Learning from past Disasters to Improve Crisis Management

In the event of a disaster the coordinated response of emergency services is crucial for saving lives and protecting critical infrastructure. Efficient communication and access to relevant information are essential elements in the immediate aftermath and all phases of the crisis management cycle to maintain public safety. As part of the European Commission funded FP7 project EPISECC (Establish Pan-European Information Space to Enhance Security of Citizens), an inventory of past disasters and critical events was developed. Information was obtained by systematic interviews with experts active in the field of crisis and disaster management on both national and international level. They represent organisations such as first responders, emergency services and civil protection offices from 15 EU (European Union) countries. The paper will outline several aspects such as the quality of information exchange between crisis managers and the analysis of key recommendations for improvement identified during the management of past disasters

Models of Dynamic Data for Emergency Response: A Comparative Study

The first hours after a disaster happens are very chaotic and difficult but perhaps the most important for successfully fighting the consequences, saving human lives and reducing damages in private and public properties. Despite some advances, complete inventory of the information needed during the emergency response remains challenging. In the last years several nationally and internationally funded projects have concentrated on inventory of emergency response processes, structures for storing dynamic information and standards and services for accessing needed data sets. A good inventory would clarify many aspects of the information exchange such as data sets, models, representations; a good structuring would facilitate the fast access to a desired piece of information, as well as the automation of analysis of the information. Consequently the information can be used better in the decision-making process.\ud This paper presents our work on models for dynamic data for different disasters and incidents in Europe. The Dutch data models are derived from a thorough study on emergency response procedure in the Netherlands. Two more models developed within the project HUMBOLDT reflect several cross border disaster management scenarios in Europe. These models are compared with the Geospatial Data Model of the Department of Homeland Security in USA. The paper draws conclusions about the type of geographical information needed to perform emergency response operations and the possibility to have a generic model to be used world-wide

Podpora kritičnemu multi-organizacijskemu sodelovanju v primeru odziva na katastrofične dogodke

The past two years have shown both the power of nature and the complexity of preparing for and responding to extreme events such as earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes/typhoons, and floods. These events, and future catastrophic events, will require coordination and collaboration between multiple government and non government organizations across national and state borders. This collaboration will require the discipline necessary to share common processes and procedures, and the agility to improvise plans and actions as situationally required. Information technology must be used to create an eRegion, enabling the shared situational assessments and adequately supporting the collaborative, distributed decision making to produce required decisions and future action plans. The role of information technology in developing these capabilities is discussed in the context of two seismic scenarios, the US New Madrid Seismic Zone, and the Adriatic Seismic region.Zadnji dve leti smo bili priča tako môči narave kot tudi zapletenosti priprav na odziv in tudi samemu odzivu na nekatere ekstremne dogodke kot so potresi, cunamiji, orkani/tajfuni in poplave. Ti in pa bodoči katastrofalni dogodki bodo zahtevali usklajevanje in sodelovanje med mnogimi vladnimi in nevladnimi organizacijami prek nacionalnih in državnih mejá. To sodelovanje bo zahtevalo disciplino, ki je potrebna pri delitvi skupnih postopkov in procedur in pa prožnost pri improviziranju načrtov in ukrepov z ozirom na situacijo. Za vzpostavitev e-regije se mora uporabiti informacijska tehnologija, s čimer bi se omogočilo skupno ocenjevanje situacije in ustrezna podpora medsebojnemu sodelovanju in porazdelitvi pri sprejemanju odločitev, kar naj bi pripeljalo do ustreznih odločitev in bodočim akcijskim načrtom. Vloga informacijske tehnologije pri razvoju teh zmožnosti je obravnavana v kontekstu dveh potresnih scenarijev, v ameriški potresni coni New Madrid in v jadranski potresni regiji

Interoperability and Information Brokers in Public Safety: An Approach toward Seamless Emergency Communications

When a disaster occurs, the rapid gathering and sharing of crucial information among public safety agencies, emergency response units, and the public can save lives and reduce the scope of the problem; yet, this is seldom achieved. The lack of interoperability hinders effective collaboration across organizational and jurisdictional boundaries. In this article, we propose a general architecture for emergency communications that incorporates (1) an information broker, (2) events and event-driven processes, and (3) interoperability. This general architecture addresses the question of how an information broker can overcome obstacles, breach boundaries for seamless communication, and empower the public to become active participants in emergency communications. Our research is based on qualitative case studies on emergency communications, workshops with public safety agencies, and a comparative analysis of interoperability issues in the European public sector. This article features a conceptual approach toward proposing a way in which public safety agencies can achieve optimal interoperability and thereby enable seamless communication and crowdsourcing in emergency prevention and response

