Introduction to Communication and Information Systems Technology for Crisis and Disaster Management Minitrack

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Crowd sourcing challenges assessment index for disaster management

Emergency agencies (EA) rely on inter-agency approaches to information management during disasters. EA have shown a significant interest in the use of cloud-based social media such as Twitter and Facebook for crowd-sourcing and distribution of disaster information. While the intentions are clear, the question of what are its major challenges are not. EA have a need to recognise the challenges in the use of social media under their local circumstances. This paper analysed the recent literature, 2010 Haiti earthquake and 2010-11 Queensland flood cases and developed a crowd sourcing challenges assessment index construct specific to EA areas of interest. We argue that, this assessment index, as a part of our large conceptual framework of context aware cloud adaptation (CACA), can be useful for the facilitation of citizens, NGOs and government agencies in a strategy for use of social media for crowd sourcing, in preventing, preparing for, responding to and recovering from disasters. © (2012) by the AIS/ICIS Administrative Office All rights reserved

ICT Support for Refugees and Undocumented Immigrants

Immigrant integration has become a primary political concern for leaders in Germany and the United States. The information systems (IS) community has begun to research how information and communications technologies can assist immigrants and refugees, such as by examining how countries can facilitate social-inclusion processes. Migrants face the challenge of joining closed communities that cannot integrate or fear doing so. We conducted a panel discussion at the 2019 Americas Conference on Information Systems (AMCIS) in Cancun, Mexico, to introduce multiple viewpoints on immigration. In particular, the panel discussed how technology can both support and prevent immigrants from succeeding in their quest. We conducted the panel to stimulate a thoughtful and dynamic discussion on best practices and recommendations to enhance the discipline’s impact on alleviating the challenges that occur for immigrants in their host countries. In this panel report, we introduce the topic of using ICT to help immigrants integrate and identify differences between North/Central America and Europe. We also discuss how immigrants (particularly refugees) use ICT to connect with others, feel that they belong, and maintain their identity. We also uncover the dark and bright sides of how governments use ICT to deter illegal immigration. Finally, we present recommendations for researchers and practitioners on how to best use ICT to assist with immigration

Geographic Information Systems in Information Systems Research - Review and Research Prospects

Since historical times, cartographic maps have revealed spatial relations and enabled decisions and processes. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) allow for acquisition, management, analysis, and presentation of geospatial objects. With free geospatial data becoming available through open data policies and an increasing amount of digitally connected objects in the Internet of Things (IoT), GIS are becoming indispensable to Information Systems (IS) research. However, the consideration and relevance of GIS has only been investigated rarely. We examine, how and in which fields of application GIS have been studied in the IS literature and elicit the importance of GIS regarding their design and usage. A systematic literature review leads us to develop four research propositions. Our results indicate that GIS are still an undeservedly underrepresented discipline in IS and should be more theorized, put center-stage in design-oriented research, and considered for creating superior value co-creation in service systems

Structured Sensemaking of Videographic Information within Dataphoric Space

Attempts to create a structured sensemaking model have proven difficult. Much of the research today has evolved into a cacophony of conceptual models. Many of these sensemaking models have been proposed but not tested. Using structural equations, a unified model of sensemaking was developed and tested. This structured sensemaking model contains five sensemaking constructs: chaos, anchoring, articulation, retrospection, and identity. This model was tested using data collected from 224 educationally focused YouTube videos. The confirmatory factor model developed for this research has a measured Comparative Fit Index of 0.979, a measured Standardized Root Mean Square Residual of 0.078, and a measured Akaike’s Information Criterion of 182.892. The associated structural model has a measured Comparative Fit Index of 0.991, a measured Standardized Root Mean Square Residual of 0.047, and a measured Akaike’s Information Criterion of 131.680. This theory of structured sensemaking supports a) the unification of five sensemaking constructs b) a structured sensemaking framework c) the integration of information theory and d) a reusable sensemaking method. This structured sensemaking framework is the first of its kind

Satellite meteorology in the cold war era: scientific coalitions and international leadership 1946-1964

In tracing the history of the TIROS meteorological satellite system, this dissertation details the convergence of two communities: the DOD space scientists who established US capability to launch and operate these remote sensing systems and the US Weather Bureau meteorologists who would be the managers and users of satellite data. Between 1946 and 1964, these persons participated in successive coalitions. These coalitions were necessary in part because satellite systems were too big—geographically, fiscally, and technically—to be developed and operated within a single institution. Thus, TIROS technologies and people trace their roots to several research centers—institutions that the USWB and later NASA attempted to coordinate for US R&D. The gradual transfer of persons and hardware from the armed services to the non-military NASA sheds light on the US’s evolution as a Cold War global power, shaped from the “top-down” (by the executive and legislative branches) as well as the “bottom-up” (by military and non-military scientific communities). Through these successive coalitions, actor terms centered on “basic science” or the circulation of atmospheric data were used to help define bureaucratic places (the Upper Atmospheric Rocket Research Panel, International Geophysical Year, NASA, and the World Weather Watch) in which basic research would be supported by sustained and collaboration could take place with international partners.Ph.D