Data Model Development for Fire Related Extreme Events - An Activity Theory and Semiotics Approach

Post analyses of major extreme events reveal that information sharing is critical for an effective emergency response. The lack of consistent data standards in the current emergency management practice however serves only to hinder efficient critical information flow among the incident responders. In this paper, we adopt a theory driven approach to develop a XML-based data model that prescribes a comprehensive set of data standards for fire related extreme events to better address the challenges of information interoperability. The data model development is guided by third generation Activity Theory and semiotics theories for requirement analyses. The model validation is achieved using a RFC-like process typical in standards development. This paper applies the standards to the real case of a fire incident scenario. Further, it complies with the national leading initiatives in emergency standards (National Information Exchange Model)

Perceived Risk and Resilience in the Face of Natural Disasters: A Study of Hospital

Though hospital information systems have been extensively studied as a technology and there is now a growing body of literature in the area of infrastructure interdependencies, the dependencies of civil and built infrastructure on the health care information infrastructure (HII) is understudied. In particular, there is no study to our knowledge that addresses the issue of Hospital Information Infrastructure in the context of disasters. This study explores how an organization’s information systems infrastructure is affected by disasters and examines the relationship between organizational resilience and information infrastructure effectiveness by using conceptual model

Information Theoretic Approach to Design of Emergency Response Systems

Emergency response information systems provide critical support to the disaster management. Despite of the growing interest in this area, the existing research is scanty. A significant limitation is the lack of sound theoretical foundations for emergency management and the information system development. In this paper, the authors adapt Information Theory to explore the theoretical underpinnings of emergency response and discuss the general system design issues

A Conceptual Examination of Distrusting Beliefs in Older Adults about the Internet

Older adults are adopting the Internet in increasing numbers today. At the same time they are also experiencing uncertainties about their safety and information privacy on this medium. Several media reports have shown a rising number of incidents involving older Internet user, that indicate lack of awareness of Internet-related security and privacy issues. This conceptual paper provides a framework to help understand the reasons why older adults might distrust the commercial websites in general. Based on established theoretical frameworks about trust, distrust and aging-based technology adoption challenges, we develop several postulates to explain distrusting beliefs that can result in precautious Internet behavior. Implications of this framework will be found in building educational programs and interventions for the population over the age of 55

An Empirical Examination of IT-Enabled Emergency Response: The Cases of Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita

This paper reports the results of an empirical study that analyzes emergency incident response. The paper studies how information systems (IS) complement other organizational assets to help emergency responders achieve satisfactory response performance. We test the research model using empirical data collected from responses to Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita. The results show that IS-enabled asset allocation support directly improves emergency response performance and also positively interacts with non-IS response assets in achieving response success. The results also confirm the value of dispatch systems, interagency communications, and knowledge repositories in developing asset allocation support for an emergency response organization

Emergency Response Information System Interoperability: Development of Chemical Incident Response Data Model

Emergency response requires an efficient information supply chain for the smooth operations of intra- and inter-organizational emergency management processes. However, the breakdown of this information supply chain due to the lack of consistent data standards presents a significant problem. In this paper, we adopt a theory- driven novel approach to develop an XML-based data model that prescribes a comprehensive set of data standards (semantics and internal structures) for emergency management to better address the challenges of information interoperability. Actual documents currently being used in mitigating chemical emergencies from a large number of incidents are used in the analysis stage. The data model development is guided by Activity Theory and is validated through a RFC-like process used in standards development. This paper applies the standards to the real case of a chemical incident scenario. Further, it complies with the national leading initiatives in emergency standards (National Information Exchange Model

On Programmable Memory Built-In Self Test Architectures

The design and architectures of a microcode-based memory BIST and programmable FSM-based memory BIST unit are presented. The proposed microcode-based memory BIST unit is more e cient and exible than existing architectures. Test logic overhead of the proposed programmable versus non-programmable memory BIST architectures is evaluated. The proposed programmable memory BIST architectures could be used to test memories in di erent stages of their fabrication and therefore result in lower overall memory test logic overhead. We show that the proposed microcode-based memory BIST architecture has better extendibility and exibility while having less test logic overhead than the programmable FSM-based memory BIST architecture. 1

A New Approach to Programmable Memory Built-In Self Test Scheme

The design and architecture of a reconfigurable memory BIST unit is presented. The proposed memory BIST unit could accommodate changes in the test algorithm with no impact to the hardware. Different types of march test algorithms could be realized using the proposed memory BIST unit and the proposed architecture allows addition and elimination of the memory BIST components. Therefore memories with different characteristics and test requirements could use the same memory BIST architecture. By integrating the diagnostics with this memory BIST unit, further reduction in the cost of test was achieved. Our experimental results show that the proposed memory BIST methodolgy leads to lower logic overhead than other programmable methods