From Glossaries to Ontologies: Disaster Management Domain

Our society’s reliance on a variety of critical infrastructures (CI) presents significant challenges for disaster preparedness, response and recovery. Experts from different domains including police, paramedics, firefighters and various other CI teams are involved in the fast paced response to a disaster, increasing the risk of miscommunication. To ensure clear communication, as well as to facilitate CI software interoperability, a common disaster ontology is needed. We propose using the knowledge stored in domain glossaries, vocabularies and dictionaries for the creation of a lightweight disaster management domain ontology. Glossaries, vocabularies and dictionaries are semi structured representations of domain knowledge, where significant human effort has been invested in choosing relevant terms, determining their definitions, acronyms, synonyms and sometimes even relations. We use that knowledge built into semi formatted documents for ontology learning. In particular, we look at five glossaries/vocabularies from the disaster management domain and analyze their content similarity and structure. A lightweight disaster ontology is created exploiting the structure of the semi-structured source documents

An Assessment Model to Improve National Cyber Security Governance

Today, cyber space has been embraced by individuals, organizations and nations as an indispensable instrument of daily life. Accordingly, impact of cyber threats has continuously been increasing. Critical infrastructure protection and fighting against cyber threats are crucial elements of national security agendas of governments. In this regard, governments need to assess the roles and responsibilities of public and private organizations to address the problems of current cyber protection postures and to respond with reorganization and reauthorization of these postures. A risk management approach is critical in placing these efforts in an ongoing lifecycle process. In this paper, a model is proposed to be used in national cyber security risk management processes. We argue that this model simplifies and streamlines national risk management processes. For this purpose, a matrix is created to partition the problem space. Cyber threat detection and response activities constitute one dimension of the matrix. The second dimension divides the timeline of cyber incidents into three: before, during and after incidents. The resulting matrix is then populated with responsible bodies which need to address each case. As a result, a national cyber security responsibility model is proposed for policy/decision makers and academics. We believe that the proposed model would be useful for governments in analyzing their national responsibility distribution to address gaps and conflicts in their current cyber security postures and for academics in analyzing natural cyber security systems and comparative studies

How critical infrastructure orients international relief in cascading disasters

Critical infrastructure and facilities are central assets in modern societies, but their impact on international disaster relief remains mostly associated with logistics challenges. The emerging literature on cascading disasters suggests the need to integrate the non-linearity of events in the analyses. This article investigates three case studies: the 2002 floods in the Czech Republic, Hurricane Katrina in 2005, and the 2011 Tohoku earthquake, tsunami, and Fukushima meltdown in Japan. We explore how the failure of critical infrastructure can orient international disaster relief by shifting its priorities during the response. We argue that critical infrastructure can influence aid request and delivery, changing needs to address the cascades and contain cascading technology-based events. The conclusions propose remaining challenges with applying our findings

