Risk and Crisis Communication in Colombia: a Case Study from Medellín

This paper analyses the state of the art of risk and crisis communication in Colombia with a focus on natural and man-made risks and disasters. Findings are based on a series of semi-structured interviews with risk and crisis communication experts, practitioners, and educational experts from the city of Medellín, and on a content analysis of teaching materials used for risk communication. The study reveals that a combination of different approaches is used to raise risk awareness in the population, combining education through entertainment, citizen sciences projects, and risk communication via the website and app of a regional alerting system

Assessing the Impact of Crowd Tasking Apps on Resuscitation Success: The Case of Sudden Cardiac Arrests in Germany

Sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) is among the three most prominent causes of death in industrialized nations. Therefore, experts are calling for solutions, including IT-systems to mobilize volunteers. SCA emergencies require immediate action and advanced first aid skills. As of today, emergency services are often unable to arrive at the victim in time, and laypeople on the scene frequently fail to conduct resuscitation properly. One approach to solve this problem is to rely on skilled volunteers, who are alerted by smartphone apps. Among others, German researchers are currently developing a crisis response system with a crowd tasking app. It aims to help reduce the effects of large-scale events, but also of ad-hoc incidents including SCA. This paper describes an approach to determine the potential of the system to increase the survival rate of SCA illustrated based upon data from Germany. Its concept was analyzed by experts and benefited from their feedback.BMBF, 13N12813, Verbesserte Krisenbewältigung im urbanen Raum durch situationsbezogene Helferkonzepte und Warnsysteme (ENSURE

RFID IN MANUFACTURING: THE INVESTMENT DECISION

RFID technology promises to improve a broad range of processes in logistics and manufacturing. However, market acceptance of RFID develops slower than anticipated. One likely reason is the difficulty to evaluate the resulting effects beforehand. A lot of research has already been conducted on how to assess costs and benefits of RFID investments. But until now the focus has mainly been on logistics applications. The manufacturing domain still lacks dedicated models for the costs and benefits of an RFID rollout, especially concerning the intangible, non-quantifiable aspects of such an investment. In this paper we suggest some guidelines assessing both the quantifiable and the non-quantifiable aspects of RFID in manufacturing. We present a structured model that guides decision makers along crucial trade-offs in this particular domain. Our work is based on case studies conducted at production plants in different industries

Bau- und Nutzungsanforderungen Dragonerareal und angrenzende Grundstücke

BAU- UND NUTZUNGSANFORDERUNGEN DRAGONERAREAL UND ANGRENZENDE GRUNDSTÜCKE Bau- und Nutzungsanforderungen Dragonerareal und angrenzende Grundstücke / Hasler, Eckhard (Rights reserved) ( -

Sudden cardiac arrest and the role of crowd tasking apps for risk mitigation

ABSTRACT Sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) is among the three most prominent causes of death in industrialized nations. Therefore, experts are calling for solutions, including smartphone-based systems to mobilize volunteers. German researchers are developing a crisis response system with a crowd tasking app. It aims to help reduce the effects of large-scale events, but also of ad-hoc incidents including SCA. This paper describes an approach to determine the potential of the system to increase the survival rate of SCA illustrated by an example. Its concept was analyzed by five experts from three countries and benefited from their feedback

The monetary benefit of early flood warnings in Europe

Effective disaster risk management relies on science-based solutions to close the gap between prevention and preparedness measures. The consultation on the United Nations post-2015 framework for disaster risk reduction highlights the need for cross-border early warning systems to strengthen the preparedness phases of disaster risk management, in order to save lives and property and reduce the overall impact of severe events. Continental and global scale flood forecasting systems provide vital early flood warning information to national and international civil protection authorities, who can use this information to make decisions on how to prepare for upcoming floods. Here the potential monetary benefits of early flood warnings are estimated based on the forecasts of the continental-scale European Flood Awareness System (EFAS) using existing flood damage cost information and calculations of potential avoided flood damages. The benefits are of the order of 400 Euro for every 1 Euro invested. A sensitivity analysis is performed in order to test the uncertainty in the method and develop an envelope of potential monetary benefits of EFAS warnings. The results provide clear evidence that there is likely a substantial monetary benefit in this cross-border continental-scale flood early warning system. This supports the wider drive to implement early warning systems at the continental or global scale to improve our resilience to natural hazards

How to bid at consumer-oriented reverse e-procurement platforms

Reverse procurement platforms which enable buyers to place requests for proposal online and then offer suppliers the possibility to bid for contracts have been intensely used in a B2B-context for several years. Since about 2004, such platforms have become available to ordinary consumers and are constantly gaining in popularity. Being primarily a tool to increase competition, these platforms generate significant consumer surplus and exert intense price pressure on the suppliers. This raises the question how potential suppliers – many of whom are small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) or even self-employed persons with little auctioning experience – can exploit the potential benefits of the new platforms without becoming victims of phenomena like the winner’s curse. One solution to this problem can be decision support systems which assist the SMEs during the bid preparation phase.Not Reviewe

Street Marketing: How Proximity and Context drive Coupon Redemption

Purpose - In 2009, U.S. coupons set a new record of 367 billion coupons distributed. Yet, while coupon distribution is on the rise, redemption rates remain below 1%. This article shows how recognizing context variables, such as proximity, weather, part of town and financial incentives interplay to determine a coupon campaigns' success. Design/methodology/approach - The paper reports an empirical study conducted in cooperation with a restaurant chain: 9.880 Subway coupons were distributed under different experimental context conditions. Redemption behavior was analyzed with the help of logistic regressions. Findings - We found that even though proximity drives coupon redemption, city center campaigns seem to be much more sensitive to distance than suburban areas. The further away the distribution place from the restaurant the less does the amount of monetary incentive determine the motivation to redeem. Practical implications - When designing a coupon campaign for a company, coupon distribution should not follow a 'one-is-good-for-all-strategy' even for one marketer within one product category. Instead each coupon strategy should carefully consider contextual influence. Originality - This article is the first to our knowledge that systematically investigates the impact of context variables on coupon redemption. We focus on context variables that electronic marketing channels will be able to easily incorporate into personalized mobile marketing campaigns