoretical framework that allows answering the following question: 'How can management games be used to improve the effectiveness of KM in knowledge-intensive organizations'.
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Jiri Trnka, & Johan Jenvald. (2006). A real-time role-playing exercise as a methodology to support command and control research. In M. T. B. Van de Walle (Ed.), Proceedings of ISCRAM 2006 – 3rd International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management (pp. 559–568). Newark, NJ: Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium.
Abstract: In this paper, methodological issues in research and training of complex command and control structures in emergency management are addressed. In particular, a methodological approach combining real-time role-playing exercise, after action review and observations is presented. An explorative study-ALFA-05-utilizing this approach is described. A brief overview of methodological aspects of preparation and execution is given. Further, experience gained and methodological lessons learned are also discussed. Finally, real-time role-playing exercise in combination with other methods is suggested as a feasible method for researchers and exercise managers to tackle present and future command and control in complex settings, where interaction and communication are in focus. In addition, areas for further development of the real-time role-playing exercises as a research method are suggested.
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Daniel P. Eriksson. (2006). A region-specific prognostic model of post-earthquake international attention. In M. T. B. Van de Walle (Ed.), Proceedings of ISCRAM 2006 – 3rd International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management (pp. 418–425). Newark, NJ: Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium.
Abstract: This project evaluates the feasibility of a prognostic model for international attention following earthquakes. The degree of international attention is defined as the number of situation reports issued by the United Nations. Ordinal regression is applied to a set of 58 case study events that occurred in Central Asia between 1992 and 2005. The context of the model is promising. Patterns were identified among the misclassified events. The patterns can prove helpful in understanding the irregular behavior of the international community and to improve future models by identifying subjects, such as bilateral relations and willingness to request external aid, for which additional indicators are needed.
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Jaco Appelman, Elisabeth A. M. Van De Kar, Mariëlle Hengst-Bruggeling, Josine Van De Ven, & Paul Burghardt. (2006). A service elicitation process for crisis management technologies. In M. T. B. Van de Walle (Ed.), Proceedings of ISCRAM 2006 – 3rd International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management (pp. 352–361). Newark, NJ: Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium.
Abstract: New information technological applications, that aim to support better professional responses to incidents and crises' are being developed at an increasing rate. We observe in almost any disaster that actions by civilians also contribute substantially to alleviation of the effects of a crisis. We are largely unaware what crisis management services would be of use to civilians under these particular circumstances; just as it is difficult for users to specify requirements for services based on novel technologies. These insights guided the design of a service elicitation approach that can be repeatedly used for different user groups. In this paper we introduce a design methodology and discuss outcomes of a first test-session. We reflect in the conclusions on improvements to the design.
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Peter Otto, & Salvatore Belardo. (2006). A theoretical evaluation of information processing resources during organizational crisis. In M. T. B. Van de Walle (Ed.), Proceedings of ISCRAM 2006 – 3rd International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management (pp. 262–271). Newark, NJ: Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium.
Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to present a model for testing different organizational learning characteristics and their effects on performance rate in times of an unexpected temporary increase in workload. Drawing on the theoretical frameworks of Yerkes-Dodson law, the stress-buffering effect of coping resources, and established crisis management models, the authors examine the hypotheses of curvilinear and interactional influence of single and double-loop learning on stress levels during crises. Using a simulation model, we identify thresholds in single and double-loop learning environments, where increases in workload lead to dysfunctional effects of stress. The findings indicate support for the hypothesis that an organization that employs double-loop learning is less susceptible to negative stress in times of a crisis. Overall, the study highlights the characteristics of different learning types and its effects on stress. It is suggested that experiments with a simulation model lead to a better understanding of how information processing resources that people have access to in stress events, buffers or protects them from negative effects.
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Jong Yul Kim, Wonsang Song, & Henning Schulzrinne. (2006). An enhanced VoIP emergency services prototype. In M. T. B. Van de Walle (Ed.), Proceedings of ISCRAM 2006 – 3rd International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management (pp. 102–109). Newark, NJ: Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium.
Abstract: In this document we describe enhancements made to the prototype for emergency services in VoIP originally proposed and implemented in (Mintz-Habib, Rawat, Schulzrinne and Wu, 2005). In particular, we describe alternative methods of acquiring the physical location of an emergency caller and a novel way of using location information to determine call destination. We also introduce psapd, an enhanced third party call controller at the public safety answering point (PSAP), and discuss new features made possible by psapd. Preparations are underway in Texas and Virginia to install and test the enhanced prototype.