Vulnerability of the Critical Infrastructure in the Healthcare

Import 18/04/2016Import 02/11/2016Disertační práce se zabývá problematikou kritické infrastruktury ve zdravotnictví a stanovení zranitelnosti jejích prvků. Na začátku práce je řešena problematika kritické infrastruktury, jejich oblastí a podoblastí v České republice, v rámci Evropské unie a NATO, i vybraných státech světa. Uvedeny jsou také přístupy k ochraně prvků kritické infrastruktury. Práce se zabývá také přístupy ke stanovení zranitelnosti prvku kritické infrastruktury, a to jak v České republice, tak ve vybraných zemích světa. Hlavní částí práce je zaměřena na zdravotnickou kritickou infrastrukturu v České republice z pohledu její připravenosti na mimořádné události a krizové situace. V disertační práci jsou navržena nová odvětvová kritéria pro nemocniční péči, která je jednou z podoblastí kritické infrastruktury, neboť současná odvětvová kritéria nesplňuje žádné zdravotnické zařízení. Na základě těchto navržených odvětvových kritérií jsou stanoveny prvky zdravotnické kritické infrastruktury. Jedna část práce se zabývá analýzami ohrožení a analýzami rizik mimořádných událostí, které ohrožují zdravotnickou kritickou infrastrukturu. Tyto analýzy ohrožení a rizik jsou využity pro stanovení obecného modelu pro stanovení zranitelnosti zdravotnické kritické infrastruktury. Tento obecný model byl aplikován při tvorbě Metodiky pro stanovení zranitelnosti prvku kritické infrastruktury ve zdravotnictví. Významnou část práce tvoří Metodika pro připravenost nemocnice na mimořádné události a krizové situace, která je určena především pro styčné bezpečnostní zaměstnance subjektu kritické infrastruktury. Součástí této metodiky je i Metodika pro stanovení zranitelnosti prvku kritické infrastruktury ve zdravotnictví a návrh typových scénářů pro snížení zranitelnosti zdravotnické kritické infrastruktury. Poslední kapitolu disertační práce tvoří aplikace Metodiky pro připravenost nemocnice na mimořádné události a krizové situace pro vybranou nemocnici.The dissertation deals with the problem of the critical infrastructure in health care and the assessment of the vulnerability of its assets. In the beginning of the thesis there is described critical infrastructure and its sectors in the Czech Republic, in the European Union, NATO and chosen states. The major part of the dissertation it is focused to critical infrastructure in the health care in the Czech Republic from the point of view of its preparedness for the emergencies and the crisis situation. There are design new sectoral criteria for the hospital care that is one of the health care parts. This was made because of no hospital complies current sectoral criteria. On the basis of these new criteria there are assessed the components of the critical infrastructure. The part of the thesis follows up threat analysis and risk analysis of the emergencies that threaten the asset of the critical infrastructure in the health care. Those threat and risk analysis they are used for the determination of the general model for the assessment of the vulnerability of the critical infrastructure in the health care. This general model was applied for the formation of Methodology for assessment of the vulnerability of component of the critical infrastructure in the health care. The important part of the thesis is created by the Methodology for hospital’s preparedness for the emergencies and the crisis situation. This methodology is intended for security liaison officers of the owner/operators of the critical infrastructure. Part of this methodology is made by the Methodology for assessment of the vulnerability of component of the critical infrastructure in the health care and the suggestion of the model scenario for reduction of the vulnerability of the critical infrastructure in the health care. The last chapter of the thesis there is the application of the Methodology for hospital’s preparedness for the emergencies and the crisis situation for the chosen hospital.Prezenční050 - Katedra ochrany obyvatelstvavyhově

Increasing resilience to cascading events: The M.OR.D.OR. scenario

The growing complexity of global interconnected risk suggests that a shift has occurred in the way emergency planners need to improve preparedness and response to cascading events. With reference to the literature from the physical, social and political sciences, this paper analyses extreme space weather events and cyberattacks. The goal of this work is to produce a replicable scenario-building process, based on cross-disciplinary understanding of vulnerability, that could be complementary to probabilistic hazard assessment. Our hypothesis is that the technological and human component of critical infrastructure could be the primary vector for the escalation of secondary emergencies. While not themselves having direct implications in terms of loss of life, elements that are common to different risks could provide particular challenges for disaster management. Our findings identify some vulnerable nodes, such as Global Navigation Satellite System technology and remote-control systems, that could act as paths for the escalations of events. We suggest that these paths may be common to various known and unknown threats. We propose two scenarios of Massive, OveRwhelming Disruption of OpeRations (M.OR.D.OR.) that could be used for testing emergency preparedness strategies, and increasing the response to highly complex, unknown events. The conclusions highlight the open challenges of seeking to increase societal resilience. The limitations of this work are described, as are the possible challenges for future research

Building Urban Resilience for Disaster Risk Management and Disaster Risk Reduction

