End-user oriented strategies to facilitate multi-organizational adoption of emergency management information systems

11 pages, 4 figures.Response to large-scale emergencies is a cooperative process that requires the active and coordinated participation of a variety of functionally independent agencies operating in adjacent regions. In practice, this essential cooperation is sometimes not attained or is reduced due to poor information sharing, non-fluent communication flows, and lack of coordination. We report an empirical study of IT-mediated cooperation among Spanish response agencies and we describe the challenges of adoption, information sharing, communication flows, and coordination among agencies that do not share a unity of command. We analyze three strategies aimed at supporting acceptance and surmounting political, organizational and personal distrust or skepticism: participatory design, advanced collaborative tools inducing cognitive absorption, and end-user communities of practice.This work has been funded by the Grant (PR2007-0271) and the Research Project (TSI2007-60388) of Spanish Ministry of Education and Science. SIGAME is a project funded by Dirección General de Protección Civil y Emergencias of Spanish Ministry of Interior.Publicad

Illuminating collaboration in emergency health care situations:Paramedic-physician collaboration and 3D telepresence technology

Introduction. This paper focuses on paramedics\u27 perspectives regarding paramedic-physician collaboration today, and their perspectives regarding the potential of 3D telepresence technology in the future. Method. Interviews were conducted with forty practicing paramedics. Analysis. The interview data were analysed using open and axial coding. An agreement of 0.82 using Cohen\u27s kappa inter-coder reliability measure was reached. After coding was completed themes and relationships among codes were synthesised using topic memos. Results. Paramedics expressed concern about the lack of respect and trust exhibited towards them by other medical professionals. They discussed how they paint the picture for physicians and the importance of the physician trusting the paramedic. They further reported 3D telepresence technology would make their work visible in ways not previously possible. They also reported the technology would require additional training, changes to existing financial models used in emergency health care, and increased access to physicians. Conclusions. Teaching collaboration skills and strategies to physicians and paramedics could benefit their collaboration today, and increase their readiness to effectively use collaboration technologies in the future

Forutsetninger for implementering av en tjeneste for overvåkning av sosiale medier i krisesituasjoner