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Nabil Seddigh, Biswajit Nandy, & John Lambadaris. (2006). An internet public alerting system: A canadian experience. In M. T. B. Van de Walle (Ed.), Proceedings of ISCRAM 2006 – 3rd International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management (pp. 141–146). Newark, NJ: Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium.
Abstract: Public officials have the responsibility of giving public directions and issuing warnings in the event of an emergency. Traditionally, siren systems, radio and television have been used as the primary means for issuing public alerts. Recently, there has been increased interest in evaluating the Internet's suitability for issuing public alerts during times of emergency. This paper presents a Canadian experience with the design and trials of an Internet-based emergency public alerting system (IPAS). We discuss a proposed set of requirements and system architecture. We also include a discussion of the challenges to be overcome in developing such systems and report on experiments and field trials using the IPAS system developed during this project. Our objective is to provide motivation for future research and industry work in this area.
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Mark Gaynor, Reuven Messer, Dan Myung, & Steve Moulton. (2006). Applications for emergency medical services. In M. T. B. Van de Walle (Ed.), Proceedings of ISCRAM 2006 – 3rd International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management (pp. 579–591). Newark, NJ: Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium.
Abstract: Today, despite the obvious need, pre-hospital providers cannot send real-time electronic patient care information from the field to a receiving hospital. This lack of field awareness and inability to plan for the arrival-or anticipate the needs-of seriously ill or injured patients can lead to the misdirection of patients and the loss of valuable time in the early phases of resuscitation. We believe, however, that current technology can address these shortcomings and that is the focus of our research efforts. This paper discusses how several countries, including Israel, Sweden, Britain and the United States, are addressing the need to better triage patients from the field to an appropriate hospital or trauma center. It also introduces a potential solution, called iRevive, which uses emerging technology such as sensors, wireless WAN data transport, web services, artificial intelligence, and mobile devices to meet the dynamic needs of first responders and the hospitals they serve.
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Rebecca E. Carella, & Susan P. McGrath. (2006). ARTEMIS personal area networks for emergency remote triage and information management. In M. T. B. Van de Walle (Ed.), Proceedings of ISCRAM 2006 – 3rd International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management (pp. 592–597). Newark, NJ: Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium.
Abstract: The Automated Remote Triage and Emergency Management Information System (ARTEMIS) project seeks to provide situational awareness to all level of commands in order to increase patient survival rate during emergencies. By moving the burden of triage off of the medic and into an automated system, more time will be able to be spent on casualty care rather than assessment. Continual monitoring of responders and casualties will alert medics of critical changes in a patient's health that might normally have gone undetected after a patient is initially triaged. ARTEMIS employs a network of embedded sensors worn by responders and casualties to gather the data required for greater situational awareness and to relay the data back to appropriate levels of command both on the field and in remote locations.
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Niels Netten, & Maarten Van Someren. (2006). Automated support for dynamic information distribution in incident management. In M. T. B. Van de Walle (Ed.), Proceedings of ISCRAM 2006 – 3rd International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management (pp. 230–237). Newark, NJ: Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium.
Abstract: For all emergency response personnel involved in crisis situations it is essential to timely acquire all information critical to their task performance. However, in practice errors occur in the distribution of information between these collaborating actors leading to mistakes and subsequently more damage to the situation. In this paper we present a prototype system for dynamic information distribution able to support the information flow between collaborating crisis actors. The system has been evaluated by means of simulated experiments that use data from a real incident scenario. The results indicate that automated support by means of Machine Learning method works well. Especially, when actor work context features are included, then the performance on selecting and distributing relevant information is high. Furthermore, actors acquire relevant information much faster making group communication much more efficient.
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Hans Zimmermann. (2006). Availability of technologies versus capabilities of users. In M. T. B. Van de Walle (Ed.), Proceedings of ISCRAM 2006 – 3rd International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management (pp. 66–71). Newark, NJ: Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium.
Abstract: The regulatory environment is no longer the primary hindrance to the full application of telecommunications technology in the service of emergency response, disaster prevention and relief, and crisis management. Nowadays the restricting factor is the lack of knowledge about the capabilities, but also the limitations, of the multitude of specialized and of public communication systems. This paper will analyze the situation with the help of some practical examples and will recommend an interdisciplinary multi-stakeholder based approach to an educational concept for emergency and disaster telecommunications.