© 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. Disaster Risk Management (DRM) and Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) emerged as systematic approaches to reduce the impact of climate change on the built environment. However, post 2015 United Nations (UN) disaster management and emergency policies failed to capture the dynamics of hazards, exposure and vulnerability essential for building urban resilience. As part of an ongoing PhD study, this paper aims to identify common principles for DRM and DRR in the context of urban resilience, towards building coherence between the 2015-2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for the built environment and the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (SFDRR). The paper adopts a constructivist position to investigate the historical emergence of DRM and DRR in pre-and-post the year 2015. Learning lessons, identifying gaps and future challenges, a correlational study of the three-stage disaster preparedness process of recovery, rehabilitation and reconstruction in DRR and DRM is conducted, against the indicators of Target D for the SFDRR, and Goal 11 for the SDGs three main constructs: disaster damage, critical infrastructure and disruption of basic services. The outcomes of this study show the absence of indicators to monitor progress on evolving disasters and underlying risk drivers. A Preparedness Framework is developed in this paper with recommendations to integrate the UN Habitat Urban System Model Approach for urban resilience, and develop risk-resilient DRM and DRR frameworks for sustainable built environments

Development of a method for studying cascading effects between critical infrastructures

Most current methods for studying cascading effects rely on written sources to extract information. This thesis presents an empirical method for studying cascading effects, when little written information of the event is available. The method presented has been influenced by incident investigation methods. It has been applied on a case of flooding in south of Sweden and revised based on the results. The case study showed that the method is able to gather and structure information about cascading effects and conditions that affect the outcome of cascading effects. An advantage of this method is that it captures conditions as well as potential cascading effects.Kaskadeffekter inom samhällsviktig verksamhet Det är först när man rullar in trettio minuter försenad på perrongen, som man inser hur kritiska vissa infrastrukturer är för samhället. Ibland beror de här felen på störningar från andra system, så kallade kaskadeffekter. Alla som har växt upp på landet, speciellt innan Gudruns framfart ledde till åtgärder, är plågsamt medvetna om hur jobbigt allting blir när den elektriska energin inte riktigt når fram till sin slutdestination, ditt hem. Ett träd faller över fel ledning och det blir mörkt, vatten kan inte pumpas upp från brunnen, ingen tv, inget internet (för routern är död) och toaletten fungerar bara ett par gånger eftersom det inte kommer vatten. På lite längre sikt: saker i kyl och frys förstörs och hur skall kvällsmaten ordnas? Liknande kaskadeffekter sker även på samhällsnivå. Vid studier av dessa kaskadeffekter använder sig forskare ofta av olycksutredningsrapporter eller artiklar i media för att samla information om händelsen. Ett problem med sådana rapporter och artiklar är att de fokuserar på vad som har inträffat och framförallt varför det inträffade, medan den som studerar kaskad-effekter är intressera av: vad hände sedan? Ibland finns det inte ens någon utredning. För att ändå kunna studera händelser med detta fokus behövs en metodik anpassad för att tackla detta problem, vilket är det arbetet har fokuserat på. Metodiken som togs fram lämpar sig för att samla in information om kaskadeffekter, såsom: vilka system som var inblandade, vilka konsekvenser som uppstod, omfattningen i tid och rum, men även speciella omständigheter, så kallade conditions. Ett exempel på ett condition är effekten av att ett fjärrvärmenät inte kan leverera, på sommaren är det inte så stort problem, men skulle samma händelse inträffa på vintern blir det ganska snabbt problem. En begränsad studie av översvämningarna i Malmö den 31:a augusti 2014 gav visade att ett flertal kaskadeffekter var närvarande, det fanns även gott om conditions som var intressanta. Till exempel klarade sig ett server-rum bra eftersom organisationen bara ett par veckor innan hade installerat två vattenpumpar i rummet. Med mer kunskap om kaskadeffekter, exempelvis genom en databas med studier som den i Malmö, skulle det vara möjligt att se om det finns system som blir särskilt utsatta, eller system som sprider effekter i större utsträckning än andra. Ett annat användningsområde är som inspiration för tänkbara scenarier till risk- och sårbarhetsanalyser på kommunal nivå. Ett tredje område, som dock kräver lite mer omfattande kunskap och utveckling, är integrera databasen i ett beslutfattningsstöd. Då skulle till exempel en insatsledare kunna beskriva typen av händelse och sedan få tillbaka tips på vilka kaskadeffekter som skulle kunna uppstå, därmed har hen en chans att motverka spridningen. Om vi någonsin kommer kunna samla tillräckligt med data och utveckla ett sådant verktyg som är tillräckligt bra för att användas i skarpa lägen, återstå att se

