Carleen Maitland, Louis-Marie Ngamassi Tchouakeu, & Andrea H. Tapia. (2009). Information management and technology issues addressed by humanitarian relief coordination bodies. 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: Coordination bodies that attempt to overcome coordination barriers in humanitarian relief face many challenges. Among them are general organizational barriers to coordination as well as functionally-oriented barriers arising specifically from information management (IM) and information technology (IT) issues. Based on data collected from three coordination bodies, the research presented here examines IM and IT-related barriers, identifying similarities and differences between them as well as requirements for resolving them. The research finds that while many similarities exist, resolving IM issues typically requires higher levels of organizational change as compared to IT-related barriers. The research concludes that coordination bodies need to address a mixture of IT and IM related issues both to foster better coordination but also to ensure their efforts are successful.
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David J. Saab, Edgar Maldonado, Razvan Orendovici, Louis-Marie Ngamassi Tchouakeu, Kang Zhao, Annemijn Van Gorp, et al. (2008). Building global bridges: Coordination bodies for improved information sharing among humanitarian relief agencies. In B. V. de W. F. Fiedrich (Ed.), Proceedings of ISCRAM 2008 – 5th International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management (pp. 471–483). Washington, DC: Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management, ISCRAM.
Abstract: Information is a critical component to improved inter-agency coordination during disaster response. Coordinated information and communication technologies deployments as well as coordinated information management processes are important tools in the provision of this information. However, multilateral agency coordination faces many challenges, which has sparked the formation of coordination bodies. This research examines three such bodies and describes their organizational arrangements as well as identifies common challenges they face to effective coordination. It finds that the bodies differ on a variety of dimensions including funding mechanisms, autonomy, and number of members, which will likely have implications for the strategies they employ. Also, the coordination bodies identify a lack of standardization, capacity and information availability and analysis as challenges to improved coordination.
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