The goal of PANDORA is to apply state-of-the-art ICT technologies to build a learning environment for strategic crisis managers. We are currently refining a first version where training sessions are animated by reproducing realistic crisis events and fostering creative decision-making. Central to PANDORA is an original use of the timeline-based planning strategies used to diversify crisis scenarios by creating alternative training paths and to model trainees behavioral patterns for personalized training

Cesta, Amedeo

Cortellessa, Gabriella

De Benedictis, Riccardo

Strickland, Keith

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ERCIM NEWS 85   April 2011 47
model temporal relationships automatically and consistently
inherited by the associated Web service operations. This is
important because task model relationships should be
derived taking into account the user’s perspective. Once the
task model and Web services are connected, a first draft of an
abstract UI description can be generated and then further
edited by designers; when a satisfactory customization is
reached, it can be refined into a concrete, platform-
dependent one.
Designers can also include annotations associated with Web
services, which provide (also partial) hints about the possibly
related UIs.  At the abstract UI level, the annotations can
specify grouping definitions, input validation rules, manda-
tory/optional elements, data relations (conversions, units,
enumerations), and languages. At the concrete UI level, the
annotations can provide labels for input fields, content for
help, error or warning messages, and indications for appear-
ance rules (formats, design templates etc.).
When designing a specific multi-device application, the
models created with device-independent languages should
also take into account the features of the target interaction
modality. Thus, for example, in the task model we can have
tasks that depend on a certain modality (eg selecting a loca-
tion in a graphical map or showing a video), and are neg-
lected if they cannot be supported (eg in a platform having
only the vocal modality). 
For each target platform it is possible to focus just on rele-
vant tasks and then derive the corresponding abstract
description, which is in turn the input for deriving a more
refined description in the specific concrete language avail-
able for each target platform. Since the concrete languages
share a common core abstract vocabulary, this work is easier
than working on a number of implementation modality-
dependent languages.  Our tool MARIAE is currently able to
support the design and implementation of interactive
service-based applications for various platforms: graphical
desktop, graphical mobile, vocal, multimodal (vocal +
graphical) and can be freely downloaded. 
The tool has been developed in the ServFace project, whose
goal was to create a model-driven service engineering
methodology to build interactive service-based applications
using UI annotations and service composition. The project
began in 2008 and finished in 2010. The institutions involved
were  ISTI-CNR, SAP AG (Consortium Leader), Technische
Universität Dresden, University of Manchester, W4.
Links:
ConcurTaskTrees Environment:
http://giove.isti.cnr.it/tools/CTTE/home
MARIAE Tool: http://giove.isti.cnr.it/tools/MARIAE/home
HIIS Laboratory: http://giove.isti.cnr.it/
ServFace EU Project: http://www.servface.eu/
Please contact:
Fabio Paternò
ISTI-CNR, Italy
Tel: +39 050 315 3066
E-mail: fabio.paterno@isti.cnr.it 
training Crisis Managers
in Strategic 
decision-Making 
by Amedeo Cesta, Gabriella Cortellessa, Riccardo De
Benedictis, and Keith Strickland
ThegoalofPANDORAistoapplystate-of-the-artICT
technologiestobuildalearningenvironmentfor
strategiccrisismanagers.Wearecurrentlyrefininga
firstversionwheretrainingsessionsareanimatedby
reproducingrealisticcrisiseventsandfosteringcreative
decision-making.CentraltoPANDORAisanoriginal
useofthetimeline-basedplanningstrategiesusedto
diversifycrisisscenariosbycreatingalternativetraining
pathsandtomodeltraineesbehavioralpatternsfor
personalizedtraining.
Crisis management in emergency situations helps signifi-
cantly to avoid major losses and may prevent emergencies
from becoming disasters. The success of crisis management
depends heavily on the effectiveness of high-level strategic
choices and the reasoning abilities of decision makers.
Three different levels of decision makers exist in current
approaches to crisis management: 
• operational level or bronze commanders, directly operat-
ing on crisis scenarios, whose actions and results are mon-
itored and communicated to higher levels
• tactical level or silver commanders, responsible for trans-
lating high-level strategic decisions into actions and relat-
ed resources allocations
• strategic level or gold commanders, who identify key
issues and decide strategies to resolve the crisis.
The PANDORA project aims at creating an advanced
training environment for crisis decision makers who operate
in highly stressful situations. They must react effectively and
coordinate interventions with different authorities to limit the
dangerous effects of crises and to enable quick recoveries.
Contrary to almost all the state-of-the-art training systems,
aimed at the operational or tactical level, PANDORA targets
decision-making at the strategic level, which presents inter-
esting open challenges.