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Marcia Brooks. (2006). Challenges for warning populations with sensory disabilities. In M. T. B. Van de Walle (Ed.), Proceedings of ISCRAM 2006 – 3rd International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management (pp. 137–140). Newark, NJ: Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium.
Abstract: People with sensory disabilities, like anyone else, need access to timely emergency and weather warnings information. Primary information sources, radio and television broadcasts, do not consistently serve the needs of the 28 million people who are deaf or hard-of-hearing, or the 11 million people who are blind or have low vision. Alert systems, services and products are developing text and audio alert capabilities to serve these populations but many inconsistently support appropriate modalities and accessible interfaces. Funded by the US Department of Commerce, WGBH is uniting emergency alert providers, local information resources, telecommunications industry and public broadcasting representatives, and consumers to research and disseminate replicable approaches to make emergency warnings and community-based information accessible. Through research with consumers and the public warning community, and delivery and device testing, an information model is being developed with recommended accessibility extensions to emergency system protocols, technologies and services for cross-platform delivery. © 2006 WGBH Educational Foundation.
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Belinda Braunstein, Troy Trimble, Rajesh Mishra, B.S. Manoj, Leslie Lenert, & Ramesh R. Rao. (2006). Challenges in using of distributed wireless mesh networks in 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. 30–38). Newark, NJ: Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium.
Abstract: Wireless Mesh Networks (WMNs) are formed by self-organized wireless nodes that use multi-hop wireless relaying. These networks are useable in a variety of situations ranging from fixed residential broadband networking based on rooftop wireless mesh nodes to emergency response networks for handling large scale disasters. Quick deployability, minimal configuration, broadband communication, and easiness of reconfigurability are the major characteristics that make WMNs a suitable choice for emergency applications. There exist several open research issues in using such WMNs for emergency response applications. We, in this paper, present a hybrid distributed wireless networking architecture, Extreme Networking System (ENS), and present large set of performance observations collected from a real distributed hybrid wireless mesh network used for supporting a medical emergency response application. We present the traffic behavior observed in our network when a client server medical emergency response application is employed. The performance observations on real-traffic scenarios for emergency response application underlines the need for focusing further research on topology control, reliability, service availability, and distributed management. We observed that though there are several challenges that need to be solved, a WMN is a favorable choice for emergency response networking.
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Michael J. Chumer, & Murray Turoff. (2006). Command and control (C2): Adapting the distributed military model for emergency response and emergency management. In M. T. B. Van de Walle (Ed.), Proceedings of ISCRAM 2006 – 3rd International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management (pp. 465–476). Newark, NJ: Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium.
Abstract: The military use of Command and Control (C2) has been refined over centuries of use and developed through years of combat situations. This C2 model is framed as process, function, and organization, suggesting that emergency response organizations and emergency management structure their non military C2 and subsequent response scenarios within the C2 framework established in this paper.
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Karin Mertens, & Wim Mees. (2006). Communication and information system for disaster relief operations. In M. T. B. Van de Walle (Ed.), Proceedings of ISCRAM 2006 – 3rd International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management (pp. 461–464). Newark, NJ: Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium.
Abstract: Disaster relief operations are very different from the traditional war operations. In disaster relief operations everything has to go very fast, the relief workers have to leave on very short notice and cooperation with other organizations is needed in order to save as many human lives as possible. The communication and information system of those operations has to be small, flexible, rapidly deployable and mobile. Above that, it has to ensure the information exchange between the coordination center in the home nation and the relief workers in the field in all kinds of situations with changing bandwidths and impermanent connections. In this document the structure and the data warehousing of such an information system are described.
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S.H.M. Fakhruddin. (2006). Community based cost effective early warning dissemination network (EWDN). In M. T. B. Van de Walle (Ed.), Proceedings of ISCRAM 2006 – 3rd International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management (pp. 50–51). Newark, NJ: Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium.
Abstract: Natural disasters are frequent in Bengladesh. Because Bengladesh has a fragile economy that is mostly dependent on agriculture, these events can be disastrous to the economy and people of the country. Adequate warnings to the community and institutions can mitigate the deleterious effects. This paper presents a model for an effective disaster warning and dissemination system (EWDN) that can provide timely and accurate alerts of natural disasters thus reducing loss of life, property and other risks.
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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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Martin Voshell, & Stijn Oomes. (2006). Coordinating (Shared) perspectives in robot assisted search & rescue. In M. T. B. Van de Walle (Ed.), Proceedings of ISCRAM 2006 – 3rd International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management (pp. 188–196). Newark, NJ: Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium.
