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Toward the regulation of ubiquitous mobile government: a case study on location-based emergency services in Australia

Electronic Commerce Research volume 11, pages 31–74 (2011)Cite this article

Abstract

Mobile alerts, notifications and location-based emergency warning systems are now an established part of mobile government strategies in an increasing number of countries worldwide. In Australia the national emergency warning system (NEWS) was instituted after the tragic Black Saturday Victorian Bushfires of February 2009. NEWS has enabled the provision of public information from the government to the citizen during emergencies anywhere and any time. Moving on from traditional short message service (SMS) notifications and cell broadcasting to more advanced location-based services, this paper explores the major issues faced by government, business and society at large, toward the realization of a fully fledged emergency system for personal mobile devices. This qualitative study contains two phases: phase 1 gathered issues from the general public via an open-ended survey question, and phase 2 gathered issues from key informant interviews. The data was analyzed using qualitative content analysis techniques. The results are presented in a narrative form granting detailed insight into the main challenges faced in the deployment of a mobile government application. The complex interplay between government agencies, telecommunications carriers and the Australian public is presented, ultimately leading down a path of regulation. By using a qualitative approach it is hoped that the intimate lessons learnt in the Australian landscape can be applied to other nations considering mobile government applications. The outcome of the paper is predominantly practical providing a series of recommendations toward the successful deployment of mobile government applications.

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Abbreviations

COAG:

Council of Australian Governments

EMA:

Emergency Management Australia

ESO:

Emergency Service Organizations

GPS:

Global Positioning System

GST:

Goods and Services Tax

IPND:

Integrated Public Number Database

IN:

Intelligent Networks

IMEI:

International Mobile Equipment Identity

LBS:

Location-Based Services

LTE:

Long Term Evolution

NEWS:

National Emergency Warning System

NGO:

Non-government organization

R&D:

Research and Development

RFI:

Request for Information

ROI:

Return on Investment

SES:

State Emergency Service

SMS:

Short Messaging Service

USO:

Universal Service Obligation

VBRC:

Victorian Bushfire Royal Commission

WiMAX:

Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Information Systems and Technology, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, Australia

    Anas Aloudat & Katina Michael

Authors
  1. Anas Aloudat
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  2. Katina Michael
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Katina Michael.

Additional information

The authors dedicate this paper to the 173 people who lost their lives in the Black Saturday Victorian Bushfires in Australia on February 7, 2009.

The authors wish to acknowledge the substantial funding support of the Australian Research Council—Discovery Grant DP0881191 entitled “Toward the Regulation of the Location-Based Services Industry: Influencing Australian Government Telecommunications Policy.”

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Aloudat, A., Michael, K. Toward the regulation of ubiquitous mobile government: a case study on location-based emergency services in Australia. Electron Commer Res 11, 31–74 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10660-010-9070-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10660-010-9070-0

Keywords

  • Location-based services
  • Emergency management
  • Mobile government
  • Regulation