Development of a decision support system through modelling of critical infrastructure interdependencies : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Emergency Management at Massey University, Wellington, New Zealand

Critical Infrastructure (CI) networks provide functional services to support the wellbeing of a community. Although it is possible to obtain detailed information about individual CI and their components, the interdependencies between different CI networks are often implicit, hidden or not well understood by experts. In the event of a hazard, failures of one or more CI networks and their components can disrupt the functionality and consequently affect the supply of services. Understanding the extent of disruption and quantification of the resulting consequences is important to assist various stakeholders' decision-making processes to complete their tasks successfully. A comprehensive review of the literature shows that a Decision Support System (DSS) integrated with appropriate modelling and simulation techniques is a useful tool for CI network providers and relevant emergency management personnel to understand the network recovery process of a region following a hazard event. However, the majority of existing DSSs focus on risk assessment or stakeholders' involvement without addressing the overall CI interdependency modelling process. Furthermore, these DSSs are primarily developed for data visualization or CI representation but not specifically to help decision-makers by providing them with a variety of customizable decision options that are practically viable. To address these limitations, a Knowledge-centred Decision Support System (KCDSS) has been developed in this study with the following aims: 1) To develop a computer-based DSS using efficient CI network recovery modelling algorithms, 2) To create a knowledge-base of various recovery options relevant to specific CI damage scenarios so that the decision-makers can test and verify several ‘what-if’ scenarios using a variety of control variables, and 3) To bridge the gap between hazard and socio-economic modelling tools through a multidisciplinary and integrated natural hazard impact assessment. Driven by the design science research strategy, this study proposes an integrated impact assessment framework using an iterative design process as its first research outcome. This framework has been developed as a conceptual artefact using a topology network-based approach by adopting the shortest path tree method. The second research outcome, a computer-based KCDSS, provides a convenient and efficient platform for enhanced decision making through a knowledge-base consisting of real-life recovery strategies. These strategies have been identified from the respective decision-makers of the CI network providers through the Critical Decision Method (CDM), a Cognitive Task Analysis (CTA) method for requirement elicitation. The capabilities of the KCDSS are demonstrated through electricity, potable water, and road networks in the Wellington region of Aotearoa New Zealand. The network performance has been analysed independently and with interdependencies to generate outage of services spatially and temporally. The outcomes of this study provide a range of theoretical and practical contributions. Firstly, the topology network-based analysis of CI interdependencies will allow a group of users to build different models, make and test assumptions, and try out different damage scenarios for CI network components. Secondly, the step-by-step process of knowledge elicitation, knowledge representation and knowledge modelling of CI network recovery tasks will provide a guideline for improved interactions between researchers and decision-makers in this field. Thirdly, the KCDSS can be used to test the variations in outage and restoration time estimates of CI networks due to the potential uncertainty related to the damage modelling of CI network components. The outcomes of this study also have significant practical implications by utilizing the KCDSS as an interface to integrate and add additional capabilities to the hazard and socio-economic modelling tools. Finally, the variety of ‘what-if’ scenarios embedded in the KCDSS would allow the CI network providers to identify vulnerabilities in their networks and to examine various post-disaster recovery options for CI reinstatement projects