Abstract: From high fidelity field exercises to disaster response deployments, search and rescue robots are being readily integrated into rescue operations. Previous research has proposed that for such new technology to be successful in an operation the organization architecture needs to support the coordination of shared perspectives between the human team members and the robotic platforms. For this, the robot platforms need to be effective team players in the field of practice. Based on this conceptual model, this paper introduces a novel software interface utilizing virtual position and orientation indicators to alleviate perceptual ambiguities and navigation problems experienced by robot handlers and problem holders. By actively orchestrating and sharing these indicators between handler and operator displays, the interface caters to user expertise and to the natural competency of the human perceptual system. These probes provide a basic tool for aiding robot navigation and way-finding fundamental to effective team coordination and communication in urban search and rescue missions.
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Yan Song. (2006). Crisis detection in enterprises based on AHP with clustering. In M. T. B. Van de Walle (Ed.), Proceedings of ISCRAM 2006 – 3rd International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management (pp. 24–29). Newark, NJ: Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium.
Abstract: Crisis detection can help enterprises to make full preparation to respond real crisis, so it is an important field to promote enterprises' competition and keep them develop continuously. Crisis in enterprises may be caused by many factors and most of them are very common and necessary parts in normal operating procedure. This paper takes these parts as crisis signals indicated in many managing books. Group decision-making strategy is put forward to help enterprises to analyze crisis signals based on the characteristics of the decision-making procedure. To get a meaningful and credible result, AHP is used to support the whole procedure. To exhibit the role of managers, system cluster is used to classify experts involved in decision-making procedure. An example to analyze a key engineer's dismissing is given to illustrate the decision-making procedure and to prove the efficiency of this idea and AHP method.
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Eli Rohn. (2006). Data integration potentiometer in DERMIS. In M. T. B. Van de Walle (Ed.), Proceedings of ISCRAM 2006 – 3rd International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management (pp. 326–333). Newark, NJ: Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium.
Abstract: Dynamic Emergency Response Management Information Systems must integrate data from heterogeneous and autonomous resources. We propose a mathematically based approach for evaluating and quantifying the potential of a successful automatic integration between pairs of data resources. The integration potential, expressed as a percent, should influence assumptions and procedures of emergency response planners.
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Maurice McGinley, Andrew Turk, & David Bennett. (2006). Design criteria for public emergency warning systems. In M. T. B. Van de Walle (Ed.), Proceedings of ISCRAM 2006 – 3rd International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management (pp. 154–163). Newark, NJ: Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium.
Abstract: This paper describes the development of a public emergency messaging system in Western Australia. A set of design criteria were identified by a review of relevant published literature, a survey of current practice in Australia, and consultation with local stakeholders. The system should support: Multiple Recipients, Multiple Channels, Multiple Hazards, Multiple Stakeholders, Multiple Senders, Multiple Platforms, and Write Once Message Composition. A prototype system was built according to these design criteria, based on the Common Alerting Protocol version 1.0. The design was validated in trials simulating messages sent during a tropical cyclone and a bushfire. A total of 56 trial participants from identified stakeholder groups were surveyed with regard to their experience of the prototype system. Overall, the prototype system functioned successfully and participants reported high levels of satisfaction. The paper describes this research project and the initial stages of the subsequent development of a production system, called APECS.
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Guido Te Brake, Tjerk De Greef, Jasper Lindenberg, Jouke Rypkema, & Nanja Smets. (2006). Developing adaptive user interfaces using a game-based simulation environment. In M. T. B. Van de Walle (Ed.), Proceedings of ISCRAM 2006 – 3rd International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management (pp. 6–10). Newark, NJ: Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium.
Abstract: In dynamic settings, user interfaces can provide more optimal support if they adapt to the context of use. Providing adaptive user interfaces to first responders may therefore be fruitful. A cognitive engineering method that incorporates development iterations in both a simulated and a real-world environment is used to develop new adaptive concepts. In a simulated 3D-world, created with the Unreal Tournament game-engine, a team of emergency personnel have to rescue people and develop an understanding of the situation. We believe a game-based simulation environment can provide an effective platform for experiments in which crisis management situations can be created under controlled circumstances. Using this simulation, support concepts based on adaptive user interfaces can be developed and evaluated before they are implemented in a real-world setting. This paper describes the work that has been done, and presents the design of the planned experiments.
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