Blockchain Technology for Emergency Response

As unforeseen situations, emergencies threaten the environment, property, and people’s lives. Large emergencies are characterized by the demand for coordination of a variety of actors, such as civil defense or disaster relief. Communication and information exchange are crucial for coordination. Therefore, a solid, stable communication infrastructure is among the crucial factors for emergency response. New technologies that seem to ensure trustworthy communication must be evaluated constantly. Blockchain technology is widely applied in a broad variety of contexts and is commonly known for its decentralized and distributed governance. This is the motivation for the design and evaluation of a framework for the adoption of blockchain technology in the case of emergency response following a design science approach. Evaluation of the artifact using a specific evaluation framework clearly indicates the suitability of the case for application of blockchain technology

Interoperability of Mobile Devices for Crisis Management: Outcomes of the 1st JRC ECML Crisis Technology Workshop

The 1st JRC ECML Crisis Technology Workshop on Mobile Interoperability for International Field Deployment took place in the European Crisis Management Laboratory (ECML) of the Joint Research Centre in Ispra, Italy, from 12 to 13 March 2012. 37 participants attended the workshop. They were coming from: 11 EU countries and Norway, Brazil and US, 3 UN agencies, and 2 NGOs. The workshop's purpose was to measure the added value of mobile assessment technology for rapid situation assessment in international emergency operations. Seven mobile assessment systems were deployed among the participants and needed to provide, in an interoperable way, real-time data to a single electronic On-Site Operations Coordination Centre (eOSOCC). The performance of the systems was benchmarked against a traditional paper-based assessment that was conducted simultaneously (pOSOCC). In the workshop experiment both paper and electronic On-Site Operations Coordination Centres (OSOCCs) reached a similar situation awareness in the same time, but only the eOSOCC had products available as sharable electronic maps and documents. The final map with all incoming feeds in the eOSOCC was very cluttered and there was considerable information overload. Therefore sophisticated editing, filtering, and visualization functionalities have to be available for eOSOCC staff. Mobile technology is mature and can be deployed in an interoperable way. However, then the information of each system leaves the proprietary applications for processing and analyzing the data. The main impression from the eOSOCC team was that there is a lot of potential. Having access in real-time to field information was felt to be extremely useful. Still missing are tools and procedures for exploiting this benefit. Most important are tools to curate, filter, manipulate, edit, and delete assessment information of all teams. A dedicated eOSOCC software suite is needed that gives full control over the data to the eOSOCC staff.JRC.G.2-Global security and crisis managemen

The ATHENA Project: Using Formal Concept Analysis to Facilitate the Actions of Responders in a Crisis Situation

The ATHENA project brings together major user communities with world leading experts in crisis management and experts and technology developers of mobile and social media use and development. The goal of the ATHENA project is to deliver outputs that will enable and encourage users of new media to contribute to the security of citizens in crisis situations and for search and rescue actions. ATHENA is a system of software tools to enhance the ability of LEAs, police, first responders and citizens in their use of mobile and smart devices in crisis situations. An emerging semantic technology called Formal Concept Analysis will be used to capture meaning and key facts from the large amount of communication data created during a crisis

Decision Making Improvement for Disaster Risk Management (DRM) through technological support

The workshop “Decision Making Improvement for Disaster Risk Management (DRM) through technological support” was held in Bucharest, Romania on 16th of October 2019, part of the 4th DRMKC Annual Seminar. The key objective of the session was to increase the collaboration with national/regional/local authorities and other institutions, aligning the development of the tools to the needs and concerns expressed at local/national level. To accomplish its objective, the workshop brought together technical and scientific experts with end users of the platforms, who have faced the main challenges related to data, knowledge and institutional practices while offering technological support for DRM. Showcases and feedback from national authorities and institutions were presented, as they were experienced when using the platforms presented in the session: the DRMKC Risk Data Hub, GRRASP and RAPID-N. The session was divided in two parts, in the first it was presented the general characteristics and functionalities of the platforms, followed in the second part by showcases of using these platforms in various applications by the local authorities and institutions.JRC.E.1-Disaster Risk Managemen