Masteroppgave informasjonssystemer- Universitetet i Agder, 2015Sosiale medier har de siste årene i stadig større grad blitt tatt i bruk av samfunnet før, under og etter krisesituasjoner for å dele og samle inn informasjon. Det har vært en økende interesse for hvordan denne informasjonen kan brukes i krisehåndtering. I forbindelse med dette er det utviklet flere systemer for å samle inn denne informasjonen. For å oppnå optimal bruk av nye systemer må implementeringen være vellykket. Det er derfor interessant å undersøke hvordan slike systemer kan implementeres. For å finne svar på dette har jeg formulert følgende problemstilling: «Hvordan kan en tjeneste for å overvåke sosiale medier i krisesituasjoner implementeres?» Problemstillingen er besvart ved at jeg har gjennomført en kvalitativ undersøkelse bestående av 5 intervjuer. Intervjuobjektene er personer som har erfaring med innføring av sosiale medier på sine arbeidsplasser og bruk av verktøy for overvåkning av medier. De er i tillegg mulige fremtidige brukere av en tjeneste for overvåkning av sosiale medier i krisesituasjoner. Gjennomgang av aktuell litteratur har vist at det har vært stor uenighet blant forskere om hva implementering innebærer. Noen ser på dette som kun den tekniske overgangen fra et system til et annet, mens andre mener at implementering omfatter hele utviklingsprosessen til et system. I tillegg er det tydelig at sosiale medier og systemer for innsamling av informasjon fra disse har vært til stor nytte for å håndtere en rekke krisesituasjoner de siste årene. Fra undersøkelsen har jeg sett at offentlige organisasjoner og beredskapsaktører benytter flere ulike sosiale medier og verktøy for overvåkning av medier. Sosiale medier brukes av dem blant annet til å informere innbyggere om krisesituasjoner og å skape dialog med innbyggere. Verktøy for overvåkning av medier brukes til å søke etter og samle inn informasjon som kan være nyttig i krisehåndtering. I tillegg har intervjuobjektene mange synspunkter på forutsetninger for å ta i bruk en slik tjeneste. På bakgrunn av litteraturen og intervjuene har jeg kommet frem til en liste med aktiviteter en organisasjon kan følge for å implementere en tjeneste for overvåkning av sosiale medier i krisesituasjoner. Den første aktiviteten innebærer at en organisasjon må bestemme seg for hva den skal bruke tjenesten til. En slik tjeneste kan blant annet brukes til å danne et oversiktsbilde over krisesituasjonen, og til å få forståelse for enkelthendelser i krisen. Tjenesten kan også brukes utenom kriser blant annet i forbindelse med arrangementer for å estimere hvor det oppstår kø, og om det er god nok kapasitet på serveringstilbud og sanitære forhold. Organisasjonen må også få toppledelsens støtte for implementeringen. Dette fordi det kreves betydelige ressurser å implementere en tjeneste og det er mest sannsynlig at toppledelsen disponerer disse. For å oppnå toppledelsens støtte kan en f.eks. vise til hvilke nye arbeidsoppgaver organisasjonen blir i stand til å utføre med tjenesten, og at den kan utføre arbeidsoppgaver mer effektivt. Det må også fordeles roller til brukere. Roller som brukere kan ha er f.eks. administratorrolle og nøkkelbruker. Nøkkelbruker må ha mulighet til å endre på søk o.l. Det bør være flere personer som innehar disse rollene for å unngå at en organisasjon blir avhengig av enkeltpersoner. Opplæring kan gjennomføres via kurs hvor brukere av systemet får det forklart av en ekspert først og deretter kan teste det ut selv i workshops. Systemet bør også inkluderes i øvelser slik at brukere lærer seg systemet og deretter kan anvende det riktig og effektivt i krisesituasjoner. I tillegg kan det avdekkes eventuelle feil med tjenesten under øvelsene som kan korrigeres i etterkant. Felles strategi og retningslinjer for bruk av tjenesten er også viktig for å unngå usikkerhet om hvordan den skal brukes. Digitale frivillige kan samle inn, kontrollere og videresende informasjon til profesjonelle som håndterer kriser. Det anbefales at disse organiseres i organisasjoner f.eks. etter Humanity Road sitt eksempel for å sikre at profesjonelle stoler på informasjonen de mottar. Digitale IV frivillige ser ut til å være mest til nytte for organisasjoner som er operative enheter i krisesituasjoner. Jeg foreslår at det i videre forskning fokuseres på hvordan testing av tjenesten kan gjennomføres. I tillegg mener jeg at det kan være interessant å se på teknologiske og juridiske forutsetningene for å ta en slik tjeneste i bruk

Una arquitectura para el uso de las redes sociales por agencias gubernamentales en la gestión de emergencias