There are two main approaches to training: (a) tabletop exer-
cises (group discussions guided by a simulated disaster); (b)
real world simulation exercises (field-tests replicating emer-
gency situations). Tabletop exercises are low cost and easy to
organise, but they cannot recreate the real atmosphere, in
terms of stress and pressure. On the other hand, real world
simulations can be very effective but are extremely expen-
sive and difficult to organize.
PANDORA aims at replicating the benefits of both training
approaches by developing a system capable of guaranteeing
the realism of the real world simulation and the practicality
of tabletop exercises. A user-centered approach is followed
and we have worked in close collaboration with the UK
Emergency Planning College, which has identified the main
Research and Innovation
ERCIM NEWS 85   April 201148
requirements, and is influencing the design and implementa-
tion decisions.
Figure 1 summarizes the main concept of PANDORA.  A
group of trainees, from different agencies (eg, Civil Defence,
Health, Fire Service, Police, Transportation) access the
training system. If some authorities are not present, they are
simulated through Non Player Characters. Each trainee feeds
personal data to the PANDORA kernel, which gathers this
information to build a user model (Behavioral Module). On
the basis of this model, the system synthesizes personalized
training paths (Behavioral Planner). The output of this
process is passed to a second module (Crisis Planner), which
uses both the Behavioral Module indications and knowledge
of the chosen scenario to plan sequences of stimuli appro-
priate for the group (information shared among all trainees)
and the individual trainees (information tailored to induce
the “right level of stress”).
The plan is then passed to the Environment and Emotion
Synthesizer, responsible for an effective rendering of the var-
ious stimuli. A separate module (Trainer Support
Framework) allows trainers to control the training session
and dynamically adjust the stimuli based on their experience. 
PANDORA uses timeline-based planning technology which
allows for rich domain modelling and uses both temporal and
resource constraints. A timeline can be seen as a stepwise
constant function of time. Specifically it is an ordered
sequence of values holding on subsequent temporal inter-
vals.  This approach has been used both in the Behavioural
and the Crisis Framework.
In the first case some psycho-physiological trainee features,
shown to influence human behaviour under crisis, are mod-
elled and updated during training as timelines. On the basis
of this model, the Behavioural Planner synthesizes goals for
the Crisis Planner.  The Crisis Planner creates training story-
boards, sets of “events” communicated to the trainees (eg, a
Security and Resilience 
in Cognitive Radio
Networks
by Vangelis Angelakis, Ioannis Askoxylakis, Scott Fowler,
David Gundlegård, Apostolos Traganitis and Di Yuan
Aftermorethanadecadeofresearch,systemsecurity
andresilienceisnowthemajortechnologicalbarrierfor
theCognitiveRadio(CR)tobeadoptedbythe
telecommunicationindustry.Newideasarerequiredto
makeCRnetworkssecureandrobustagainstattacks
takingadvantagetheinherentcharacteristicsoftheCR
functionality.Thisworkexploreskeypointsthaturgently
needtobeaddressed.
Cognitive radio (CR) is a term with many possible meanings
in the telecommunications literature of the past decade. Most
commonly, a cognitive radio device is based on a software-
defined radio (SDR), and has an adjustable front-end, which
allows it to tune on different frequencies, power levels and
modulation schemes. The SDR infrastructure has a program-
ming interface that enables these configuration options.
These, in conjunction with the context of operation (radio
interference and noise, traffic demand, mobility levels, ele-
ment status, location, etc) are made available to a decision-
making entity, which selects the best configuration by
solving an optimization problem with respect to some objec-
tive function. Further input is contained in a system knowl-
edge base that codes the contexts encountered and maps
them to specific radio configurations that can be used. This
mapping can be done through a reasoning engine which is
essentially a set of logical inferring rules (policies) and “rea-
sons” (i.e. searches) for a proposed set of actions that will
manipulate the current state of the knowledge base in an
news video from the crisis setting, a phone call or e-mail
from an operational or tactical manager). Additionally, the
Planner “reacts” to trainees’ strategic decisions, triggering
subequent events to continue the session. 
The overall system empowers the trainer with a new means
for training people. Indeed the suggested crisis stimuli and
the behavioural analysis are presented to the trainer to influ-
ence at any moment the training session, in perfect line with
a mixed-initiative style.
Links: 
http://www.pandoraproject.eu/
http://epcollege.com/
http://pst.istc.cnr.it/
Please contact:
Amedeo Cesta, ISTC-CNR, Italy
E-mail: amedeo.cesta@istc.cnr.it
Keith Strickland – EPC, UK
keith.strickland@cabinet-office.x.gsi.gov.uk
Figure 1: The PANDORA system architecture.


Training Crisis Managers in Strategic Decision-Making

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Training Crisis Managers in Strategic Decision-Making

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