Una emergencia es una situación imprevisible que requiere de acciones de respuesta para minimizar posibles daños humanos y materiales. La gestión de emergencias consiste en un conjunto de actividades para la mitigación, preparación, respuesta y recuperación de una situación de emergencia que involucra a agencias gubernamentales, organizaciones no gubernamentales, comunidades de voluntarios, comunidades de práctica, el sector privado y los ciudadanos. Durante las 4 fases de la gestión de emergencias se requiere una comunicación constante entre las personas y organizaciones afectadas e involucradas con el objetivo de coordinar acciones de respuesta, informar de actividades llevadas a cabo, conocer el estado de la situación y dar asistencia a solicitudes de ayuda, entre otras. Las Tecnologías de la Información y las Comunicaciones (TIC) proporcionan los mecanismos para dar soporte al intercambio, almacenamiento, procesamiento y distribución de la información generada en este contexto. Los medios sociales establecen un canal de comunicación complementario para habilitar una participación activa de los ciudadanos en la gestión de situaciones de emergencia. Uno de los medios sociales más utilizados son las redes sociales, que permiten a los usuarios compartir información de manera textual o multimedia con una red de contactos, así como valorar, responder o compartir un contenido publicado de manera sencilla a través de páginas Web, aplicaciones de escritorio y aplicaciones móviles. En los últimos años, las redes sociales han generado un interés en constante aumento con respecto a su utilización por agencias gubernamentales durante la gestión de situaciones de emergencia, con el objetivo de hacer más eficiente la comunicación e interacción entre los ciudadanos, las comunidades y el personal de las agencias gubernamentales involucradas. Se considera que las redes sociales pueden ser utilizadas como un canal de comunicación bidireccional que permita la publicación y monitorización de información. Sin embargo, se han identificado dificultades y carencias para la utilización eficiente de las redes sociales por agencias gubernamentales en este contexto. Los problemas principales son: (1) escasez de recursos humanos y tecnológicos para llevar a cabo una actividad constante durante todas las fases de la gestión de situaciones de emergencia; (2) una sobrecarga de la información generada, en especial durante las fases de respuesta y recuperación de una situación de emergencia específica; y (3) la desconfianza en la veracidad de la información, debido a contenido falso y rumores que se suelen generar alrededor de una situación de emergencia. Para ayudar a resolver estos problemas principales identificados, se define un conjunto de 16 requerimientos específicos de las agencias gubernamentales para la utilización de las redes sociales en la gestión de situaciones de emergencia. Estos requerimientos están basados en la literatura, en particular en 3 estudios de investigación llevados a cabo con personal de las agencias gubernamentales, y un estudio de la actividad y el comportamiento de las agencias gubernamentales en la red social Twitter durante una situación de emergencia real. En esta tesis doctoral se describe el diseño y desarrollo de una arquitectura tecnológica que tiene como objetivo facilitar la utilización de las redes sociales por agencias gubernamentales como un canal de comunicación bidireccional durante situaciones de emergencia a partir del cumplimiento de los requerimientos identificados. Esta arquitectura está compuesta por un modelo de datos y un lenguaje de procesos para el almacenamiento y procesamiento de la información generada en las redes sociales durante la gestión de situaciones de emergencia. La base de la arquitectura desarrollada es un modelo de datos común e interoperable entre las distintas plataformas de redes sociales. El modelo de datos se define utilizando un diagrama de clases UML que toma en cuenta la estructura general de las redes sociales más comunes utilizadas actualmente y la estructura necesaria para almacenar los datos relacionados con el cumplimiento de los requerimientos de las agencias gubernamentales. Con el objetivo de proporcionar interoperabilidad, se incluye un esquema de datos utilizando el lenguaje estándar XSD que describe las clases, atributos, operaciones y relaciones de los elementos del modelo de datos. El segundo componente principal de la arquitectura es un lenguaje de procesos que permite la incorporación de módulos de procesos que cubren las necesidades de las agencias gubernamentales en este contexto. Los procesos se definen utilizando la notación BPMN (Business Process Modeling Notation) que describe las tareas, eventos, datos, mensajes y contextos involucrados en el cumplimiento de los requerimientos de las agencias gubernamentales. Los procesos incluidos pueden definirse como componentes reutilizables que llevan a cabo una tarea o actividad específica relacionada con el uso de las redes sociales en la gestión de situaciones de emergencia. Para medir el desempeño de la arquitectura desarrollada, se lleva a cabo una evaluación analítica compuesta por 2 estudios complementarios: (1) evaluación del cumplimiento por parte de la arquitectura desarrollada de los requerimientos identificados; y (2) comparativa del cumplimiento de los requerimientos con respecto a un conjunto de herramientas existentes de sindicación y agregación de contenido y la arquitectura. La evaluación demuestra que la arquitectura proporciona los mecanismos tecnológicos para el cumplimiento de los requerimientos identificados que ayudan a resolver los problemas principales de la utilización de las redes sociales por agencias gubernamentales en la gestión de situaciones de emergencia, en comparación con las herramientas generales existentes de sindicación y agregación de contenido. A partir del diseño y desarrollo de la arquitectura tecnológica en esta tesis doctoral, se proporciona una solución que facilita la utilización de las redes sociales por las agencias gubernamentales en la gestión de situaciones de emergencia, a través del cumplimiento de los requerimientos específicos de las agencias gubernamentales que ayudan a resolver los problemas principales de escasez de recursos humanos y tecnológicos, la sobrecarga de la información generada y la desconfianza en la veracidad de la información recibida.An emergency is an unexpected situation that requires response actions to minimize possible human and material damage. Emergency management is a set of activities for mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery of an emergency situation that involves governmental agencies, non-governmental agencies, communities of practice and volunteers, the private sector and citizens. During the four phases of emergency management, a constant communication is required between people and organizations affected and involved to coordinate response actions, inform about activities being performed, know the status of the situation and respond to help requests, among others. Information and Communications Technology (ICT) provide mechanisms to support the exchange, storage, processing and distribution of the information generated in this context. Social media provides an additional communication channel to enable active participation from citizens in emergency management. One of the most used social media platforms are social networks that allow users to share information in a textual or multimedia way with a user network, and to assess, respond or share a published content through the use of Web pages, desktop and mobile applications. In recent years, social networks have generated an increasing interest for their use by government agencies for emergency management in order to make more efficient the communication and interaction between citizens, communities and staff of government agencies involved. In general, social networks are considered as bidirectional communication channels that allow the publication and monitorization of information. However, some difficulties and shortcomings have been identified for the efficient use of social media by government agencies in this context. The main problems are: (1) limited human and technological resources to enable a continuous activity in social networks during all phases of emergency management; (2) an overload of information generated, especially during the response and recovery phases of an emergency event; and (3) distrust in the accuracy of the information, due to false content and rumors that usually appear during an emergency situation. In order to help solving these identified problems, a set of 16 specific requirements is defined for the use of social media by government agencies in emergency management. These requirements are based on the literature, particularly in 3 research studies conducted with personnel of government agencies, and a study of the activity and behavior of governmental agencies in Twitter during a real emergency event. In this thesis is presented the design and development of a technological architecture that aims to facilitate the use of social media by government agencies as a bidirectional communication channel during emergencies based on the fulfillment of the requirements identified. This architecture consists of a data model and a process language for the storage and process of information generated in social networks during emergency management. usually appear during an emergency situation. In order to help solving these identified problems, a set of 16 specific requirements is defined for the use of social media by government agencies in emergency management. These requirements are based on the literature, particularly in 3 research studies conducted with personnel of government agencies, and a study of the activity and behavior of governmental agencies in Twitter during a real emergency event. In this thesis is presented the design and development of a technological architecture that aims to facilitate the use of social media by government agencies as a bidirectional communication channel during emergencies based on the fulfillment of the requirements identified. This architecture consists of a data model and a process language for the storage and process of information generated in social networks during emergency management. viii The basis of the architecture developed is a data model interoperable between the various social networking platforms. The data model is defined using a UML class diagram that considers the overall structure of the most common social networks currently used and the structure needed to store information related to the fulfillment of the requirements of government agencies. In order to provide interoperability, a database schema is created using the XSD standard language for describing the classes, attributes, operations and relationships of all the elements in the data model. The second component of the architecture is a process language that allows the incorporation of process modules that meet the needs of government agencies in this context. The process language is defined using the BPMN notation (Business Process Modeling Notation) and describe the tasks, events, data, messages and contexts involved in meeting the requirements of government agencies. The processes included are defined as reusable components that perform a specific task or activity related to the use of social media in emergency management. To assess the performance of the architecture, an analytical evaluation is carried out that consists of two complementary studies: (1) an assessment of the fulfillment by the architecture of the requirements identified; and (2) a comparative between a set of existing syndication and aggregation tools and the architecture with respect to the fulfillment of the requirements identified. The evaluation demonstrates that the architecture provides the technological mechanisms to fulfill the identified requirements in order to help solving the main problems of the use of social media by government agencies in emergency management, in comparison to existing syndication and aggregation tools. The technological architecture designed and developed in this doctoral thesis provides a solution that facilitates the use of social media by government agencies during emergency management through the fulfillment of specific requirements identified in this context that help solving the main problems of limited human and technological resources, information overload and distrust in the information received.Programa Oficial de Doctorado en Ciencia y Tecnología InformáticaPresidente: Jesús Hilario Canós Cerdá.- Secretario: Telmo Agustín Zarraonandía Ayo.- Vocal: Víctor Amadeo Bañuls Silver